Lighting for fish color?

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mrcrazypants05

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jul 29, 2005
Messages
498
Location
Kansas City, KS
Right now I have (2) two too-too okay im done with the two's, but seriously. I have two light fixtures that are single bulbs and 40 watts each...They are 36" too... They are daylight bulbs I believe... I was thinking of getting some better bulbs for the colors of my fish. I don't have plants at all in this so I'm not worried about that. Will I have to buy a two bulb fixture and get a daylight AND an actinic or what do you guys suggest? TIA
 
Do you know the Kelvin rating (K) for these bulbs? A lower K bulb will give you a more yellowish light, and a higher K bulb (up to 10,000) will give you a whiter appearance in your tank, which can play a role in how the fish look.

I have to say, though that having some actinic light does wonders for the colors of your fish, especially fish with any kind of blue in them. You could simply swap out one of your bulbs for an actinic and see how you like it.

Another often overlooked way to improve the color of your fish is to switch to a dark substrate. The fish colors will deepen in order to blend in more with the substrate, as a camouflage response.
 
I have no idea of the K rating... It is more of a yellowish light though. The lights in my 55 I think are a 2 bulb with actinic and regular flourescant. I'll probably have to end up ordering online, because not even petsmart around here has 36" lights.. It's too bad thats where the fixture came from :roll: Not much support for the 125 gallon tanks around here lol... :twisted:
 
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