lighting confusion

[Anubis1]

ok..i did several searches.. and i think I am more confused than when i started...

Fluorescent lights:

how do you determine how many watts you need?...

and what difference would there be in looks (and growth) if you are using:

an actinic bulb with a 6700K bulb as opposed to

an actinic bulb with a 12000K bulb?

thanks!

 

[bleedingthought]

You determine how many watts you need by what you want to keep in the tank.

Normally, the lower (but higher than 6500K) the K, the more the corals benefit/grow from it. Also, the lower the K, the more yellow it looks.

HTH

 

[Anubis1]

ok.. so basically the actinic bulb with a 6700K bulb will look more yellow... and corals would do better with the actinic bulb with a 12000K bulb. Right? Or did I misinterpret that?

Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

yeah, basically it's right.

However, I've used 10kk lights and my corals and my eyes were happy. As long as you're using lights somewhere in the spectrum of 6700k to 20000k the corals will be okay. Sure you get more growth under 6700's but to mee it looks like someone took a leak in your tank. They're that yellow.

Now I currently go with a 14kk bulb and no actinics.

BTW, this works for any lights. Not just florescents.

B

 

[blackcloudmedia]

You dont use actinics? Why not?

 

[pwj1286]

14KK bulbs are blue and white enough to stand alone with out a blue supplement light or white suplement light.
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[SnowManSnow]

Its been my experiance that corals actually GROW faster with lower K bulbs.. say around 14k... they look better at 20K, but don't seem to grow as fast.

B

 

[bleedingthought]

10000K will get you even more growth, B!

Bingo nailed what I was trying to explain, Anubis: your corals will like the 6700K (with or without actinics - actinics are only for looks) better than the 1200K but it might not look like what you want.

Check these examples out: http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_lig ... sp?CartId= (It's metal halide, but it's close to fluorescent equivalents. Fluorescents are usually a little more blue, though)

Now, these are my opinions on VHO (fluorescent) combos:
2 10000K are really white looking.
2 12000K are a little more blue but still mainly white.
1 10000K and 1 Actnic are more towards the blue but still has the crip whiteness.
1 12000K and 1 Actinic are a little too blue.

The corals will "like" it less as you go down the list. I personally like the third combination best as I feel asthetics are just as important as, if not more important than, growth. These combinations will not make a huge impact on the way your corals react so you might as well chose what looks best to you, you know? When you go to the extremes (6500K or 20000K) is when there's more of a difference.

HTH :wink:

 

[Anubis1]

Thank you so much! That makes a lot more sense than everything else I was reading in all those other threads! (and thanks for that link too)!