lighting

[noop]

i was just down the lfs and was struck by the brightness of a neon tetra and a head n tail light tetra. it was like they were lit up from inside

...which got me wondering does standard lighting do that or is there some special kind of light which brings out the colours?

or is it tannin-stained water?

 

[aquamanis]

Hi Noop, they could have been using the fluros specially designed to bring out the colours of the fish. They typically have a good CRI which means colors look normal and they are also fairly high in the spectrum (10000k-18000k) which makes them look a bright blue colour to simulate tropical sun. I have the sylvania aquastar 10000k and it evens out the dull redish light that comes off the growlux tube (3500k). Hagen also make a tropical as do phillips, sera and GE.

 

[noop]

thanks for the info

the name 'growlux' suggests to me that it's good for plants. is that right?

 

[aquamanis]

Yes, thats right. They have a high PAR rating (which means high photosenthysis rating, good for plants) but are very dull to view fish with.

 

[Cian McLiam]

The other alternative is to diffuse the light from above, using floating plants or as you mentioned, tannin stained water. If you can, lift the hood with the lights on to a 45+ angle, you should see the difference in the neons colouring straight away.

Ken