UVB lights and fish colour

[Hipporhyn]

Has anybody noticed UVB lights enhancing the colour of their fish?
The main occupant Of my 85 gallon tank is my 29 year old red rated slider turtle (Webster).
One of the light fixtures in that tank has 2 bulbs, ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 UVB T5 HO high output 39 W each.
In that tank are also 4 Odessa Barbs, 6 Giant Danios and 4 Roseline Barbs. All the fish are showing fantastic colour.
The Danios have golden yellow on their bellies and anal fins, contrasted by bright blue and yellow markings on their sides. I have 7 other Giant Danios in another aquarium containing similar water but they, although very healthy and have a very similar diet, do not have such brilliant colours.
The Odessas are rich and dark with brilliant red, blue, black and silver.
The Roseline are a colourful as any I have seen.
Their diet consists mainly of Tropical Krill Gran and scraps of turtle pellets.
It seems to me that these fish look like fish that are exposed to sunlight; rich and dark, almost as if they were tanned from the sun. I am wondering if it could be from exposure to these UVB lights that are intended for reptiles to process vitamin D.

 

[Dee eng]

Beautiful colors....Yes, if you’re using lights that produce UVA and UVB rays it will enhance their color.

 

[MrsE88]

I’m not sure.
I have giant danios in one tank that only has natural light. I only turn the tank light on to view the fish.
Then I have their babies in my softshell turtles tank that has the uvb/uva combo light.
Adults (no light/natural light)


Horrible pictures I know. But you can see they are very blue and more of a golden yellow almost orange looking by their tails.
And then their babies

Also blue, but with more of a vibrant yellow color to them.
I guess I’ll see as these guys grow if they end up looking better then their parents or not.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Uvb lighting can enhance colors, providing enough of it.

 

[RD.]

No UVB lights were used, just a quality pellet food.

 

[Hipporhyn]

Mrs E88.
Your adult Danios have great colour too. You say natural light, do you mean they get some sun light? They have that gold/yellow/bronze colour that my Danios, that live under uvb lights, have. As I said above, my Danios that do not have UVB lights are not that colourful. Other conditions are more less the same. I’m just trying to make sense out of that. The lights are the only major difference I am aware of.
RD.
That is a beautiful Roseline barb. Rich, brilliant colour. And what a great picture. Nice photography. Do you mind telling me what pellets you are feeding him?

 

[RD.]

It was a friends fish, he fed them NLS.

 

[MrsE88]

Mrs E88.
Your adult Danios have great colour too. You say natural light, do you mean they get some sun light? They have that gold/yellow/bronze colour that my Danios, that live under uvb lights, have. As I said above, my Danios that do not have UVB lights are not that colourful. Other conditions are more less the same. I’m just trying to make sense out of that. The lights are the only major difference I am aware of.
RD.
That is a beautiful Roseline barb. Rich, brilliant colour. And what a great picture. Nice photography. Do you mind telling me what pellets you are feeding him?

Thanks.
The tank is about a foot away(side of tank) from a window facing east. So it gets direct morning sunlight. The room is a sun room so there are windows across from the tank all along the wall. So the room is bright all day if it’s sunny out. That’s why I don’t use my tank lights much.

 

[tiger15]

I don’t know whether the UVB actually brings out the color or just the blue visible spectrum of the light does. Yours are not Glofish that UV light can excite the fluorescence. Human cannot see UV light, though many fish can.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Thanks.
The tank is about a foot away(side of tank) from a window facing east. So it gets direct morning sunlight. The room is a sun room so there are windows across from the tank all along the wall. So the room is bright all day if it’s sunny out. That’s why I don’t use my tank lights much.

Yet uv light is filtered by most glass.