Yellow Light !

[severn]

hi

i just switched over to 34" 39w t5 bulbs...2 running out of the 4 to break my fish in gently..

BUT,,,stupidly i bought 4 X deltec daylight 6000 k bulbs ...

it is very yellow ..


what i want is a " normal balanced " colour of light...my lfs suggested i get some 14,000 k bulbs or would bulbs like the arcadia t5 plant pro be better at getting things back in balance. ?

advice appreciated
thanks

Jon

 

[Themuleous]

First off, 6000k bulbs are generally ideal for planted tanks, so you've not done the wrong thing in getting them, quite the opposite! I would also say that I'm surprised to hear you say they are very yellow, as sunlight has a colour temp of around 6500k (if my memory serves me correctly!) so you should be getting a nice white colour. The lower you go the redder the light gets, higher equals more blue coloured light.

You could add a 14000k bulb, and as you've got room for four bulbs perhaps also get a lower k bulb as well, something around 4000k, that would give you a nice mix of colours and the high and low K bulbs should bring out the colour of the fish and plants.

Sam

EDIT - i should also add that the colour temp of the light is really an aesthetic thing, the spectrum of light produced by the bulbs is far more important for the actual growth of the plants.