Actinic Lighting

[SHAKEEL]

How long do alot of you run your actinics i see t hat some people run them 24/7 and some people shut them down as soon as the halides power up and turn them back on 5 mins before the m/h cut back off.

 

[john90009]

usually i have my attinics on 1 hour before the halides turn on, have them on the whole time the halides are also on, and when the halides turn off the attinics stay on for another hour then turn off.

 

[TTU_Reefer]

I run actinic hour before, during, and 2 hours after my MHs.

Go texans btw

 

[john90009]

yeah running them 2 hours before during and after halides would be best.

 

[redfishsc]

Re: Actinic Lighting

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14940328#post14940328 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SHAKEEL
How long do alot of you run your actinics i see t hat some people run them 24/7 and some people shut them down as soon as the halides power up and turn them back on 5 mins before the m/h cut back off.

I would never run actinics 24/7--- the actinics still put out PAR and the corals really do need a "rest period" of darkness.

It's a waste of bulb life and a waste of electricity.


I personally say it's a matter of taste. I like the actinic-only look, but on my tanks (both are 4 tube T5's) all of the lights come on all at once.


Works well for me

 

[SHAKEEL]

so do yal turn them off when halides power up fully if you dont need the actinic support.

 

[t4zalews]

I leave them on..usually people leave them on to supplement the main lights. Actinics give the corals better color to look at with the eye, and give a dusk/dawn effect. Many people do not run actinics and run 20K bulbs. This works too, me myself I enjoy the dusk/dawn effect and I feel that it gives corals time to start opening up before the main lights come on