Hi, I've had a 55 gallon planted tank for a few years now and it used to run on a bulky 110W of lights which is barely sufficient to qualify as "low light" for plants.
When I bought the tank it came with a "nice" lighting system of two 15W bulbs. I bought a 48" double striplight, which gave 80W. I put that and the two old bulbs so that gave me 110W. However these three fixtures covered the whole top and in order to get access to the aquarium, I had to remove the small lights to open the lid.
Finally I decided to upgrade the lighting system. I bought a 260W power compact fixture with four 65W bulbs (two were 12K daylight and two actinic blue). I decided to try it out and see how it works and if the actinic lights have no benefit for the plants, I'll change them to regular bulbs.
But anyway, since I did the swap, my fish seem to be stressed by the bright light. The only fish that still swims in water columns are a pair of dwarf gouramis. SAEs lie on the bottom most of the time but the most effect it seems to have on rummynose tetras. Their heads used to be very bright red colors well past their pectoral fins. Now most fish have just their nose red and some even lost most of the red.
Even danios hide in the plants. Clown loaches rarely venture out of a cave.
Does anyone notice such a drastic effect of the light on fish? Granted, we have just moved and I re-assembled the tank and had to cull out a lot of plants, so the aquarium isn't grossly planted right now. Most of the plants are ... Oh, wait. I'd rather attach a picture to show how the tank looks.
Right now I shut off the actinic bulbs to see if there is any difference.
Any comments/suggestions are welcome.

When I bought the tank it came with a "nice" lighting system of two 15W bulbs. I bought a 48" double striplight, which gave 80W. I put that and the two old bulbs so that gave me 110W. However these three fixtures covered the whole top and in order to get access to the aquarium, I had to remove the small lights to open the lid.
Finally I decided to upgrade the lighting system. I bought a 260W power compact fixture with four 65W bulbs (two were 12K daylight and two actinic blue). I decided to try it out and see how it works and if the actinic lights have no benefit for the plants, I'll change them to regular bulbs.
But anyway, since I did the swap, my fish seem to be stressed by the bright light. The only fish that still swims in water columns are a pair of dwarf gouramis. SAEs lie on the bottom most of the time but the most effect it seems to have on rummynose tetras. Their heads used to be very bright red colors well past their pectoral fins. Now most fish have just their nose red and some even lost most of the red.
Even danios hide in the plants. Clown loaches rarely venture out of a cave.
Does anyone notice such a drastic effect of the light on fish? Granted, we have just moved and I re-assembled the tank and had to cull out a lot of plants, so the aquarium isn't grossly planted right now. Most of the plants are ... Oh, wait. I'd rather attach a picture to show how the tank looks.
Right now I shut off the actinic bulbs to see if there is any difference.
Any comments/suggestions are welcome.
