Lighting to bring out the colors

[Torch]

What Floursecent lighting bulb are great to show the red,orange colors of svr ranchus. Colormax, 5500, 6500k, 10,000k...etc?

[Ajno]

10k seems to be good forthe reds and oranges, makes them pop.

[Torch]

10,000k it is, any brand do you recommend?

[Ajno]

Actually I have a 50/50 65w on my 20 gallon qt. It makes my R/W look pretty good. I have coralife lights and AHS light kits. I'll post a few pictures.

Here's a pic with 50/50 bulb
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn315/Ajno17/March292009005-1.jpg?t=1238611902

Here's one with 6500k lighting
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn315/Ajno17/Sept82008044.jpg?t=1238612017

The first picture does have more overall wattage then the second one. But was hoping the pics would help you with your decision. 6500k is closer to the sun, more of a yellowish hue, while 50/50 seems bluer (is that a word?) to me.

[Torch]

Angie, can you repost the pics.

[Ichthius]

I find that the old school pink plant and aquarium bulbs make the reds pop the most.

The higher the kelvin the bluer the light and the less intense the red.

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[Ajno]

http://s307.photobucket.com/albums/nn315/Ajno17/th_March292009005-1.jpg
http://s307.photobucket.com/albums/nn315/Ajno17/th_Sept82008044.jpgCoralife has a T5 unit at Big Al's that has a plant bulb called colormax. That bulb makes the reds really stand out.

Here's the colormax bulb http://www.bigalsonline.com/StoreCatalog/ctl3684/cp18371/si1379088/cl1/coralife_t5_colormax_lamp24?&query=colormax+full+spectrum&queryType=0&offset=

Looks like its available for CFL and T5's

[Torch]

Seems the 50/50 brings out more red.

[suphi]

I switched to Hagen's Power-Glo (>10,000K) recently, and love the results especially if you're planning to photograph your fish. The red comes out really well, without yellow hue from the 6,700K bulb or lower temp. I didn't need to do any color correction (white balance) in post-processing. I'd say the color is very close to the original color of the fish without artificial lighting.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3611/3415726804_8f29dca6d1.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3399/3414920499_8f230970d0.jpg

[Torch]

Hey I do see more pop in the Red color, are the Power-Glo you are using T5 or T8?

[suphi]

T5, I think. The red and blue pop, but the orange and white retain their original colors.

Those previous fish have orange red color. The fish with true red color is below.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3337/3414919455_43f02a01b4.jpg

[Guenther]

I use the "Power-Glo" and sometimes the combination "Power-Glo" and "Aqua-Glo" in all tanks. You can see the result in all images on my website.
I prefer the "Power-Glo".