Fish tank colored lights

[Fish_Dude619]

Hey guys i was just wondering, Have any of you used colored light for your fish tank

How did it look?

I was thinking of getting blue ones! But i dunno.

 

[teknikz]

hey

ive got a white strip at the front n a blue 1 at the back on my 125 litre n it looks well good

give it a go n see if u like it

 

[Lateral Line]

My answer really depends on two questions.

1: Do you mean an ordinary tube "painted" in some way blue, or an Actinic tube?

If you mean a white tube that is coloured in some way, then be aware, the colouring works by absorbing the colours you can't see! White light is a mixture of colours, look at a rainbow or spectrum. To get a white tube to appear blue, the coating must take out the red, green, yellow etc., thus a 20W white tube will be MUCH brighter than a 20W coloured tube. If you mean an Actinic tube, (the type used by reef tank owners to get some UV as well as blue), not quite the same - these tubes are quite bright, but also expensive, and tend to need a stronger starter unit, (ie a 20W starter will probably not flash a 20W Actinic tube). An Actinic can be helpful for plant growth in deeper tanks as the blue light is less easily absorbed by the water than red.

2: Do you have live plants?

Plants are green because they reflect green light. To grow, they photsynthesize light. Preferentially, Chlorophyl, the active compound, absorbs red and blue light. By depriving the plants of the red end of the spectrum, you will inhibit their growth.

 

[Moe]

I brought home two painted lights for a 10G. I tried red and blue. They both really washed out the color of the fish. I've got card. tetras in there and they looked all one dark color. All other fish looked bad too. I'm back to white. If you want buy the lights and try them, then return them and go back to white.

 

[Fish_Dude619]

Well i dont know anything about lights. Thanks for the info Lateral Line.
When i used to have my 10G tank i think i had just the painted lights because i bought some blue ones but then the blue just faded away in like a week or so. Then it sortoff turned into a yellowish color and the water looked yellow!
It looked alright but it was a small tank so the whole thing looked blue.

But now I got a 55G and i need two 18"s.
I heard that they stay blue forever untill they burn out becasue thats the type of lights that they are.

No, i dont got any live plants.

Thanks everyone!

 

[smb]

My answer really depends on two questions.

1: Do you mean an ordinary tube "painted" in some way blue, or an Actinic tube?

If you mean a white tube that is coloured in some way, then be aware, the colouring works by absorbing the colours you can't see! White light is a mixture of colours, look at a rainbow or spectrum. To get a white tube to appear blue, the coating must take out the red, green, yellow etc., thus a 20W white tube will be MUCH brighter than a 20W coloured tube. If you mean an Actinic tube, (the type used by reef tank owners to get some UV as well as blue), not quite the same - these tubes are quite bright, but also expensive, and tend to need a stronger starter unit, (ie a 20W starter will probably not flash a 20W Actinic tube). An Actinic can be helpful for plant growth in deeper tanks as the blue light is less easily absorbed by the water than red.

2: Do you have live plants?

Plants are green because they reflect green light. To grow, they photsynthesize light. Preferentially, Chlorophyl, the active compound, absorbs red and blue light. By depriving the plants of the red end of the spectrum, you will inhibit their growth.

I just had to say--

What a great post Lateral Line!!!