Fancy Lighting

[UK_Dave]

I was wondering if there was any way of putting in another light that would maybe light the tank up blue or something, instead of the normal boring fluorescent style lighting.

I dont have any live plants in there.

Do I have to stick with the normal white lighting or can I get any other style?

Also, ive heard people mention "Moon lighting" for night time viewing...Does that have to be a special light or can I just add anything to give some low light? I have a nocturnal fish and would like to see him more when its lights out time, but where I have no night lights, its not that easy to see him

cheers

 

[jjkremp]

I was wondering if there was any way of putting in another light that would maybe light the tank up blue or something, instead of the normal boring fluorescent style lighting.

I dont have any live plants in there.

Do I have to stick with the normal white lighting or can I get any other style?

Also, ive heard people mention "Moon lighting" for night time viewing...Does that have to be a special light or can I just add anything to give some low light? I have a nocturnal fish and would like to see him more when its lights out time, but where I have no night lights, its not that easy to see him

cheers

plants or no plants blue effect go with 20,000K bulbs the fixture bases are 24"36"&48" shopfixtures may not look beautiful but with some diy makeover you can make em look great and fit in since they are $20 US and the bulbs $5 us each its cheaper than getting aquarium branded ones for $400 let me know ill link you up

 

[UK_Dave]

I was wondering if there was any way of putting in another light that would maybe light the tank up blue or something, instead of the normal boring fluorescent style lighting.

I dont have any live plants in there.

Do I have to stick with the normal white lighting or can I get any other style?

Also, ive heard people mention "Moon lighting" for night time viewing...Does that have to be a special light or can I just add anything to give some low light? I have a nocturnal fish and would like to see him more when its lights out time, but where I have no night lights, its not that easy to see him

cheers

plants or no plants blue effect go with 20,000K bulbs the fixture bases are 24"36"&48" shopfixtures may not look beautiful but with some diy makeover you can make em look great and fit in since they are $20 US and the bulbs $5 us each its cheaper than getting aquarium branded ones for $400 let me know ill link you up

Right, now its time for me to sound thick! lol!

Can you explain that in easier terms please? I dont understand all this 20,000K stuff! Im new to all this!

Can I just replace the tube bulb I have with a different colour one and keep the original switch box I have with the 2 pin end connectors?

 

[jjkremp]

if its a no go at your local hardware store the bulbs are online but for 15-25$ instead of 5$ http/www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B001F93Y6C/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&qid=1258712046&sr=8-5&condition=new

but any standard 24" strip or fixture will run these 8000k is the last of the white LIght any higher you start getting blues until its purple then ultraviolent this 20K~K bulb will a nice tropical shade blue

http/hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs069.snc3/13633_1133417987725_1595568888_30309632_473868_n.jpg

 

[arobinson1984]

Another option would be this: LED Rock Lighting

Andy

 

[jjkremp]

Right, now its time for me to sound thick! lol!

Can you explain that in easier terms please? I dont understand all this 20,000K stuff! Im new to all this!

Can I just replace the tube bulb I have with a different colour one and keep the original switch box I have with the 2 pin end connectors?
[/quote]


my pic link in my past post shows you what these 20000kelvin and 8000 kelvin mean its good to learn and simple as for using your box sure i noticed online you can find em in 18" size see you need a bulb to fit the lenth of your box find out your length add 1/2" and thats what size bulb you need just go to your hardware store and ask someone there for 10,000Kelvin or higher bulbs for your size or buy online it will create the look you want without having a painted bulb like party bulbs plus your fish will like it and it emites more UV rays so it brings out the sparkles in your tank & fish

oh and btw for your other post if you have high nitrates consider a plant or two to eat it up and help eat up the ammonia and nitrites
(im talking about your other post just dont want to open another window)

 

[UK_Dave]

This is a rough idea of what I have to run my lighting,

I used that from a reptile forum as it was easier for me to find due to me using alot of reptile forums because of my snakes, iggy, etc

So, a bulb for that would be easy to find and ok to use then?

Im not sure on what the blue UV bulb I have sitting at home would do, sounds stupid but that wouldnt be ok to use would it? Its a 1.5% and gives out vitamin D

If I were to go for these blue bulbs your mentioning, are they ok for plants?

Also, I did a test again last night and (excuse me if I get this the wrong way around) but NO3 was 10, and NO2 was 0-0.3 (0-3 being maximum, didnt have a bit in between to measure against)

 

[jjkremp]

well temp your uv bulb would do but more as a secondary light the uv rays are great and all but a bit warmer lighting helps the fish and other such.. the bulbs i speak of will work infact any bulb of the same length should fit and work as for the 20,000K for plants ohh my your plants would fourish beyond those of people that just deal with plain full spectrum lights or (grow lights) 20,000K is like living outside for the plants and fish.. but relaxing for human eyes.

as for your readings your nitrites have gone down i see thats good the nitrates are fine right now only things those do is in large doses 35+ your fish start to loose their appetite but very slowly and plus they get lazy for lack of a better word hence why water changes are a must they take care of those and i presume you already know and do them anyways just plants would make it easier on you, your fish and the aquarium get those bulbs it think you will be happy with the results and can expand your hobby without upgrading lights for years

but back to the uv bulb you have yeah it would do ok temp but its strength is low be like nighttime but witha TAn for your fish lol however would help kill surface bacteria to a degree aswell and the rays give out the vitamin D to any living thing thats needs it which like i said your fish will just to them it feel night time

 

[UK_Dave]

Thing is though, they are quite bright so I wasnt sure if using that UV bulb would be good for them at night, it would probably still feel like day time, but in a blue world (tempted to start singing the old tune, "Im Blue" lol)

So, could I use that other bulb as a secondary along with the white one for the moment for health?

I will look into the other style bulbs then, its just it being white looks so bland! And where all my other vivs for my snake, turtles, and iguana look all fancy and colourful, the fish tank looks plain! Ok, its got colour in there in the form of fake plants and bright looking gourami's and that, the lighting seems to be letting the whole effect down

 

[jjkremp]

Thing is though, they are quite bright so I wasnt sure if using that UV bulb would be good for them at night, it would probably still feel like day time, but in a blue world (tempted to start singing the old tune, "Im Blue" lol)

So, could I use that other bulb as a secondary along with the white one for the moment for health?

I will look into the other style bulbs then, its just it being white looks so bland! And where all my other vivs for my snake, turtles, and iguana look all fancy and colourful, the fish tank looks plain! Ok, its got colour in there in the form of fake plants and bright looking gourami's and that, the lighting seems to be letting the whole effect down

o gouramis eh i luv em im a gourami man and like i said that 20,000K bulb wont come off as white it will come off as this nice blue but with white i mean is hard to explain and i cant take pics or video cuz well cameras dont go up that high in the spectrum of film pr digital, however its like picture this is a blue color but a natural light blue u know it dont look fake it looks RIGHT idk ull see what i mean and as for a secondary yeah know dont have to have it on at night u could use the uv in its own fixture behind the other bulb two give your tank the best of both worlds which just now reminded me ur UV bulb is 35,000k most likely so this 20 bulb is bit lighter

eh youll see what i mean if you get it

lol @ "i'm blue" i remember that

but yes you can use the UV light as back up with your current light to help tint the white to a blueish and help the tank out just remember though though it kills bacteria when it comes to the percentage it aint enough to make up for keeping it clean as possible..

 

[UK_Dave]

Yeah thats not a worry, I have a good working filter which helps keep the water crystal clear, plus I wont allow it to get dirty as its meant to be a thing of pleasure to watch and enjoy, aswell as a great centre piece, and the last thing I would want to see is a dirty tank!

Its not good for the fish, and not good for me to see it!

Its my other half's tanks but I spend more time on it making sure that the chemical levels are low, and doing water changes! Should be mine at this rate lol! As if I dont have enough time taken up with my reptiles already...but hey, its fun, rewarding, and never hurts to up the knowledge of animals in any way!

 

[mini_matt]

I would have a look at cold cathode tubes for some moonlighting, the LEDs are okay but tend to be really bright and dont diffuse much through the water whereas the tubes give a nice low light effect whivh looks great you can buy them in maplin and computor shops and think they do them in car places too, one I was looking at in maplin came with one blue tube and one uv tube which would give a nice look, think it was about a tenner

http/www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=34147 there they are

 

[helterskelter]

Here is my LED mood lighting i set up for a customer.