Lighting Combination

[The Shark]

I currently have 4 48" VHO's on my 100gallon tank. 2 of them are super actinic blue, and the other two are actinic white.

It is time to change my bulbs...
1. Would I be better off with three AquaSun white bulbs, and one blue?
2. Should I leave the combo as is?
3. Advantages? (Coral growth, looks, coralline effects?)

I don't want to drop the cash again and end up with a non-efficient combo of lights. I don't really want to switch to MH just yet, as I don't have the cash for a chiller.

 

[Krish]

IMO, if you want better coral growth with the setup you have, you will have to use a combo of bulbs that provide you with the most PAR which from what I have seen so far from different tests done on bulbs, usually come from a "white bulb" rather than actinics. On the downside, if you ran all white bulbs, you may not like the look so if it were me, I'd go with a balance like you had before with 2 white bulbs and 2 actinics. Just a personal opinion. Good luck!

 

[dnjan]

I don't think that one actinic bulb will be enough to cover the full tank. I would stick to two (every other) actinic bulbs.

From what I understand of actinic flourescents, the actinic doesn't last nearly as long as the higher-wavelength spectrums. Therfore, you should replace your actinics more frequently. Also, the actinic portion of the 50-50's (actinic whites) also drops out sooner, so you either replace those bulbs more often than necessary to keep the actinic portion, or run them longer but lacking the actinic.

Therefore, I would suggest two actinics and two aquasuns to maximize both appearance and bulb life.