# What color LED's make the fish/plants pop



## aclaar877 (Feb 19, 2014)

On BuildMyLED website, you can look at the fixtures they have - go to the "product info" tab to see which LEDs they are using for the respective fixtures. I have read a lot of reviews and people generally are very pleased with how their tanks look with these LEDs. I should get my Dutch fixture this week. They have different models to highlight blue fish, red fish, plants, etc. That will give you an idea of the mixture of LEDs.


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## exv152 (Jun 8, 2009)

I'd say a good combination containing reds, blues and whites. The better brands are finnex (ray2, and planted+), BML (dutch), and a handful of others. BTW If you're planning limestone, you might want to consider african cichlids over SA cichlids, because your pH will be sky high.


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## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

MeCasa said:


> I'm running a few spots that will act as night lights. I have my tank sectioned off in areas and I need colors for two of those areas
> 
> My plant area, what will bring out the green plants at night
> 
> ...


Are you allowing for a total lights off period?


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

ALL of them..............


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## MeCasa (Apr 22, 2014)

aclaar877 said:


> On BuildMyLED website, you can look at the fixtures they have - go to the "product info" tab to see which LEDs they are using for the respective fixtures. I have read a lot of reviews and people generally are very pleased with how their tanks look with these LEDs. I should get my Dutch fixture this week. They have different models to highlight blue fish, red fish, plants, etc. That will give you an idea of the mixture of LEDs.


Been there done that


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## MeCasa (Apr 22, 2014)

Steve001 said:


> Are you allowing for a total lights off period?


5 3W LED's in a 150g is sleep time, don't want them bumping their little heads into the rock walls

Since it's only 5 3W LED's I want the colors that highlight specific areas the most


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## MeCasa (Apr 22, 2014)

exv152 said:


> I'd say a good combination containing reds, blues and whites. The better brands are finnex (ray2, and planted+), BML (dutch), and a handful of others. BTW If you're planning limestone, you might want to consider african cichlids over SA cichlids, because your pH will be sky high.


The limestone has nominal affect, I know because I tested

As for changing my fish, I'm not new to his rodeo just trying to ask my mates for wisdom on what color will make my plants and feesh look saxy.


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## MeCasa (Apr 22, 2014)

jeffkrol said:


> ALL of them..............


That's not a solution, that's the problem :icon_mrgr


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## MeCasa (Apr 22, 2014)

For the plants I'm thinking Lime, white looks good and cyan looks good

Lime's in the middle.

As for the fish area, perhaps I should try something like purple or violet, colors that will bring out both red and blue

That would also satisfy my feminine side


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

MeCasa said:


> For the plants I'm thinking Lime, white looks good and cyan looks good
> 
> Lime's in the middle.
> 
> ...


Just pair a warm white and cool white..for da fishies..

Ask 10 people.. get 10 answers..
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=237743

lime is just "green" cyan..


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## gus6464 (Dec 19, 2011)

Warm white is best at bringing out fish colors.


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## MeCasa (Apr 22, 2014)

WHITE!!!!

I'm looking for an excuse to use some sexy color like Violet or purple and you guys say WHITE!!!

You're killing me

OK, I'll admit it, what I really want is big aggressive GloFish under black lights


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

MeCasa said:


> WHITE!!!!
> 
> I'm looking for an excuse to use some sexy color like Violet or purple and you guys say WHITE!!!
> 
> ...


What was the website w/ the Japanese(?) LED calculator??? I keep "losing" it..


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## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

jeffkrol said:


> What was the website w/ the Japanese(?) LED calculator??? I keep "losing" it..


 Click my name then click Threads you started, you'll find a link that way


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## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

MeCasa said:


> 5 3W LED's in a 150g is sleep time, don't want them bumping their little heads into the rock walls
> 
> Since it's only 5 3W LED's I want the colors that highlight specific areas the most


Don't worry about fish bumping their heads. There ain't no nitelights in the wild and fish manage just fine.
Fish and plants need a period of total darkness. It's just as important as the photoperiod.


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## MeCasa (Apr 22, 2014)

http://www.1023world.net/diy/spectra/


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## ~rush~ (Mar 15, 2014)

Just chiming in here: I have a 48 inch Finnex MonsterRay over my 125g tank. I only run it at night as supplemental lighting to add some 'pop' to my fish's color. It's amazing what a difference it makes. The color that the monsterray puts off is a pinkish, purplish color. Kind of like the old school T8 or T5 Colormax bulbs used to look like. It adds red, high lights irridescent blues, and greens... couldn't be happier with it.


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## MeCasa (Apr 22, 2014)

Steve001 said:


> Don't worry about fish bumping their heads. There ain't no nitelights in the wild and fish manage just fine.
> Fish and plants need a period of total darkness. It's just as important as the photoperiod.


Steve, I was joking about the fish bumping their heads. I am building a complex lighting array and it can be difficult to ask opinions on a specific item without going into a long explanation of why. 

I make jokes about the glofish but fish like the Dempsey's have beautiful coloring that is spectacular especially if you can keep the tank darkened and bring out the coloring in the fish. In some ways it is almost a black light affect. 

I wish to acquire that look for part of my scheduled lighting. I'm going to buy some purple and violet and see how they make the fish look. Keep the darkness yet highlight the fish with specific spectrum. I have different looks for different time periods. This is twilight time when I'm winding down and right before total lights out which will be 1AM (when I go to bed)

As to why...because this is what I enjoy.


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## MeCasa (Apr 22, 2014)

DISCLAIMER: This thread was about NIGHT LIGHTS ONLY. My tank will cycle from Daytime plant lights to Evening moonlights to Night time night lights. These are just enough dimly lit lights to highlight a few things in the tank and quietly bring out the florescence in any fish that moves around. As much money as I've sunk in this tank I at least deserve a decent night light.

I've been working with the LED color gurus over at Nano and the consensus is that Royal Blue is the way to go.

Violet won't work because it emits hardly any visible light and won't have much affect on the reflective scales of the fish

Red doesn't work well because it dissipates very fast and as such you would need so many LED's that it would flood the area ruining the look

Blue isn't great because blue contains mostly white (or visa versa) and will over illuminate

Royal Blue is the perfect spectrum for dark viewing, it will bring out the fish while not lighting the tank and the trick is not to use many

As for night lights on the plants, a combination of cool white and warm white will do the trick especially with lenses to control your beam on the plants as to not flood the area. Keep the LED's in a cluster to mix the whites.

The guys that helped me are the best of the best

I hope ya'll can use this info someday

Take care

And Thank you to the Gentlemen at Nano ;-)


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

How many "colors" do you see w/ moonlight (reflected white sunlight).............
Then there is this;










White LED's ARE royal blue plus......... 

About the only reflection you get is specular off the scales.. and your eye is not sensitive to blue.. soooooooooo I stand by really low white..

Maybe you can get a bit more understanding w/ this.... 









A great experiment for multi-channel LED owners.. 

Oddly enough that leads ot low light cyan...


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## MeCasa (Apr 22, 2014)

But I'm not tying to emulate moonlight, I'm trying to emulate black light. I want the tank to remain dark with just a glint of florescence off the fish. Not sure I could accomplish that with white

If I thought a black light would work I'd try it despite the ridicule I'd suffer

Hell, you know me, I'll try both and I'd take pictures if I ever learned how to use my camera. But don't hold your breath, I've always owned nice cameras and never learned how to use any of them. Buying them just proved I was a good and caring parent ;-)


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

MeCasa said:


> But I'm not tying to emulate moonlight, I'm trying to emulate black light. I want the tank to remain dark with just a glint of florescence off the fish. Not sure I could accomplish that with white
> 
> If I thought a black light would work I'd try it despite the ridicule I'd suffer
> 
> Hell, you know me, I'll try both and I'd take pictures if I ever learned how to use my camera. But don't hold your breath, I've always owned nice cameras and never learned how to use any of them. Buying them just proved I was a good and caring parent ;-)


I understand that.. my point (and to be honest I should just test it) is rb will just give you a blue tank..dull dark blue..

I can't honestly judge the flur nature of most fw fish (beside the day glo kind.. 

Like you stated I'd rather try the "UV" than the RB.. if not going w/ a more visible tone..
"glow" converts like you can't see to light you can.. 
Blue w/ white "spots" (I'm guessing)








blue w/ some white... (again assumptions). It doesn't take much "white" to add "some" texture..








my early tanks w/ a 2:1 ratio of actinic blue and high white (10000K or so) Wouldn't need to dim it much to be "dark w/ texture".. well maybe a lot.. 









much more creative..









Just tiny regular blues....
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f20/building-my-own-moonlight-for-freshwater-171104.html


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