Lighting questions.

kyperman

kyperman

LOVE THE FISH !!
Dec 6, 2005
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0
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Michigan
www.kyperman.blogspot.com
I am relatively new to the hobby, I thought it would be fun to start a tank with my 5 year old son..but I kind of got hooked myself and now find myself thinking FISH all the time.

My set up is a 29 gallon high with plastic plants, white gravel and some fake rocks, etc.

I have been doing a pretty good job so far at maintaining healthy fish which has only made my hobby more enjoyable.

I have some tetras, danios, cory cats, pleco, etc...mostly starter fish, but they are very fun to watch and easy to keep healthy.

My problem is lighting, the hood still has the original daylight bulb that came with it and I just am not happy with it, it looks too yellow, it just does not do the fish or my setup justice.

I want to get a new bulb and see if I can change the perspective a bit. I have been doing a lot of looking and there are a MILLION different things I could do, stay with natural daylight, go to a white bulb, etc. I have ordered a white bulb from Fosters and Smith, it's for freshwater and saltwater applications. It's a GE 24 inches long, 20 watts about 8900 kelvins.

Will this do any harm to my fish...will it cause algea to grow too quickly?
 
The color of the light is determined by the kelvin rating, the lower the k rating the more yellow the light and the higher the k rating the more white the light.

Most normal fluorescent lights are rated 4,100k (cool white). These are meant to be easy on the eyes and while whiter than incandescents, are still quite a bit yellow.

Many people like to use full spectrum daylight bulbs, which are rated between 5,500k and 6,700k. These offer a much whiter light similar to sunlight at noon.

The GE with a k rating of 8,900 will be even whiter with less yellow than the daylight bulbs.

It won't harm the fishes at all and it won't induce algae growth, leaving the lights on for too long will induce algae however.
 
Thank you

I had an idea of what the kelvin sruff meant, but had not heard it put it that way, and it makes sense, thanks very much !! :clap: :clap:
 
If you have a fish-only tank, (no plants and so salt-water invertebrates) the main thing driving your selection of spectrum (color) is what you like. Unfortunately, you might have to try a few different bulbs of different spectra to see what they look like.
 
Thanks

I bought a AQUA GLO today, 18000 k's just for the heck of it. Didn't like it, I am gonna keep trying....
 
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