question on reef lighting

[casper1969]

Ok I am looking to set up a reef in the next few months so I am out shopping for the equiptment a little at a time. well Lighting seems to be a bit confusing everyone says use this type or that type you need x amount of watts ect...
So here are my questions!!!
1. How many K's of light should the minimum and maximum be for a standard 55 gallon aquarium? Lets face it watts doesn't matter if the k's arnt there
2. what is actinic lighting and what does it doe?
a. is it neccesary? or should it be swapped for more daylight lights?
3. are moonlights neccassary or are they just for my enjoyment?
4. ok now that the basics are out of the way how long do you run each type of light for?
5. with all this light I would think algee would build quickly is there an equivlent to the plecostomis for salt tanks or do you clean the glass manually?
any information you can provide will be appreciated.
casper1969

 

[teen]

the "k" rating of a bulb is refering to the spectrum. 20k will be very blue, 10k will be whitish yellow, 14k is in between. also, 10k normally yields better growth followed by 14k, and lastly 20k.
actinics are basically a 20k bulb. they give the tank a more blue appearance. i personally would go with a 14k buld. its the best of both worlds.
moon lights are not neccessary IMO.
i run my halides about 8 hrs a day. light should be ran a minimum of 6hrs a day, and no longer than 12 IMO.
lighting usually makes it easier for algae to grow, but it wont grow that quickly consdiering your nitrates and phosphates are as close to zero as possible. algae will always grow, msot people use a clean up crew which consist of snails and crabs to clean up that algae. the algae that grows on the glass and isnt taken care of by snails is usually cleared via razorblade, or a mag-float.

 

[azfishgal]

teen did a great job answering your questions.

After months of going over all my lighting options, and there were many as you know, I went ahead and purchased MHs for my tank using a SE (Single Ended) 14K bulb (two actually since my tank is 6' long). I was afraid I would need a chiller because of the heat, but it turns out running a fan accross the top of the water has kept my tank to 80-81 degrees. I run my lights for 8 hours and I have softies, SPS, and LPS (Oh, and two anemones). This is what's great about MHs, you can have anything you want. (Just put lower light corals on the bottom and not directly under the light.)

 

[swalchemist]

"K" or Kelvin rating is the measure of the temperature at which the gasses in the bulb burn. This produces the visible and invisible light that the halide gives off. Your a bit wrong about the whole watts not mattering, they matter quite a deal. I run several different light schemes all of which are specific to the animals I am keeping and the tank depth. Now back to that "K" rating, 6500 K will yield the fastest growth but the color is horrible and so 10,000 K is the preferred spectrum as long as a bit of actinic is used (about 420-460 nm) to clean it up a bit. The higher the "K" the lower PAR (Photosynthetic Active Radiation) that what triggers photosynthetic process in coral. This is critical to the growth and health of your coral. So if you like the color of 14 or 20 K you need more watts to pump up the PAR to the same level that a lower K bulb would give at a lower wattage. In short the more blue the more power you must apply to achieve the greatest photosynthetic reaction within the coral.
My suggestion in a 55 gallon lightly stocked tank (non SPS) 2X150 HQI 10 K (better growth) or 14K (better color slower growth).
If you are thinking of SPS or clams 2X250 watt 14K
Hope that helps a bit, Feel free to PM me with any questions.