Blue Light

[computerman]

A local aquaruim almost held a gun to my head trying to sell me a blue "marine" light, he said I needed it as well as my white light to have a healthy tank!

A
Is there any truth to this, or would I be better off running 2 white lights? Again is there any advantage to doing this.

I learnt a lession by not running a bulb rated a "daylight as I got alge so quiclky it wasnt funny

Ragards

Marc

[Prowse]

Hey marc,
I use a white tube and then I use a light purple one. The purple doesnt colour the water at all, or not that you can tell, but since i put it in my plants have gone bonkers. Ive found that the blue ones can have an over powering blue colour to the tank, but thats just my opinion, as many people can pull the blue light off in their tank and make it look really good. I'll try and find out what type my purple one is and i'll get back to you.

Cheers,
Andrew

[Aussie]

The blue light's are pretty much just for marine tanks. So don't stress if you don't have one :)

[Marc]

In my deep (2.5ft deep) American tank I have a T5 (normal output) dual tube light on it. One is a very blue light, the other is standard white. Together they light the tank up very nicely and the blue brings out the color in my big G.Brazilliensis (spelling?).

[wombat1100]

I would have to agree with Marc , I too have t5's mixed tubes, blue and white, and the rainbows in my tank and neons look great, so i don't think they are JUST for marine tanks, but like everything else is a personal preference, oh and the plants are thriving in there too so i guess they Love it too!!!
Dazz

[Aussie]

I only said for marine tanks, as that's where they are needed. But in a tropical tank, they can bring out some fish colour's.

[Woodsy]

Those blue marine T5's do very interesting things to some species of plants too, so I would agree that they can be used in freshwater tanks.
In your marine tank however, I'm lead to believe that the blue marine lamps are there to provide a similar wavelength (but not to the same quality) as the actinic lamps in your halide lighting, and that these wavelengths are apparently important for healthy coral growth. However, I'm not a marine expert, so a little bit of reading might answer your question better.

[devil san]

prowse, i take it by the "purple tube" you mean ultraviolet??

i have blue light on my marine tank (blue leds) i only have it so i can get to see the nocturnal habits of my eels :biggrin: