Aquarium Lighting 10 points?
I'm in the process of starting from scratch with my 4 foot tank. This time round i'm going for a community tank with a heap of colour so i changed the background to bright blue, ditched the black substrate and whent for a white and light brown rock. I'm thinking of changing the fluro bulb to somthing better. Does the blue bulbs they use on marine tanks work for freshwater fish or are they only needed to grow coral? I want a bulb that really brings out colours. I dont think i'll be using plants at this stage. Any ideas?
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Tagged with: Aquarium • Lighting • points
Filed under: 3D Aquarium Background
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There’s a certiN wattage and if you useany higher than the recommend of the lid it will melt the plasticbut other than thT you do what every you damn well please
Assuming you have T12 fixture (“normal” size bulbs, same with as regular fixtures) you are looking at 40wat bulbs. There are a wide variety and if you are not planning on a planted aquarium just go by what you like (they differ in brightness, color, intensity) The bulbs will be designated for fresh or salt or a few that go both ways. The ‘blue’ bulbs ‘work’ for fresh water fish and will do no harm but you probably won’t wanna use them (actinic)
you say “the fluro bulb”, does your fixture only have one? Adding a second and maybe mixing gives you double the options
a little reference on diff types of bulbs and what they do:
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/pic/article.cfm?articleid=354
not saying buy them here, silly to pay the shipping when I am sure your local store has
It does not matter what you use
When you say blue bulbs, I assume you mean actinic. It does have a very nice hue and depending on the fish you purchase, it will bring out their colors, but it will also ruin the coloration of many other vibrant fish. You should also note that if you do purchase actinic, you can forget about plant growth if you do consider them eventually as they do not provide the necessary spectrum of lighting for freshwater plants.
I think you should consider live plants, as the fish certainly feel more at ease with live plants and will produce more vibrant coloration if they are comfortable.
Purchase a T5 light if you have the money, and they have a variety of bulbs that are hybrids of white and actinic, or even red. Red to my experience brings out the color of many fish quite well, but this will promote algae growth.