I have 55 gal peacock cichlid tank and i wanted to try soem java ferns, so i bought a 96 watt florecent power compact with a 6500K bulb. That bulb made everything look real yellow and washed out my fish and it doesnt show their colors like my regular florecent. So I bought a 6500/10000K and it is a little better, but still washes out the fish. I guess I have 2 questions, 1) will that bulb work for gowing low light plants and also 2) what can I do to enhance the colors of my fish, the blues just arent the same and everything looks more drab. I will repost this in the cichlid forum to get thir opinion as well, thanks for the input.
lighting ?'s
- Thread starter losthere
- Start date
In terms of light colour , if you want more blues, try the 50/50 bulb. It has half atinic blue and the other half is 10,000k. However I am not too sure how the atinic blue is in the photosynthesis process, maybe someone can jump on that with info.
In terms of low light plants, you can grow "high light plants" in a low light tank, they will grow slower and may grow differently. growing slow isn't such a bad thing, that means less prunning.
Good luck.
In terms of low light plants, you can grow "high light plants" in a low light tank, they will grow slower and may grow differently. growing slow isn't such a bad thing, that means less prunning.
Good luck.
i've just been using full spectrum bulbs (not sure on the color temp) and my plants are growing like an inch a day (hornwort and rotala indica) and i think the tank is very pretty in color. not too yellow at all.
tanker
Josh Holloway--Be mine!!!
6500K bulbs are great for plants, but yes they are yellow and makes fish look washed-out.
I would just add some other bulb for your fishes. Keep the 2 6500k for the plants and add a red or blue bulb for the fish.
An atinic bulb (the blue kind) is more for deep water (saltwater) penatration and not of much use in a FW tank.
I would just add some other bulb for your fishes. Keep the 2 6500k for the plants and add a red or blue bulb for the fish.
An atinic bulb (the blue kind) is more for deep water (saltwater) penatration and not of much use in a FW tank.
I was wondering about that too... as I want to re-do my canopy and lighting. Most of the high wattage light fixtures are the 50/50 kind with actinic and I know its great for marine setups but I was thinking might be an algea problem in a f/w plant tank. I have 3 different makes of flourescent bulbs now, and although not that bright, I might just keep em and try to overdrive em 2x with the ODNO concept and see how that works out. But there are some good deals to be had on ebay for those 50/50 power compact lights or whatever they are.