[Huecodoc]

I am looking for LED strip (prefereably front hood light) that emulates my unavailable Aqueon Colormax 36" flourescent.

Does anyone find they need two types of lights to get what they want? I have brighter overhead to look like sparkling sun but then separate low output frontlight that makes the reds and blues of the cichlids pop. I can no longer secure my frontlight flourescent 36" aqueon T8 Colormax, anywhere, for a year. None of the places recommended by aqueon have them, nothing from any online retailers including Amazon has the 36" any more. So I am looking for an LED replacement with the same spectral output as it augments my main light with something a bit more warm and purple. I have tried and failed to get what I want with other aqueon flourescent options or aquasky led strips. I am tired of experimenting and feel bad about returning.

Here is the specific colormax spectrum I like:

None of the other aqueon tubes provide nearly the correct spectrum to augment my Tuna Suns with subtle front lighting.

Here is my partially working 125 with the light combination I like. It's the combination of the Kessil Tuna Sun LED pendants with the frontlight of the flourescent Aqueon colormax fixtures. The relatively low PAR frontlights are what is giving the blue and red colors here for the fish up front.

I sought out LEDs that woul deither provide the colors I want (basically white without being weirdly blue/UV (the saltwater coral types) or weirdly cold/green (aquasky and everything else I have tried). I thought tunable would be the way to go and setlled on Kessil A360x Tuna Suns which are very expensive tunable white. They are beautiful but I found I needed to frontlight with a low output with the spectrum characteristics of the My setup from prior saltwater included flourescent 36" aqueon T8 Colormax. Then other aqueon I have is quite green and only the colormax has a warm yet purple output that brings out the Malawi cichid colors.

So I am looking for an LED strip anything that will provide the similar uniquely beautiful flourescent colormax spectrum. I think that aqueon colormax LEDS may be my best bet but I hate returning orders and I've done that once already for two lights.

 

[Huecodoc]

I took pictures to show the differnce some specific color output bands have on my cichlids. As I am, getting my Kessils replaced under warranty I am lighting with only my aqueon flourescents and a fluval led strip. While the aqueon colormax seems to havve poor overall output it nails the blues and reds that are simply missing otherwise.

I am trying to secure Aqueon LEDs in Colormax and Beautymax as I can't stand my fish when they don't show these colors.

On the left column are fish under Aqueon colormax flourescent plus some generic white output from a fluval LED strip. On the right are the same fish under the Aqueon Flourescent Full Spectrum Daylight which looks a little drab and green. Neither my Kessils nor the fluval aquasky can get these reds.

Thanks Dan Rude for helping to secure replacements!

 

[noddy]

I have no answer to your question but when I was keeping Tropheus I always used a colourmax/10k combo on the red. orange /Blue fish and a 6000/10k combo on the yellow fish. I never found a combination that brought out the best colours in all my Tropheus.

 

[SenorStrum]

Check out plant grow light LED strips on Amazon.

They come specifically with high red and blue peaks for the way these effect the growth on plants, but we found that for accent colors, they are really great if they don't get overpowering. I found that if I added one of these to the Fluval Marine/Reef 3.0 led light, we got the best color out of our fish, and the plants would still grow. Lots of blue, lots of red, and things look great. It may be an unconventional road you hadn't thought of, and on Amazon, these things are pretty cheap, so playing with it won't break them bank, probably. Under $20 depending on how big you go. Then just stick it in your hood.