actinic lights

[tank watch]

are actinic lights essential? I just changed my two 50/50 bulbs to white VHO bulbs. I currently dont have any actinic blue lights. My metal halides have a nice blue tint @ 14000. I am wondering if I am cheating my coral out of an essential light spectrum.

 

[tangs123]

i dont think it is necessary but most people like it because it makes it look blue like the ocean and keeps corals colors nicer

 

[mopar9012]

are you running 10 k bulbs now? A lot of people say that makes the colors grow faster, but 14k, IMO, looks a lot nicer. You dont need actinics

 

[tank watch]

I have six vho at 10,000 and three MH at 14,000. the halides give that bright blue look for six hours. If actinics are mandatory, then I wont invest in another ballast or bulbs.

 

[hurt]

Mandatory-No...but they will make your corals show more color and also give a nicer look to the tank IMO.

 

[hurt]

As for cheating your corals out the spectrum, that's not entirely true. All SW bulbs contain all the proper spectrums for corals. However each bulb peaks at different wavelengths. If you look at a plot of a 20 K bulb you will see a large peak in 440-460 nanometer specturm. True actinic bulbs peak at 420 nm.