Lights that Mimic Night in an Ocean?

[Kasey Grohowski]

Anyone know why some lights are for freshwater and some lights are marine? Could I buy freshwater lights since there are no corals in my tank and save a few hundred bucks?

 

[Jon Fishman]

Anyone know why some lights are for freshwater and some lights are marine? Could I buy freshwater lights since there are no corals in my tank and save a few hundred bucks?

Short answer..... "Yes"

 

[Kasey Grohowski]

Short answer..... "Yes"

Hmm?

 

[Marco S]

Anyone know why some lights are for freshwater and some lights are marine? Could I buy freshwater lights since there are no corals in my tank and save a few hundred bucks?

The higher end freshwater lights are geared towards plants and have the proper spectrum for plant growth. I have been keeping freshwater tanks my whole life and even when I wasn't growing plants I would buy the more expensive, (but cheap compared to saltwater) lights because the cheaper ones just didn't show the fish off enough, (in my opinion).

I am currently using cheap freshwater LED lights for all my salt water Quarantine Tanks and while it is not the best for viewing the fish, (because they just look dull) it serves my purpose. I did test a Fluval Plant LED on one of the tanks and it definitively made the fish look a lot more colorful.

 

[Kasey Grohowski]

The higher end freshwater lights are geared towards plants and have the proper spectrum for plant growth. I have been keeping freshwater tanks my whole life and even when I wasn't growing plants I would buy the more expensive, (but cheap compared to saltwater) lights because the cheaper ones just didn't show the fish off enough, (in my opinion).

I am currently using cheap freshwater LED lights for all my salt water Quarantine Tanks and while it is not the best for viewing the fish, (because they just look dull) it serves my purpose. I did test a Fluval Plant LED on one of the tanks and it definitively made the fish look a lot more colorful.

So for a fish only saltwater tank I should be fine with freshwater LEDS?

 

[Marco S]

So for a fish only saltwater tank I should be fine with freshwater LEDS?

I know that coral need a different spectrum and intensity light source than freshwater plants do, so I get requiring a totally different light for each, but Unless someone can tell me any scientific reason why fish from the ocean would need a different spectrum or intensity of light than fish from a lake...I would say yes.

I would think that the most important thing would be water flow and saltwater fish would require much more than freshwater fish, but a light is a light to a fish.

 

[Kasey Grohowski]

I know that coral need a different spectrum and intensity light source than freshwater plants do, so I get requiring a totally different light for each, but Unless someone can tell me any scientific reason why fish from the ocean would need a different spectrum or intensity of light than fish from a lake...I would say yes.

I would think that the most important thing would be water flow and saltwater fish would require much more than freshwater fish, but a light is a light to a fish.

Yeah I agree with you. I have 25x turnover for flow so good there.