T5s making albinos look horrible!

[Yassmeena]

I installed 2x54W T5HO lights and ever since my plants look great, but my albino discus look strangely pale and yellow.

Has anyone had this experience?

I am wondering if I should exchange my lights???? They will be for a 72 gallon planted tank that will eventually get CO2 in a couple months. :confused::confused:

Yasmin

[Jhhnn]

I installed 2x54W T5HO lights and ever since my plants look great, but my albino discus look strangely pale and yellow.

Has anyone had this experience?

I am wondering if I should exchange my lights???? They will be for a 72 gallon planted tank that will eventually get CO2 in a couple months. :confused::confused:

Yasmin

I think all albino discus look strangely pale and yellow, but that's just me, I'm sure...

What's the color temperature of the bulbs? What color do the fish exhibit in bright natural sunlight?

The colors of all discus start to look washed out in very bright lighting... might try running just one bulb, see how they look...

[TankWatcher]

I think that Jhhnn is onto something. It might be the spectrum of the tubes. In Aus, I find a lot of the T5 units come with free tubes that are marine white (Kelvin rating of 10,000K or higher).

Whereas, something in the natural daylight spectrum works better. Mine are a mixture of plant / 10K (because I can't source a plant tube that fits my unit, that doesn't come in this 50/50 combo). It seems to be ok for my albinos & plants. But they aren't T5, they're compact PC's. Lots of ppl use T5s though, so I don't think just being a T5 is the issue. IMO, it's sure to be K rating.

BTW, Yass. I was trying to have a peak at your 30G planted that Rick mentioned. Do you have a link to that one?

[bs6749]

Exactly, it is the temperature rating of the bulb. You should try to find pictures comparing different types of bulbs over the same tank to see what might be better for you. I know there are threads out there like that (on other forums for certain) as I have come across them from time to time.

[Cooldadddyfunk286]

same thing happened to me Yas, when I first got my albinos in and started my albino tank I was using a hagen T5 GLO high output. first of all, it was waayy too powerful for the albinos, they were scared shltless, and it also made them look horrible, you couldnt differentiate any of their colors, they just looked terrible. so I got a regular single strip, 30 or 40 watt AGA standard tank light...its more of a soft white, they look SO nice under that type of lighting. So I know juuuust what you mean.

[Apistomaster]

I think the combination of a 10K and the PlantGro lamps bring out the best colors of Discus in general but the HO-T-5 can be hard to find.

I also don't think albinos have much color to work with in the first place so they present a special challenge. If your only choices are 6700K and 10,00K I would only go with 10,000K.
The 6700K are more yellow and don't bring out the colors of any fish as well as the 10K IMO.
Plants do fine under only 10K.

[mmorris]

Try the albinos with a softer light and a black background. ;)

[Dutch dude]

Hi there. It has already been mentioned by other posters and the problem is in the spectrum and light temperature. I will explain.

A TL holds a powder that changes the light spectrum of purple/violet to colors in our visible light spectrum. Each powder allows a small light spectrum to go through. The light spectrum of a TL is build up from small spikes of several colors. The colors mix to white light. If a TL contains a higher red spectrum the light become a bit more orange yellow like a "warm white". A "bright white" contains more green and blue and for that looks brighter. The spectrum of a light is captured in a number. Each brand uses their own number. Philips for instance does have the TLD 830. The 8 is conected to a high efficiency series and the 30 is connected to a color spectrum. TLD 830 is a warm white TL with low blue spectrum and high yellow and red. The light looks warm and can be compared to glow lights bulbs. A TLD 840 is cool white with a peek in the green yellow and blue. It enhances the green color shades.

Color temperature and light spectrum are not the same but are related. The higher the color temperature the whiter the light the more blue enhanced. Low color temps are more yellow to redish and much warmer. The mentioned "warm white" and "cool white" both have a low temperature somewhere near 8000K.

Not only the color temperature is important but also the spectrum! I consider the mix of "warm white" and "cool white" to be suitable in almost every set up. Enough red to support good growth of plants and reduce algea growth becouse of the low blue/UV and a wide range of colors at a pleasing level.

So the problem you face is not in the T5 but in the color spectrum and color temperature of your TL captured in a number on the outside of the TL. Example Philips TLD 840 36W = 800 series high efficiency, color spectrum 40 (cool white) and 36 Watt.

[Lytehouse]

Dutch,

very nice job. :)

[DiscusFreakaZoid]

ive used coralife powercompacts . the actinic mixed with sunpaq and hated it. cost me over 200 for that dual system. now i used a 24inch flourescent 50/50 white blue actinic mix ran me 50 bucks the fishes colors look bright and crisp under white sand and light blue adhesive back drop. Each one of my discus colors are better complimented with my reg flours 50/50 bulb than powercompacts. id give that a try plus its cheapest route.