# Best light temperature to show off fish color



## zanardi

Hello all.

What in your opinion is the best light temperature to show off the color of bright fish like neons, rams, etc. ? Right now I think my fluorescent is 4500 K. In my opinion colors in my tank look washed out and yellow. Is it generally the case where whiter "colder" light better renders color? 
Is there a "sweet spot"?

In some tanks the fish color appears spectacular.

Thanks!


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## 13razorbackfan

10000k plus actinic/powerglo

4500k is very yellow


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## CjCichlid

4500k is definitely going to give off a very yellow light. When I was using florescent bulbs I used 1 6500k bulb and one Actinic bulb. It gave off a nice white light that showed the fish's colors off well. They also make 50/50 bulbs that will give you the same effect if you only have a single bulb fixture.

If you are looking to buy a new fixture, I would recommend LED's.


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## 13razorbackfan

CjCichlid said:


> 4500k is definitely going to give off a very yellow light. When I was using florescent bulbs I used 1 6500k bulb and one Actinic bulb. It gave off a nice white light that showed the fish's colors off well. They also make 50/50 bulbs that will give you the same effect if you only have a single bulb fixture.
> 
> If you are looking to buy a new fixture, I would recommend LED's.


Next time I buy bulbs I can gonna try 6500k with a 10000k plus two actinics.


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## Sub-Mariner

How many bulbs does your fixture use? Heres what Im using in my quad fixture:

2x: 10K
1x: Actinic
1x: Power-Glo


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## 13razorbackfan

Sub-Mariner said:


> How many bulbs does your fixture use? Heres what Im using in my quad fixture:
> 
> 2x: 10K
> 1x: Actinic
> 1x: Power-Glo


How do you like the actinic versus power glo? I have had power glo in the past but it has been a long time and in a t8 fixture so I am not sure about t5. I hear the power glo helps show off reds as well as blue and greens?


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## Sub-Mariner

For all around color I like the Power-Glos better. They make all of my fish look great whereas the Actinic is really only good for blues / purples. The 1 Actinic really made the Peacocks iridescent blue pop. I think in a quad fixture 1 Actinic is perfect. On my 90g I had a dual T8 fixture with 1x: 10K and 1x: Actinic and the blue Actinic really overpowered the tank. It washed the reds, yellows and oranges out.

Heres some pictures I took tonight...You can click on the thumbnails to enlarge them, then click again to enlarge them more. The only editing done was crop / resize.

*Makonde Yellow Blackfin


German Red 


Bi-Color


*


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## 13razorbackfan

Sub-Mariner said:


> For all around color I like the Power-Glos better. They make all of my fish look great whereas the Actinic is really only good for blues / purples. The 1 Actinic really made the Peacocks iridescent blue pop. I think in a quad fixture 1 Actinic is perfect. On my 90g I had a dual T8 fixture with 1x: 10K and 1x: Actinic and the blue Actinic really overpowered the tank. It washed the reds, yellows and oranges out.
> 
> Heres some pictures I took tonight...You can click on the thumbnails to enlarge them, then click again to enlarge them more. The only editing done was crop / resize.
> 
> *Makonde Yellow Blackfin
> 
> 
> German Red
> 
> 
> Bi-Color
> 
> 
> *


Ok...I think I will get one actinic, one power glo, one 10000k and one 6500k and try that. It will be a while before I can afford to do this but always trying to do some research for the future. Thanks


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## aquariam

If I can throw in my two cents on lighting- X color reflects X color. A red tint will make red pop, a green tint will pop green, a white will pop everything a bit, a yellow yellow, and so forth. If you had, say, a 4 bulb fixture, I'd run 3000 4500 6000 10000 or something like that and try to pop every color I could. For general use in 2 bulb 1 6000-6500k and one 3000-3500K works well. If you are limited to one bulb I'd take a 6000-7000K. JM2C.


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## punman

I keep African cichlids.
If I had only one bulb to choose, I'd go 10000k.
10000k plus actinic if I were using two bulbs on one tank.


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## zanardi

Thanks for all of the replys. Right now I just have a cheap household fluorescent with a single bulb. I'll likely order a dedicated aquarium fixture with the higher temp bulbs. I'm familiar with them from my saltwater tank days. I could have kept my old fixture but I went from A 48" wide tank down to a 36".


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## Sub-Mariner

For a single fixture get a 50/50 bulb. Its half 10K and half Actinic.


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## GTZ

From back to front I run a 10,000K, 6500K, actinic and a 10,000K.


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## calveezzzy

aquariam said:


> If I can throw in my two cents on lighting- X color reflects X color. A red tint will make red pop, a green tint will pop green, a white will pop everything a bit, a yellow yellow, and so forth. If you had, say, a 4 bulb fixture, I'd run 3000 4500 6000 10000 or something like that and try to pop every color I could. For general use in 2 bulb 1 6000-6500k and one 3000-3500K works well. If you are limited to one bulb I'd take a 6000-7000K. JM2C.


But at the same time, the opposite temperature colors will wash them out (IE 3000k will cancel out 10000k lighting), so you'll be stuck with washed out colors. Look at the color of your fish. If your fish are cooler colored (blue, purple, etc) get a cool-colored bulb 8000-10000k. If your fish are warm colors (yellow, orange, etc) get a warmer bulb 3000k-6000k.

I may not have a lot of aquarium experience, but I assume lighting is the same as in photography, which I do have a lot of experience in.


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## little cichlid

zanardi said:


> Thanks for all of the replys. Right now I just have a cheap household fluorescent with a single bulb. I'll likely order a dedicated aquarium fixture with the higher temp bulbs. I'm familiar with them from my saltwater tank days. I could have kept my old fixture but I went from A 48" wide tank down to a 36".


I also have the normal typical fluorescent housing. I have an 18000k powerglo in my 36g that I reallyy like. It gives the tank a crystal clear appearence as well as makes the fish look good. I just put 2 5500k zoo meds in my 75g (separate fixtures) and I think it looks like garbage. I will probably go return them and get the closest I can to whats in my 36. The price was about the same for two btw


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## SupeDM

Unless you are trying to grow coral,plants or algae 4 bulbs is alot of light. Also IMHO anything lower than 10k tends to wash out some colors on the fish. Whereas 10k seens to be a more neutral light to me. I dont run actinics because i am not growing coral and see no need for the more expensive bulbs. I havent personaly tried the 18k bulbs yet but I will be soon. As a previous poster suggested the 5500 and 6500k bulbs dont realy do much for Aesthetics alone. I think thats why people run actinics and combinations with them. I find that 10k bulbs with a single bulb at least the full length of tank works excellent. On 6 foot or longer tanks I just use 2 fixtures to get the length.


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