Lighting question

[LilBabyEmma]

I have a 18" zoo med reef sun 50/50 bulb on my my 55g tank and it only makes the colors pop out when the fish are close to the top if the tank if i got a longer bulb like a 3 ft bulb would that make the colors pop out all the way at the bottom of the tank

 

[tomomothy]

Not an expert in lighting by any means, but it sounds like the light isnt getting down far into your water column. Do you have reflectors behind your bulbs? If not, they can redirect light that gets wasted going up and the light will be brighter farther down. At the top near the light source the fish will always look brightest though, so it may only enhance your problem

 

[evabug1]

I believe the longer sizes have more watts so I think that might help too, but I'm not an expert by any stretch. Hopefully, some others comment to help.