Any difference between 420nm and 460nm actinics?

[Blazer88]

I saw a nice blue 460nm actinic at my LFS today and thought it looked much nicer than the "traditional" 420nm. It had a great blue color and really made the corals glow. Is there any difference, other than looks, with those bulbs? I am in need of new bulbs soon and am considering one to replace my "purple" actinic. Thanks for the help.

 

[dpaynter]

Were these (460nm) T5 actinics?

 

[Katchupoy]

420'S are more purple... 460's are more bluer and brighter.

 

[clayswim]

The industry calls 420nm tubes "Actinic" and the 460nm "Super Actinic". The corals shouldn't care one way or the other, so it really depends on which color you prefer. Some 50/50 tubes now use either a daylight/460nm mix or a 420nm/460nm mix.

Clayton

 

[Blazer88]

The bulbs I saw were PC. I just wanted to make sure the corals wouldn't react any differently to teh 460nm. I thought the blue was much more vivid and brought the color out in the corals much better. I'll order a new 96W 10,000K and "super" actinic. Thanks for the help.

 

[MikeS]

The industry calls 420nm tubes "Actinic" and the 460nm "Super Actinic". The corals shouldn't care one way or the other, so it really depends on which color you prefer. Some 50/50 tubes now use either a daylight/460nm mix or a 420nm/460nm mix.

Clayton

My URI "Super Actinic" VHO's are 420nm, so that must depend on the manufactuer, it's not industry wide...

460nm blue light is a different wavelength than 420nm. 420nm is basically the most "useable" wavelength of light for coral photosyntesis. 460nm bulbs will probably not provide as much useable blue as 420nm peaked bulbs. I'd go with the 420nm's.....

MikeS

 

[Blazer88]

I've seen some that are 50/50 split for a single PC bulb that use both 420 and 460. What about that idea?

 

[clayswim]

MikeS,
You're right, I forgot about URI.

Clayton

 

[MikeS]

I've seen some that are 50/50 split for a single PC bulb that use both 420 and 460. What about that idea?

In the past, I believe PC's had problems nailing down the 420nm peak in their "actinic" bulbs, perhaps the newer bulbs have resloved this :?:

Do you already have a PC setup, or are you looking at options right now? If you don't already have PC's, I'd go with VHO's instead. If you do have PC's already and are simply looking for an actinic bulb, I'd go with one that is either 420nm, or the 50/50 you mentioned....

MikeS,
You're right, I forgot about URI.

Clayton

It's all good.... . Actually, the term "actinic" when applied to aquarium lights is an industry generated term in the first place...I'd imagine you get a pretty broad range of lights when comparing different "super actinics".... :lol:

MikeS