I had an old aquarium light hood sitting around unused, so I thought I might use it for starting seedlings. In the hood are two 24-inch VHO fluorescents, 75 watts each, and two regular fluorescents, 20 watts each. They are a mix of actinic (blue) and white, the mix I used for soft corals. When I plugged it in, one of the 20-watt bulbs was flickering. I don't have any more of the actinic/white 20-watt bulbs, but I did have a few standard 20-watt tubes from Lowes handy. When I put standard bulb in the fixture, I was surprised by what it looks like.
In the picture, the two on the left are VHO "Aquasun," a mix of white and actinic, and on the far right, a 20-watt actinic. Second from the right is a standard fluorescent tube, Sylvania soft white. So why does it look green??? I thought it was an illusion, but as you can see, it clearly has a yellowish-green tint in the photo. I'm not sure why the one Aquasun has a pink tint, but it's the yellowish-green color that seems really odd. I tried another regular florescent bulb, and it too looked exactly the same. Can anybody explain why a soft white bulb looks green in my light hood? I do have another 20-watt actinic, but they seem so much dimmer, I'm not sure which would be best for the plants.
In the picture, the two on the left are VHO "Aquasun," a mix of white and actinic, and on the far right, a 20-watt actinic. Second from the right is a standard fluorescent tube, Sylvania soft white. So why does it look green??? I thought it was an illusion, but as you can see, it clearly has a yellowish-green tint in the photo. I'm not sure why the one Aquasun has a pink tint, but it's the yellowish-green color that seems really odd. I tried another regular florescent bulb, and it too looked exactly the same. Can anybody explain why a soft white bulb looks green in my light hood? I do have another 20-watt actinic, but they seem so much dimmer, I'm not sure which would be best for the plants.