Aquarium Lighting

[grazychef]

Hi Guys, I have a 4ft tropical tank but the lighting does not seem to show the fish off for there bright colours!
I Have two Fluorescent tube both 40w 42", the one at the back of the tank is a Flora glo and the one at the front i'm not sure of the
name except it is from the same company and has a slight pinky glow.

The fish in my LFS when buying them always seem so colourful in there tanks, except when i get them home they seem not so bright.

Any advice would be helpfull.

Regards Grazychef

 

[SuperColey1]

The FloraGro will be the daylight lamp which should be good for plants and show off greens well.

The pinky one will be the 'Tri' lamp which shows off reds and blues well and also completes the photosynthesis colours alongside the daylight one.

I would suggest that you probably have the original bulbs that came with the tank.

Try one of the following combos:

Interpet DaylightPlus (white) and TriPlus (Pink)
Arcadia Freshwater (white) and Original Tropical (Pink)

I found the Arcadia much much brighter than the AquaGlo and SunGlo that were originally in mine, and the Interpet lights (going by reports in the planted section) are even better.

If you go into planted section, Themulous has put a link in one of the threads there on Luminaires a great site for cheap bulbs, or you could try SurreyPetSupplies or AquaEssentials.

Andy

 

[grazychef]

The FloraGro will be the daylight lamp which should be good for plants and show off greens well.

The pinky one will be the 'Tri' lamp which shows off reds and blues well and also completes the photosynthesis colours alongside the daylight one.

I would suggest that you probably have the original bulbs that came with the tank.

Try one of the following combos:

Interpet DaylightPlus (white) and TriPlus (Pink)
Arcadia Freshwater (white) and Original Tropical (Pink)

I found the Arcadia much much brighter than the AquaGlo and SunGlo that were originally in mine, and the Interpet lights (going by reports in the planted section) are even better.

If you go into planted section, Themulous has put a link in one of the threads there on Luminaires a great site for cheap bulbs, or you could try SurreyPetSupplies or AquaEssentials.

Andy

Thanks for the Advice, Will try that link!

 

[Waterloo Kid]

The Floraglo bulb is actually missing most of the green spectrum as plants do not need this part of white light to photosynthesis. It puts out mainly blue and red light, hence it's pinky/purple appearance. The light makes plants look darker.
A full spectrum bulb emits most light wavelengths so will show up the greens in the plants and fish better. if you want your fish to look their best go for 'full spectrum' tubes as stated above.
Also, too much light often washes out the fish's colour. A dark background can help emphasis the fish.

Hope that helps,

WK

 

[nero]

I've also heard that fish tend to imitate their surroundings a bit, and that quite light coloured gravel can cause them to change their colouring a bit and "wash" out their colouring. (dont know if this is true or not) Also double check your tank parameters- water quality and the like. Stressed or ill fish can look almost white! Try to think of anything else that could be stressing the fish- like where the tank is placed. Are people constantly walking by it scaring the fish? Is there a speaker near it that could be causing vibrations and scaring/stressing them? Make sure you have a background for the tank too, it makes the fish feel safer if they feel that there is a side of the tank where you "cant get to them".
All that aside, the spectrum of the globes makes a HUGE difference! Maybe even ask your LFS which tubes they are using to make the fish look so good!

Hope some of that helps!~
Nero

 

[SuperColey1]

This is very true. I have 4 pitbull plecs which are a light sandy colour on the sand, but a dark greeny brown when they are on wood or in shadow etc.

The Red/Blue light will enhance the colours of the fish whereas the full spectrum light tends to wash them out IMO, thats why I use a full spectrum in the back of my hood for the plants to look good, and a Original Tropical in the front for my fish to look good.

As far as I know the Red/Blue bulb is also good for the photosynthesis aspect (or at least thats what the jargon on the tube boxes say)

I also think it is the Red light the plants want for photosynthesis and the green lesser, although if you get a triphosphor lamp it will peak in Red, Blue and Green.