Newbie Lighting confusion Help?

cbrynolf

cbrynolf

Member
I have a 55g tank with a perfecto single strip flourescent 40 watt bulb. I have a fish only tank but may add a couple of inverts in the future. What kind of light bulbs should I get? or should I get a different style strip?
How do you use a combination of light bulbs ie 50/50 daylight and actinic blue? or 10,000k and actinic blue?
Any advice would help!
Thanks!
 
col

col

Active Member
Depends what you mean by inverts. Snails, crabs etc are inverts and need no special lighting.
If you want to keep corals you are going to need way more lighting than 40w.
 
ejensen

ejensen

Member
I would get a 50/50 bulb. It will bring the colors out ever better. I still would get PC or VHO even if you aren't getting any corals. Your tank would look alot better. If you don't mind spending the extra cash.
 
jc74

jc74

Member
Well, a 50/50 bulb is a combination of daylight (10K) and actinic blue, and you'll need to buy a PC fixture. You can get a nice 4-fixture PC light from ---- for around $200 if you're willing to spend that much. My Coralife came with two 65 watt 10Ks and two 65 watt actinics, and my tank look great. Lots of growth and the fish are more active. You can also get a two fixture PC for half that price with two 50/50s to get the same effect; it just won't be as bright. If you're not getting corals or anemomes that would probably be your best bet. Fish don't need a whole lot of light.
 
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