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Hey guys, i hear so much diff. stuff about flourescent, i want to know what you use.

The guy at my LFS said that my actinic light will help improve my fish's colors (the bulb is 17,000K is im not mistaken)

Alot of people on the forums say that it is making my fish's colors worse.

Right now on my tank, I have 1 actinic light, and 1 5500k bulb. If i change both lights to 5500k will my fish's colors improve, or decrease?

The reason i make this post is becase in my dad's aquarium, his fish have very good colors, and his tank lights are like blueish-purpleish, his fish's colors are very dark, and vibrany, while mine are light and blahh.

All I want is my fish to look good (clown loaches to be vibrant orange, my WCMM's to be dark, with vibrant red tails, etc) So what 2 light bulbs will make my fish look their best (please add the K rating of the bulb)

Please tell me what kind of oblbs you use, and pictures of your fish (if u have them)

Thanks alot!

Just my 2c... But gravel color, nutrition and water quality matters a WHOLE LOT more then lighting. I've had an aquarium with many different light configurations and changing them never really made any difference. Yellow light makes fish slightly yellow and blue light makes fish slightly blue... It wont help their actual color... Just tint them slightly. So the best would be the whitest light you can find , 6500-10k will give you that.

Last edited by john.stone at 25-Nov-2004 01:18

the thing is is that mine/my dads tanks are the same. We have the same mainenence on the tanks, and the pH levels are usually the same also. (WHen we move fish, we just tale it ut, and plop it in the other tank, no need to float the bag or anything)

I do have the urge to steal some of his gravel though, since it is darker:

my gravel: http://image22.webshots.com/23/6/85/35/207868535otorsI_ph.jpg

his gravel:

http://image16.webshots.com/16/1/91/13/209719113fDqWzY_ph.jpg

Do you really think that color difference in gravel will make his fish look so much better than mine?

Here is a comparisin,, his clown loach:

http://image22.webshots.com/22/1/51/15/209715115bbCiBh_ph.jpg

my clown loach:
http://image18.webshots.com/18/6/86/95/207868695iUuFot_ph.jpg

I mean, you can see, his has MUCH more color, and is much more vibrant.

Your clowns look to be in excellent condition. They have fine colors. If you are wanting to get darker colors though, yes the darker substrate and background will help in this. As fish try to blend into their surroundings, so the lighter the color, the lighter the fish, and the darker the surroundings, the darker the fish.

_____________________________________________________________

There is always a bigger fish...

do you think i can buy like really dark (almost black) gravel and mix it to make it look darker like the 55g?

My 20-gallon has conventional pea gravel, while my 55 has the epoxy-coated gravel in dark blue, which admittedly a lot of people think is somewhat artificial. But my Rams in the 55 look a lot better than the one in the 20. The Ram in the 20 is very washed out, while the ones in the 55 are much more clearly colorful fish.

Last edited by Silverlight at 25-Nov-2004 09:24

What if i only use 1 light to make the aquarium darker?

Will this help make the colors better?

(My LFS does have darker gravel, and i might get some)

Less light will make your fish looked washed out... Bright white light with a black background, dark gavel, live food and perfect water will get you the results you want.

victimizati0n

I use two Sera Tubes lighting, with the plant tube at the rear and the daylight at the front. These lights are the most expensive I have ever had. They must be replaced every two years. With my plants and fish they speak for them selves. Its the old saying $$$ = quality.

Your loaches look very healthy the colour could just be your lighting.

Keith

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As Acid said its your gravel that is making them look different. Yes you can add darker gravel to your tank. But depending on the depth of your gravel it may take a bit. When i swith gravel colors i work on 1/4 of the tank at a time (so i dont take out too much bacteria). Scoop out 1/4 of the light gravel, Pour in the same amount of new darker gravel where you pulled the lighter out. I do this about every 10 days until most of the lighter is replaced.

My wife is finnicky and changes her mind alot so ive gotten fairly good at doing changes without going into mini-cycles.

I really dont think the problem is actually your lighting. I personally dont like the look of actinic lights on my freshwater tanks, the bluish haze gives me headaches. I use 6700k daylight pc bulbs, that is what i think lights my tanks the best.

Bdadawg

Yea, i took the actinic out.

Im going to save that for when i change the tank over to SW in the future.

My dad doesnt really want me to change anything (he says the less crap you do to the tank, the better it is for your fish) and i kinda agree with him, but i want to get it perfect.