# lighting the SA/CA cichlid tanks...



## dcorolla05 (Aug 12, 2006)

I'm curious what people are using to light their tanks. I have a 135g tank with a coralife fixture which houses 2 65watt 10k bulbs. The light defianatly luminates the tank but seems to wash out some of cichlids color. I also have a T8 fixture with aqua-glo bulbs which dont seem to produce enough light to luminate the fish but make the background look great.

so I'm curious what the folks of cichlid forum are using.. here are some tank photos for your enjoyment...



















I could be just being picky you make the call.


----------



## the General (Aug 26, 2007)

I wired up in parallel 6 6500k spiral cfl's I got from lowes to the underbelly of the canopy I made for my 135 gallon tank. This really works well for me, as since they're compact bulbs instead of long tubes, the light they put out is not as even, and I get a really cool looking 'rippling' effect along with some shadows on the fish and substrate.

It's only downside is that when the moths start coming in the window and going under the canopy, I have no doubt the fish will make short work of the bulbs, so I have to get off my arse and make some kind of shield.

If you're sick of your lighting and want an easy project maybe give this a try?

p.s. freshwater fish usually look better in lower color temps like 6500k so you might just replace the bulbs on what you have for great success


----------



## dcorolla05 (Aug 12, 2006)

I had 6700 k bulbs in at one point.. I found that the light was very yellow thats why I converted to 10k light spectrum. I was doing some reading about 6700k with colormax. I'm curious if the color max would help bring out some of the reds without making the tank look [email protected]@ yellow..


----------



## chrispyweld (Dec 20, 2005)

I USE ONE 6800K AND ONE ACTINIC


----------



## ArcticCatRider (Jul 13, 2007)

well, I'm not sure exactly what I use, usually just the 'stock' bulbs, that come with tank/lid.

My light is more of a light purple though, it looks really great though, and it brings out the darker, richer colors in most of my cichlids.


----------



## hyposalinity (Apr 30, 2008)

6500 or 7000k Metal Halides should do the trick


----------



## macclellan (Nov 30, 2006)

I prefer a mix of 6700k and 10000k bulbs.


----------



## Hubbynz (May 10, 2008)

beautiful lookin fish


----------

