Bulb spectrum

[Robherf]

I'm coming back to discus after being a reef guy for years. I'm in the process of converting my 140 reef tank to freshwater. Right now I'm in the lighting stage. Currently I'm set up with 4 4' vho's. my question is what is the best spectrum to get the max color from my fish. Also this is a fish only tank no live plants in the tank. All my live plants are in my refugium. Is 4 vhos to many or should I drop down to two

[nickfish39]

Welcome back to discus friend! You'll find there is quite a large group of us that have made the same move.
As you know light is of very little consequence to fish but the discus will feel more comfortable with only 2 of the VHO's. After a while you can add more if you want the look of a brighter tank. Just ease the fish into it the same you would a piece of coral.
Now I'll finally get to your question of color spectrum. With VHO's I like one actinic white and a 50/50. You are looking for white, red, and a little blue to pull the most color out of your fish. It has been a while since I have run VHO's on a system, but I think you will like the look of that.
Hope that helps.

Nick

[Crystalwaters]

I run two 4' T5s, 10,000k, find it's too bright but the fish look spectacular! I found this website which does a comparison of the different bulbs, don't know if this will help you decide. http://saurama.aqua-web.org/ and http://xtremeaquaristika.blogspot.ca/2010/05/eng-test-with-50-different-aquarium.html

[Elliots]

I just bought Flora Sun bulbs made in Germany. They are supposed to bring out the reds and blues like an old Grolux bulb. That makes the fish look spectacular. The light from the bulbs is bluish in color, not white. I just received the new reflectors because the bulbs are T8. I will try them out tonight. I was using T5 and Colormax bulbs to bring out the fish colors.