# lighting still gives tank a yellow hue?



## EROD714 (Aug 16, 2012)

Wat brand of lights do u have.. I heard of the same combination that's suppose be good but don't really know.. I heard the CRI should be Above 85 do u know wat CRI it is? I have a t8 red bulb with a 10000k bulb and seems to be workin fine .. want to make the change to T5 for higher spectrum .. Wat size is u tank and how deep is it.. how the plants reacting the lights.let us know.. Hopefully u can answer here.. I'm alway willing to share info on plants.. Good luck


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

I have Odyssea brand lights and I have heard that they are always a little on the yellow side :/ Not sure of the CRI but I'm sure somewhere, someone has that info. My tank is a 40 gallon breeder and is 16 inches deep. The plants are doing ok thankfully


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

The light filtering through the floating plants will change the color of the light. Cheap bulbs may have lower CRI and not be as attractive to the eye but take off the floaters to see if they are the cause first. Maybe you could corral floaters to one area to reduce the effect? Maybe put your old tank water in a white bucket next time you change the water to see if it is still a bit colored?


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## stlouisan (Jun 8, 2006)

I was thinking the same thing. As I was reading I was thinking tannins, but then you used Purigen. Then I was thinking plants and you said Frogbit. By chance do you have any small amounts of algae on your glass? that might affect the color, just like frogbit would. I don't have any experience in the catalina bulbs but that would annoy me if their color was off, although you are using one bulb that is on the warmer side. Perhaps try removing the 6500K bulb and see what it looks like; you may want to switch do 2 10,000Ks


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## jeremyTR (Mar 21, 2012)

I use odyssea t5ho lights and its white. No yellow at all.

Sent from my HTC Evo 4G


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

water tannins


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## jeremyTR (Mar 21, 2012)

Yea I was going to mention tannins too. Grab some Purigen.

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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

I did the purigen and the water is clearer but still yellow. I think it's my lighting. I bought a fixture with bulbs for cheap but the problem is everyone has been saying that the bulbs through that fixture are quite yellow. Gonna trade in for a 10000K bulb soon.


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## jeremyTR (Mar 21, 2012)

I use odyssea bulbs. 6500k. They're white. 



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## metallicanick78 (Apr 26, 2011)

that will do it, swap to two 10000k bulbs and it will look blueish. I have all 6500k bulbs and When they get older im going to try some 10000k again. I like the yellow look sometimes but I miss the look of my 10000k... almost looks cleaner.


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

Yes I agree. I have GBRs in my tank and they look better under the 10000K light than the 6500K light. I don't know why but I am guessing that since the 10000K light is blue-er than the 6500K, the blue sheen on the GBRs stands out more? I don't know but I do like the 10000K look better. My 10 gallon tank has a 12000K bulb on it and the cardinals in there POP!


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## jeremyTR (Mar 21, 2012)

12k looks like a violet color doesn't it?

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## jbrady33 (Jun 7, 2012)

You could move to LED cheaply(ish) with the Finnex products, this is the Fugeray with white & blue on at the same time - no yellow cast at all:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=187184

The Ray 2 is high-light, better PAR but doesn't have the blue lights, all daylight white.


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## TeteRouge (Jul 26, 2009)

I had a dual daylight (6700/10000) bulb in my Current fixture. Many like the look, but I hated it. Tho it was optimal for plants, IMHO it made everything this sort of sickly, muddy (to me) yellow, like a humid summer day where the sun is coming through a thick haze. Was told it was like the Amazon at noon. You might be happier with the look of 10000, it's cleaner. I use that for about 6 hrs during the day for the plants, and 18000k full spectrum (think Hagen Powerglo or similar) for viewing enjoyment other times. Again, not optimal for plants, especially ones with high lighting requirements. For what its worth.


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

jeremyTR said:


> 12k looks like a violet color doesn't it?
> 
> Sent from my HTC Evo 4G


From what I was told, it is approaching actinic but still in the blue ish light. It's extremely white. Makes my tank look almost like a hospital. The colors on my rainbows pop though. I have aru II and furcata in there and the higher temp makes the blues on the aru II really shine.



jbrady33 said:


> You could move to LED cheaply(ish) with the Finnex products, this is the Fugeray with white & blue on at the same time - no yellow cast at all:
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=187184
> 
> The Ray 2 is high-light, better PAR but doesn't have the blue lights, all daylight white.


I would but being the poor college student that I am, everything is on a budget for me haha  



TeteRouge said:


> I had a dual daylight (6700/10000) bulb in my Current fixture. Many like the look, but I hated it. Tho it was optimal for plants, IMHO it made everything this sort of sickly, muddy (to me) yellow, like a humid summer day where the sun is coming through a thick haze. Was told it was like the Amazon at noon. You might be happier with the look of 10000, it's cleaner. I use that for about 6 hrs during the day for the plants, and 18000k full spectrum (think Hagen Powerglo or similar) for viewing enjoyment other times. Again, not optimal for plants, especially ones with high lighting requirements. For what its worth.


I want my plants to grow and I think that the 10000K can still get the job done. Using the PAR measurements I made, it still looks like I am getting enough light. Switching to 10000K shouldn't be too much of an issue. What I want is the yellow look to disappear. It looks dirty which is why I don't like it much.


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## if_fishes_were_wishes (Jul 29, 2007)

10k will get the yellow out. All you need are new bulbs, not a new fixture  I have 2 Odyssey lights and they work great, but I have swapped out the bulbs.


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

Yep I was going to trade for new bulbs but cannot find any locally. I guess I will just wait until the bulb dies or until I come back from school to replace it.


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## if_fishes_were_wishes (Jul 29, 2007)

I've bought bulbs from Amazon with no worries. Marine Depot and ebay sellers charge a ton to ship bulbs - Amazon had some for just $8 shipping, which worked out to be at the same price at the local store.


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## jbrady33 (Jun 7, 2012)

How much $ are the bulbs?


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

I bought mine for 12.90. If I bought 4 or more it would have been 8.90. Not sure how much online costs


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## if_fishes_were_wishes (Jul 29, 2007)

jbrady33 said:


> How much $ are the bulbs?


Depends on the length/wattage you need, the brand, plus which spectrum - Amazon has some good deals 

I dropped $30 for a bulb on Amazon for my reef tank but it was money well spent - made a huge difference!


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