How To Combat Flat And Boring Lighting!

[Genesis]

I have standard tank bulbs in my aquaria but I partially obscure the front light to add more depth.


On my Hagen tank (with the light built into the hood) I put parcel tape over the front section of the hood to dim the front of the tank, this adds depth and brings out the fishes' colours.

On my Jewel tank (with the lights hanging from the hood and reflectors) I turned the front reflectors upwards to face the roof of the tank, this also added depth and showed off the colours of my fish.



Here are some photos I took to show you;

Jewel Aquarium;

Hagen Aquarium;

Easy, cheap and well worth it




- Genesis



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[Snooks1!]

Adu-wha?

 

[Genesis]

Adu-wha?

Excuse me?

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Interesting ideas-gonna try obscuring mine tomorrow-worth a try in my aqua one

 

[Genesis]

Interesting ideas-gonna try obscuring mine tomorrow-worth a try in my aqua one

Hope it works for you!

 

[SuperColey1]

Why not just buy the right lights for the colour rendition you are after?

Andy

 

[nry]

My main concern is heat build-up - does reversing the reflector in the Juwel tank not lead to a huge heat build up on the plastic hood? Same may go for parcel tape, though that is slightly worrying incase any dampness on the tape lets the glue drip into the water, perhaps not a good idea unless you know it is 100% waterproof. May also make a darn mess if you try to remove the stuff.

I'm with SC, you can buy different lighting colours etc to bring out differing things in the tank, fish colours, plant colours etc (and as an aside reducing the light levels is perhaps going to cause your plants problems if you have any). Placement of the lights also affects how the fish etc show up - I found that having a tube right at the front of the tank lets loads of light hit the sides of the fish (instead of coming straight down) and really shows their colours up well.

 

[Genesis]

My main concern is heat build-up - does reversing the reflector in the Juwel tank not lead to a huge heat build up on the plastic hood? Same may go for parcel tape, though that is slightly worrying incase any dampness on the tape lets the glue drip into the water, perhaps not a good idea unless you know it is 100% waterproof. May also make a darn mess if you try to remove the stuff.

I'm with SC, you can buy different lighting colours etc to bring out differing things in the tank, fish colours, plant colours etc (and as an aside reducing the light levels is perhaps going to cause your plants problems if you have any). Placement of the lights also affects how the fish etc show up - I found that having a tube right at the front of the tank lets loads of light hit the sides of the fish (instead of coming straight down) and really shows their colours up well.

I just felt the hood of my Jewel Rio, no it's not really much hotter at all

And my Hagen tank is only at 81*F so there isn't too much evaporation, the tape is dry!