lighting question

[jojopotato25]

i have a 65 watt corallife 50/50 light. I was wondering if it would be bad for my corals(lps and softies) if i switched the lamp to just a daylight lamp. What exactly is actinic light and what does it do? What would happend if i just ran an actnic lamp over my tank?

 

[thumperss]

an actnic is what a lot of use for night how big is your tank????????? you do need a day light like a 65w 10,000k everyone who is useing pc lighting have both.
Brandon

 

[Krish]

The actinic's are mostly for your own personal viewing pleasure and not necessary for coral growth. If you were to run a 6500K by itself and then a 6500K with an actinic bulb you will see a big difference and would probably hate the look of the 6500k alone. Just my 2 cents

 

[jojopotato25]

my tank is a ten gallon. So actinics are used for night time viewing? Would it be alright to run a 6500k alone for like 10 hours and then an actinic for 14? Are you sure the actinic light wont bother my critters at night. I was told by someone that they can see in that light range and it will mess with their day/night cycle. Basically i was asking this question because i was thinking if i switched to just a 6500k lamp instead of the 50/50 my tank would be lit much brighter and my coral will do better. My tank just doesnt seem bright enough to me.

 

[mmkeeper]

The actinic helps to take the yellow out of the daylight.

 

[thumperss]

krish75 knows his stuff
mmkeeper is right
i have never hurd of it hurting them
Brandon

 

[Krish]

my tank is a ten gallon. So actinics are used for night time viewing? Would it be alright to run a 6500k alone for like 10 hours and then an actinic for 14? Are you sure the actinic light wont bother my critters at night. I was told by someone that they can see in that light range and it will mess with their day/night cycle. Basically i was asking this question because i was thinking if i switched to just a 6500k lamp instead of the 50/50 my tank would be lit much brighter and my coral will do better. My tank just doesnt seem bright enough to me.

Running your lights that way for 24 hours a day will effect your critters. This is why they say not to use some moonlights because it can keep some polyps open etc. Running the 65K alone will seem brighter to you and your corals may be happier as there will probably be more useable light for them that way than with the actinics, but the look may take a lot to get use to. A better option may be another light fixture where you can have more wattage and still have a tint of blue in there to keep you happy. Just a thought

 

[dnjan]

an actnic is what a lot of use for night how big is your tank????????? you do need a day light like a 65w 10,000k everyone who is useing pc lighting have both.
Brandon

I've never heard of using an actinic for night viewing.
Red is the prefered choice for night viewing, as it allows you to see the corals with their polyps extended, etc. but the corals and fish do not really respond to it.

50-50 lights sound good, but since the blue end of the spectrum decreases (for most bulbs) faster than the the normal daylight spectrums, they are not the best investment. A bulb with an effective color closer to 6500 will last longer without needing replacement. You can replace the actinic a bit more often, and save some money on the 6500 replacement while keeping the lighting levels as well as the appearance of the tank relatively unchanged.

 

[jojopotato25]

thanks for the great info! i think im going to try a 5600k and see if i like the look.

 

[Krish]

Keep in mind the lower the kelvin rating, the more yellow the bulb will look so say for instance a 10K is pure white, 6500K will be "yellower" and a 5600K even worse etc. Then if you go 12K, you get more into a bluer look etc. Here's a link that will help you understand what I mean and see the differences. Just allow the page to load and change the bulbs and watch the look of the tank

http://chrismorris.ca/250wcolour/

 

[jojopotato25]

http://www.fish.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=720034

would that lamp look like normal daylight?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

...Are you sure the actinic light wont bother my critters at night. I was told by someone that they can see in that light range and it will mess with their day/night cycle. ...

Don't run your actinics all night. Your actinics are not moonlights are aren't meant to be on 24/7. If left on, not only will it mess with your fish, you'll have algae issues from the excess lighting levels.

Many folks with separate actinics will run them as dawn/dusk lighting. Mine kick on 30 minutes before the main 10k lights come on, and then stay on for 60 minutes after the main 10k lights go off. But total... they're only on for about 11 hours.