Lighting requirements to bring out discus colour

[ojdewet]

Hi there I hope that someone can give me some advice as I recently started a discus tank so I am new to the hobby.

What are the best fluerescent light options to bring out the colour of discus? I used to have a marine tank and there were very specific light frequencies I used on my coral to bring out the colour - any recommendations for discus? I find that the normal fluerescent I use does not do my fish justice...

Regards
OJ

[Ed13]

Hi there I hope that someone can give me some advice as I recently started a discus tank so I am new to the hobby.

What are the best fluerescent light options to bring out the colour of discus? I used to have a marine tank and there were very specific light frequencies I used on my coral to bring out the colour - any recommendations for discus? I find that the normal fluerescent I use does not do my fish justice...

Regards
OJ
It's kinda the same for discus, I'm afraid that trial and error targeted at what you have(color wise of the discus) and what you want to see is needed.
If I had to give you an advice is that you'll need multiple bulbs. I would start by having a high kelvin pink bulbs(8,000k or higher if they are pink) then adding as needed like maybe full spectrum(5,000k-7,000K), for most tanks this should be good enough. If needed to increase blue based colors try 10,000k-12,000k or for rich green/yellow/red/orange colors try 3,000k-4,500k. You may end up having one of each, who knows!

Personally, I could never achieve the look I wanted with just one bulb/color. The pink bulbs were close but they drowned greens, so I add a 3,000k bulb, but then I lose blues so....you get the idea. I always needed to have multiple tubes to achieve what I wanted.

Just my opinion.

[ojdewet]

Thank you I will heed your advice. I have sockets for 3 different fluerescent tubes so I will play around with different colours. I want to bring out the blues as well as the orange / red spots of the discus so will definitely change. Thank you for the advice...

[dpt8]

Hm.. I'm very unscientific.. Most of my tanks I don't use any light strips on. The rest are dimly lit becuase I don't want to mess with the fishes' natural colors. I love all 8 tanks with room lighting or their dim lighting..

[Ed13]

Hm.. I'm very unscientific.. Most of my tanks I don't use any light strips on. The rest are dimly lit becuase I don't want to mess with the fishes' natural colors. I love all 8 tanks with room lighting or their dim lighting..
I think he has a planted tank(from his introductory post)

[Apistomaster]

I would follow Ed's recommendations. Generally a mix of color temperatures from 500K to !0,000K produce good results. I lean toward mostly 6700K for the benefit of the plants and more sun-light true colors for the fish. I use T-5 fluorescents and on my Heckel display tank I use 1 Colormax, 1 10,00K and 2 6700K tubes. I get both good fish colors and plant growth.
I actually had to remove most of the plants because they just grow too fast and reduce the available swimming space. I kept all my wood and attached Java Moss to the wood. For now, I am only running 1 fixture with 2 lamps to prevent algae from taking over and choking the newly attached Java Moss. The Heckels are naturally shy and are more relaxed with less light now that the huge Amazon Swords and Ludwigia stem plants are gone. The plant provided enough shade for the discus but in their absence, the tank was too bright for them.

Domestic Discus are not as shy as wild Heckels which are about the most easily spooked of all the 3 wild species, ime. I am using only Normal Output lamps. dpt8 is right about discus being perfectly happy with just ambient room lighting. Discus don't need strong light but most easily adapt to them.

[orthofish]

Not to hijack this thread, but Larry, you say you are only using 2 lamps right now. Which 2 would that be, and in how big, or maybe I should ask,how deep, of a tank???

[Apistomaster]

Hi Lynn,
I had to look. I have the fixture with one Colormax and one 6700K in use.
I'm not used to such a dark look. The other fixture has a 6700K and a 10,000K.
Both fixtures are Coralife Aqualights dual NO T-5, 28 watt/lamp, 48 inch on a 20 inch high tank.
Just enough to grow Java moss and allow the discus to see the food. I'm actually alternating between the two. The other fixture puts out brighter light so I use it in the evening.
They still are healing up all the scrapes they got during the remodel. Panic, just dumb blind panic is how Heckels react when very frightened. It will take 2 weeks for them to get back to normal. Heckels are not the most relaxing species of discus to keep because they are so high strung. They are a lot like Altum Angelfish in this respect.

[orthofish]

Thanks Larry. I'm getting ready to move my 11 discus to a 150G which is 25" deep. Just fake plants, but was thinking about some Java Fern and or moss on the driftwood. I've read every thread here on lighting and can't come to a definate decision. I really just want to display the colors of my discus. Not necessariily real bright light. I definatly don't want an algea problem even if it means no plants at all but fake ones.

[MSD]

I tried several lights and still like the AGA bulb that comes standard in the light fixture. It enhances all the discus colors and is not so bright it disturbs the fish or leads to an algae problem, although I have plecos anyway.

[Ed13]

I tried several lights and still like the AGA bulb that comes standard in the light fixture. It enhances all the discus colors and is not so bright it disturbs the fish or leads to an algae problem, although I got plecos anyway.
It's 8,000k and also my fav!:D

[Apistomaster]

Thanks Larry. I'm getting ready to move my 11 discus to a 150G which is 25" deep. Just fake plants, but was thinking about some Java Fern and or moss on the driftwood. I've read every thread here on lighting and can't come to a definate decision. I really just want to display the colors of my discus. Not necessariily real bright light. I definatly don't want an algea problem even if it means no plants at all but fake ones.

Hi Lynn,
I think you would be happy with the 8000K AGA lamps that have been recommended. If I could only pick one type of lamp, I think that is the one I would go with.

You should have a couple of Common Bushy Nose Plecos in your tank. They do a great job of controlling modest algae growth and have not been indicted as discus harassers.
If you use about 1.25 watts/gal, you will be able to grow low light plants like Anubias, Java Ferns and Java Moss. Just put your lights on a timer. 12 hours on/off is a good place to start. That will do a lot towards preventing excessive algae growth. If not on a timer, the lights often get left on too long or even over night as it is just one of those things easily forgotten.

[orthofish]

Pardon my ignorance guys,but what are AGA bulbs??? Is that the brand name, ie. GE, Philips, etc???? Can they be bought at Home Depot, Lowes??? I really would like a bulb that doesn't require ordering.
I appreciate the info.
Again OJ, no hijacking intended:)

[Ed13]

Pardon my ignorance guys,but what are AGA bulbs??? Is that the brand name, ie. GE, Philips, etc???? Can they be bought at Home Depot, Lowes??? I really would like a bulb that doesn't require ordering.
I appreciate the info.
Again OJ, no hijacking intended:)
It's plain old All-Glass Aquarium T8 8,000k bulb I think the manufacturer is GE but, you won't get it elsewhere than your LFS or online.

[MSD]

It has a bluish tint to it, I'm surprised its only 8000k.