Tank Lighting

[Dmoney]

Hey everybody, I am new here at this forum. I am just diving into my first African Cichlid tank. I have everything set-up except for lighting. My tank is 55 gallons, and is probably 3-3 1/2 feet long. It has two hoods with a 18" light in each. I am curious if there is a certain kind, color, brand of light that brings out the colors on the fish better than others. I have also seen some posts about LED spotlights, or moon lights. I wanted to see what you guys thought about those? Are they worth purchasing? Any help or suggestions would be great, I am sure I will have many more questions to come! Thanks.......

 

[dthoffsett]

If your tank is a standard 55 gallon it is 4 feet long.

I've found that "daylight" lighting (6500K) works best to bring out their colors. I'm into cheap lighting, so I use the standard one bulb light fixture that came with the tank. I think moon lighting looks cool, it just depends if you want to spend the money on it.

 

[Dmoney]

Do you know of any certain moonlighting that is easy to install in the hood? When you say expensive, how much you mean? I dont remember seeing any of that kind of lighting at my lfs.

 

[dthoffsett]

Are you from the US or UK? If you are in the US you might check out:
http/www.petsolutions.com/Lighting+C33.aspx
http/www.thatpetplace.com/pet/cat/info/22943/category.web
http/www.drsfostersmith.com/product/pet_...cfm?c=3578+3733
http/www.petsmart.com/family/index.jsp?c...dropdown4_link9

If you are in the UK, you might wait for someone else to help with links.