Lighting

[Kaia]

Was just curious what everyone thought about LED lighting? What is the best lighting to have that will show good colors?

[Sean]

I like to use a hood with a good lightbulb that shows colors really well, an then marine land hidden LEDs as accents

[Regalblue]

The only tank I have with a dedicated light,  uses a 36" marineland double bright . It's a 75gal & I'm satisfied with it.

[danielratti]

You wanna use a actinic  and a super actinic. These will help with color popping. a long with with that there is 454 bulbs along with 75.25 bulbs that will also help make color stand out as well. The led light have both actinic and super actinic in them so it will help along with that leds will make a shimmer look of the water.

[Kaia]

I have looked at LED lighting! What I like about it is that you can change from day light to night time. Where does the hidden LEDs go? I have glass lids on this tank.

[Kaia]

This tank that I bought has standard fluorescent bulbs in them, and it makes the water look yellow and dingy. I also don't feel like it's showing the true colors of the fish.

[Sean]

They clip on the inner trim of the tank. Not sure which bulb I'm using but it has a purple hue to it and really brings out colors in orange fish. What colors are you looking to bring out most

[TrailerParkFishTanks]

I recommend a 3,000,000 candle power spotlight. Just aim it downward on the tank it'll look great. J/k anyway There are plenty of t5's and t8's that look great as well and way cheaper. LEDs you have more options with colors so you can customize the settings to your liking. I also think that LEDs have a tendency to have a shorter shelf life than claimed. Individual diodes may go bad but you'll still have plenty of light overall. There are give and take to both sides but in the long run its personal preference. PS I think LEDs are still pretty sweet.

[Kaia]

They clip on the inner trim of the tank. Not sure which bulb I'm using but it has a purple hue to it and really brings out colors in orange fish. What colors are you looking to bring out most

so essentially they are submersible and would be in a line?

[Kaia]

I recommend a 3,000,000 candle power spotlight. Just aim it downward on the tank it'll look great. J/k anyway There are plenty of t5's and t8's that look great as well and way cheaper. LEDs you have more options with colors so you can customize the settings to your liking. I also think that LEDs have a tendency to have a shorter shelf life than claimed. Individual diodes may go bad but you'll still have plenty of light overall. There are give and take to both sides but in the long run its personal preference. PS I think LEDs are still pretty sweet.

Interesting, because I was thinking LED used less energy and lasted longer. So really the only benefit to LED is being able to change the lighting colors in your tank? That can't be right either, because they sell all white LED... 

[Kaia]

They clip on the inner trim of the tank. Not sure which bulb I'm using but it has a purple hue to it and really brings out colors in orange fish. What colors are you looking to bring out most

no colors in specific, just want to be able to see the true colors better.

[Steve]

I use dual bulb T5 HO fixtures on my tanks. One bulb is actinic the other 6500k and they really bring out the colors, especially blues in fish. Then I use blue LED moon lights. I also have Hydor single spot LEDs in my peacock tank in both white and blue which I use sometimes to add a more dramatic lighting effect.

[Sean]

They clip on the inner trim of the tank. Not sure which bulb I'm using but it has a purple hue to it and really brings out colors in orange fish. What colors are you looking to bring out most

so essentially they are submersible and would be in a line?

Yes, they're fully submersible and they look pretty cool too.

[Marty]

To answer your question about the shelf life of LED lights, it just depends on the quality of the manufacturer.  If you get a decent quality manufacturer, you can expect your light to last forever or about 50,000 hours, whichever comes first.

I recently bought two 36" Deep Blue fixtures from Kensfish.com last fall at the Ohio Cichlid Extravaganza that I'm pretty happy with.  I use them on my 400 gallon which is over 30" deep and they provide plenty of light.  Each bulb is a t5 bulb that is 21 watts, so it's pretty cheap to run them.  It also has 6 LED moonlights that are always on.  The only downside to this fixture is that the daylight and actinic have their own switch.  So if you have them on a timer, you're cutting power to the entire fixture (so no moonlights).  Here's the link to give you an idea of what they look like: 

http://www.kensfish.com/aquarium-supplies/aquarium-lighting/deep-blue-pro-t-5-ho-double-bulb-fixture-with-moonlights-36.html

[African cichlid Keeper]

The only tank I have with a dedicated light,  uses a 36" marineland double bright . It's a 75gal & I'm satisfied with it.

I am getting 2 marineland double bright for my 90 gal when I get it. I use a 36" marineland double bright on my 40 breeder and it really makes it the cichlid colors pop.