PCs plus T5s

[maroon2]

I have a 75 gallon mixed reef tank. Just starting w/ coral some xenias, green mushroom, hammer coral, and some kelly's polyps. I have a coralife 260w fixture. I've noticed that my actinics aren't really blue, they are purple. I upgraded my actinics to UV lighting company Super Actinic bulbs, but they seem purple too. I wanted to add a nova extreme 108w T5 fixture to my tank which seems to have very blue actinics. Is there a reason why my actinics are purple on my PCs as opposed to T5s? Also was wonderimg what type of coral could I add w/ the extra 108 watts. Total of 368 watts @ 4.9 watts per gallon. Maybe the better Q is what would I not be able to have? I would really like an RBTA, could I meet its lighting requirements w/ this set up?

 

[geoj]

Look at it once more it’s not purple its violet

If you look up the light spectrum of the bulb you will see that 420-440nm is more violet purple then bulbs that are 460-470nm. The higher number the more to the red side of the light spectrum lower number more to the violet…

 

[jstdv8]

if you go with the nova you may want to check into getting some differnt bulbs. the current usa bulbs that come with it arent very good. im a begginer and I can tell its not quite right. Ive ordered some new ATI bulbs last week

 

[maroon2]

Originally Posted by GeoJ
http:///forum/post/3195316
Look at it once more it’s not purple its violet

If you look up the light spectrum of the bulb you will see that 420-440nm is more violet purple then bulbs that are 460-470nm. The higher number the more to the red side of the light spectrum lower number more to the violet…
You're right, I did notice that. I was thinking about maybe getting two 54w 460 actinic bulbs for the T5s instead of doing the actinic and the regular 10k that it comes with. Will that be more beneficial to my tank?

 

[geoj]

This is a, what are you trying to do thing. People tell me that they see a difference in growth between the two light ranges. They say actinic bulbs color up the corals and 10k makes for faster growth. I have not noticed much difference, because I have ran heavy on the 10k and used the actinic bulbs to make the florescent colors pop. For a long time the actinic bulbs produced less light, some argue this is why there is less growth. So it’s a, what are you trying to do thing.

 

[maroon2]

Well both really, but mainly growth. I'm also thinking about adding a 500w fixture 2 250w HQI from odyssea instead of the t5s and keeping the PCs for my actinics. I know they have had a bad rep in the past but I've read that the new systems have better ballasts and bulbs. I'd probably replace the ballasts anyways.

 

[maroon2]

Well I bit the bullet and bought the 500w MH light. I'll be replacing the ballasts depending on the par they are putting out. I'll also replace all my PCs w/ actinics.