more actinic = better?

[gregvabch]

i've been thinking about adding 1 or 2 more actinic VHO's to my new canopy, right now it's 2 175W 10,000K XM bulbs and 2 110W VHO actinics. i've got an icecap 660 so i could run 4 VHO's with the MH's, was wondering what adding more actinic lighting would do and if it would be beneficial to do so.... greg

 

[bustedup21]

More attinic would put a blue tint on your tank. If that is what you want the tank to look like then go ahead. One other thing you may try is adding some other sprectrum that you do not have. a 6500 or an 18000, Adding differnet light gives different energy to our saltwater family. This is jsut a thought. I am sure everyone has one
Good luck
Steve

 

[golfish]

Greg,
Its all about how it looks to you. IME, it will have no effect on the health or growth of the corals..If you have sps I'd add more MH's and forget the VHO's

 

[gregvabch]

no sps, just softies and lps for now. i had considered adding a different spectrum with the VHO's instead of all actinics but there's not a whole lot of variety to them, (VHO's).
depending on how the 175's work out i might end up bumping up to 250's; when i started the project the tank was on the 3rd floor and heat was a big issue even with my chiller running, so i opted for the lower wattage bulbs. now it's on the first floor.
i just figured if i was gonna go with 4 supplemental VHO's that i might as well do it now before it's running on the tank. thanks guys..... greg

 

[dedwards]

Actinic lighting is for visual only. They don't provide any benificial lighting for a tank. I would opt for a different *K light than more actinics.

 

[masterzeus]

Originally posted by DEdwards
Actinic lighting is for visual only. They don't provide any benificial lighting for a tank. I would opt for a different *K light than more actinics.
I am not an expert, but I don't think this is true. If it was true, why would we have actinics at all? Why wouldn't we just use 10ks for white, 8.8ks for yellow and 12-20ks for blue?
My tank used to have a 50/50 (10k and blue), blue and 8.8k 96 watt power compacts. I didn't think it looked blue enough. So now I have two 50/50s and an actinic. It looks great now, almost purpley tinted. I have posted picts this thread if you want to see it: https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...=420nm+sunpaq. The corals seem to be doing a little better as well.

 

[gregvabch]

actinic lighting being useless is news to me; where'd ya hear that from? thanks for the advice though, none the less....

 

[dedwards]

My statement was more of a generalized statement that I have heard from several places. I haven't found anything that supports or denies their usefullness other than manufacturer's websites that are trying to sell these lights. I personally use these lights but I wouldn't put 3/4 of my lighting as actinics.

 

[reefnut]

Actinics do add some benefits... they produce "usable light".
ex... It would be better to have 1- 65w actinic PC and 1- 65w daylight PC than it would to just have the 1- 65w daylight PC. At the same time using 2- 65w daylights with no actinic would be fine also...
When using them with MHs it becomes more of a visual preference because the MHs are the main lighting source. If you're running 2-250w MHs adding 2-110w VHOs isn’t going to make a huge difference to the coral's growth or health… actinic or dayligh. But you are adding usable light so it has to make some difference.

 

[gregvabch]

what exactly have you heard from these places? that the spectrum of light actinic bulbs fall under is not beneficial to corals??
actinics, as well as all other lighting, are used to simulate the sun. actinics are what is left of it after it has penetrated several feet under the waters surface. that's my simplified understanding of it anyways.
since my tank will be primarily composed of softies and lps, i thought it made sense to provide them with more of this spectum of lighting...greg

 

[gregvabch]

signing off, past my bedtime

 

[masterzeus]

Originally posted by gregvabch
signing off, past my bedtime
Past your bedtime? Its 2 o'clock in the afternoon!

 

[smarls]

Not being a light expert or anything, but...
I think it depends on the quality of your actinic lights. There are numerous threads on here about the true actinic 03 bulbs, and how they are focused in the spectrum around 420nm. Also, unlike standard "actinic" bulbs, they are not just white bulbs painted blue, rather they are true actinics. I run PC = 2x65watt actinic 03, with 2x65watt 10k. Since changing to the actinic 03 i have seen a noticable improvement in my corals.
I would disagree that there is no benefit to actinics. The benefit may be lessened becasue of the other lighting Greg is running, 9ie - halides as opposed to PC) but I think it would still help.
Personally, I think adding actinic 03 bulbs would be a great idea...but then again, i don't have halides, so what do I know!
Stewart

 

[masterzeus]

Originally posted by smarls
[BSince changing to the actinic 03 i have seen a noticable improvement in my corals. [/B]
I have noticed the same thing with my tank. The actinic 03 seems to really help.

 

[gregvabch]

smarls, are you serious? do you really think that by my use of metal halides instead of power compacts that i'm lessoning my lighting?
the whole '03' thing is only a concern when purchasing pc actinics. when i was running 6x65W pc's over my 55 i went through the whole '03' thing, pain in the ass but that's how it works, and there is a difference unfortunetly. i'll use VHO's over PC's any day of the week. maybe eventually i'll switch over to T-5's, once they start selling them at wal-mart
masterzeus, yeah, past my bedtime, i work 10pm to 6am, and it was 2pm, so it was actually WAY past my bedtime i'm usually in bed by 8 or 9 am during the week....

 

[masterzeus]

Originally posted by gregvabch
smarls, are you serious? do you really think that by my use of metal halides instead of power compacts that i'm lessoning my lighting?
I am pretty sure that he meant that the BENEFITS of adding ANOTHER flourescent light on the tank is greatly lessoned since you already have halides. Halides are universally thought of as the best lights if you have the money and can deal with the heat.

 

[masterzeus]

Originally posted by gregvabch
masterzeus, yeah, past my bedtime, i work 10pm to 6am, and it was 2pm, so it was actually WAY past my bedtime i'm usually in bed by 8 or 9 am during the week....
Weird hours, what do you do?

 

[gregvabch]

you're right, i read it wrong i guess
i'm an aviation electronics technician in the navy, i supervise the 3rd shift in a workcenter that maintains the armament control systems for the f-14.