question about lights for Africans?

[Raul]

I replaced the light fixtures with a dual T5 HO 48" for my 55g, now i got the actnic 420 and a 10000K lamps, now it looks as I expected blueish when I have both lamps on, I know the actnic 420 is more for reef tanks would this combination affect the fish I assume not, but just asking I can still replace the lamps for another combination or just get me another 10000k lamp, this is the ZOOMED fixture, and my 55g is unplanted so do not really care about the watts but I assume the fixture is good enough for plants too on a 21 inch deep tank.

right now also my tank has blue gravel maybe that makes it look more blueish, but tomorrow I am replacing the gravel with pool sand.

[mnemenoi]

The Actinic never did it for me in a FW tank, I always ended up swapping to another 10K or 6500K. That should be very doable for plants, especially some of the sturdier versions you'd want with Africans. I keep Anubias and some val in my tang tank, but its really low light and it does ok.

[Raul]

yep I am going to get me another bulb probably a 6500K and make some tests, right now I still do not like the blueish color maybe a combo of 6500K and actinic or the 10K with 6500K then just return the one I do not like.

[Darbex]

Fresh water plants don't really use light in blue spectrum. If you are planting then I would stick with the 10K or to get the plants to pop get the pink bulbs with the 10K. For fish only it won't hurt it's all just your preference. I personally don't like below a 10K it's to yellow.

[Raul]

well I guess blueish is not for me , I tried the 6.5K + 10K and that is what I liked, either combo of 10 and 6.5 with actinic ended up too blue.

I guess that negates my profile pic :)

[Andrew_B]

It just depends on the fish really. When I had little frontosas in my 55, I used just a single 24" fixture and used an actinic bulb. The darker edges of the tank with light that brings out their blues was real nice. I can also see it being nice with some rock dwelling mbuna.

If you have more red/yellows in your fish, stick with the 8-10ks. But if youre going for pure overall tank look, I think LEDs are the way to go with the shimmer

[eklikewhoa]

Metal Halide 8000k bulbs are the most amazing I've ever used for all around everything. Perfect color and awesome for the fish and plants.

[myjohnson]

That'll do it!

Get a nice MH fixture and be done with the issue.

Heat is not an issue.

[aggrofishkeeper]

I like the look of 20k MH bulbs.

[swk]

I'm a bigger fan of anything above 10000k, with 18000k being my all time favorite. Power glo is a good example. I just recently bought some dual NO t5 fixtures, but can't find any 18000k bulbs that aren't HO...kind of a bummer