thoughts on fish color grading?

[shern]

ive seen many people use some pinkish red lights for their super reds,arowanas or datnoids. do they actually work and should i use them in my 250g for better colors on my fish? i run ai prime 2020s for ref

 

[Midwater]

IMO they make the fish and the whole tank look artificially coloured. Unnatural light might even stress the fish.

 

[Hao]

ive seen many people use some pinkish red lights for their super reds,arowanas or datnoids. do they actually work and should i use them in my 250g for better colors on my fish? i run ai prime 2020s for ref

It'll come down to your preference. I personally try to stick to 4000k-6500k white or actual sunlight. Looks most natural to me. Although, I do use pink lights to enhance my garnet sand (not a fan of the look but helps my bichirs color up). For most fish though, pinkish/red lights probably will not "enhance" color unless your fish is orangish/red to begin with then it'll visually appear more red (probably would look unnatural since everything turns pink/red). Although the newer arowana LED lights are more like white LED with extra pink hue to them (more natural looking, doesn't turn whole tank pink/red while enhancing orangish/red color fish)

 

[phreeflow]

I don’t think anything beats your Ai Primes…those are very nice lights. A well rounded diet with astaxanthin and other carotenoids, lots of water changes, and maybe a tanning light might be ways to enhance the color.

 

[shern]

IMO they make the fish and the whole tank look artificially coloured. Unnatural light might even stress the fish.

it does look odd but i was curious if there were any lasting benefits onto their overall colors cause i can adjust my lights

 

[shern]

It'll come down to your preference. I personally try to stick to 4000k-6500k white or actual sunlight. Looks most natural to me. Although, I do use pink lights to enhance my garnet sand (not a fan of the look but helps my bichirs color up). For most fish though, pinkish/red lights probably will not "enhance" color unless your fish is orangish/red to begin with then it'll visually appear more red (probably would look unnatural since everything turns pink/red). Although the newer arowana LED lights are more like white LED with extra pink hue to them (more natural looking, doesn't turn whole tank pink/red while enhancing orangish/red color fish)

i don’t quite know how to get 4000-6500k range on my ai primes, all i get is a little slide for the majority of lights and combo them together. as of right now during the peak of light it’s just every color turned to the max and it’s relatively white unless i can make it a natural color. would love to try though!

i see, i was under the impression that specific lights helped the fish acquire mor vibrant permanent color effects. aka changes to color permanently even without the light on. i heard about tanning lights but i hunched the two together, is there a difference and should i get one?

the two bichirs i got turned from a nice black with stripes to all white cause my sand is all white, no idea if the light affects em

 

[shern]

I don’t think anything beats your Ai Primes…those are very nice lights. A well rounded diet with astaxanthin and other carotenoids, lots of water changes, and maybe a tanning light might be ways to enhance the color.

apologizes i’m not so familiar with astaxanthin and carotenoids, is it something common found in foods or is it something i should be getting specifically, right now i just feed shrimp, some tuna i catch and hikari sinking/floating

 

[Hao]

i don’t quite know how to get 4000-6500k range on my ai primes, all i get is a little slide for the majority of lights and combo them together. as of right now during the peak of light it’s just every color turned to the max and it’s relatively white unless i can make it a natural color. would love to try though!

i see, i was under the impression that specific lights helped the fish acquire mor vibrant permanent color effects. aka changes to color permanently even without the light on. i heard about tanning lights but i hunched the two together, is there a difference and should i get one?

the two bichirs i got turned from a nice black with stripes to all white cause my sand is all white, no idea if the light affects em

Tanning lights are for Asian Arowana (mainly red aros, some people tan golds too) specifically. They have no effect on other fish.

Fish's permanent colors are dependent on genetics, diet, environment and stress levels. Lighting does play a role but not in the way that you are thinking. Lighting can temporarily enhance or alter a fish's color though. For example: a more natural white light will better show the green speckles on a bichir than say a pink or blue colored light would. Too much lighting/too bright, could potentially wash out a fish's color too.

As for bichirs, their colors mainly depend on genetics and environment. White sand will wash out most bichirs (some naturally darker colored bichir might hold some color on white).

 

[shern]

Tanning lights are for Asian Arowana (mainly red aros, some people tan golds too) specifically. They have no effect on other fish.

Fish's permanent colors are dependent on genetics, diet, environment and stress levels. Lighting does play a role but not in the way that you are thinking. Lighting can temporarily enhance or alter a fish's color though. For example: a more natural white light will better show the green speckles on a bichir than say a pink or blue colored light would. Too much lighting/too bright, could potentially wash out a fish's color too.

As for bichirs, their colors mainly depend on genetics and environment. White sand will wash out most bichirs (some naturally darker colored bichir might hold some color on white).

i see, thanks man!