Actinic Lighting ?

[criecken]

So questions on actinic lighting.
(running SPS and some LPS)

1) - If I am running MH lighting @ 10K or 14K , then my actinic is really only used for additional color and a dawn/dusk effect?

2) - If this is true, then is it important to change out the actinic bulbs very frequently (if they are just for color)?

3) - If running a T5 light setup and you have only so many watts to use... would it be better to use most of the watts on daylight bulbs and reserve only 1 or 2 bulbs for actinic use?
Example: If I can only run 4 bulbs... would it not be better to run 3 daylight at say 10K or 12K and just use the 1 bulb for actinic.
OR is it better to split the bulbs and use 2 actinic and 2 daylight?

 

[DarG]

The lamps still shift in spectrum over time which can lead to nuisance algae if other conditions are favorable. So I would still change them at the suggested interval for the type of flourescent you are using. They also lose output with age.

For all T5, it depends on how much par you need and how many lamps you actually have as well as how you want the tank to look. If you are limited on how many lamps you can run, and you need as much par as you can get, the whiter lamps have higher par than the blue lamps and the actinics (420nm) have the least par. The blue, 450 nm, lamps do have pretty good par, but the white lamps are higher. So in that case, you probably would have to sacrifice a bluer look for higher par whiter look with 10K and lower K lamps. But there are lamps like the aquablues that have a 12K or 14K look ... that have strong par (again, not as strong as the lower K lamps) that you may very well be able to use to get enough par and still have a whiter look to the tank instead of yellowish tinted lighting. It all depends on what you are keeping and how much lighting they require and where you place them in the tank and what you really have to work with. For T5's, its all about the reflectors. So use reputable reflector for each lamp to maximize what you have to work with in terms of number of lamps.

If budget was a major issue, I would build my lighting so that I can add lamps as money allows so that you can have both the par you need for the corals and the color that YOU want.

 

[criecken]

Thanks... yea I am going from MH to T5, bought 2 - Ice Cap 660s so that I could do just what you are suggesting (add more as time/money permits).
I can start with 4 - 48" lamps... but going to try to start with 5 if I can... doing 2 - 420 Actinic and 3 - daylight.. thinking about having the 3 daylight split up with 2 of the 3 being 10K and one of the 3 being 14K...

Then maybe later I could add a 6th bulb to allow me to mix up some additional color.. maybe a 460nm or one of those Fiji pink bulbs.

 

[DarG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15063563#post15063563 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by criecken
Thanks... yea I am going from MH to T5, bought 2 - Ice Cap 660s so that I could do just what you are suggesting (add more as time/money permits).
I can start with 4 - 48" lamps... but going to try to start with 5 if I can... doing 2 - 420 Actinic and 3 - daylight.. thinking about having the 3 daylight split up with 2 of the 3 being 10K and one of the 3 being 14K...

Then maybe later I could add a 6th bulb to allow me to mix up some additional color.. maybe a 460nm or one of those Fiji pink bulbs.

You may be fine with 5 overdriven T5's over a 125. Just use good reflectors. The more lamps, the more color options you have even if you can get enough par with less lamps.

Im not a T5 expert so others can chime in with what they think would be ideal.

 

[criecken]

This will actually be over a 110 gal tank (when it is all said and done) ... which should be better as it is only 5' long and the bulbs will be 48"....
my 125 tank is 6' long and would complicate the whole thing.

 

[hypernesia]

The T5 Q&A thread in this forum will give you every answer you need.
I run 6 Aquablues
4 Blue +'s and 2 Procolors over my 30" deep tank and have no problems. Blue + and Aquablues have great par. My tank has a 14-20k look. Have not run T5 actinic. I keep lps on the bottom and SPS closer to the top and couldn't be happier with the colors I achieved when I moved from MH. ALthough my personal preference is probably different from yours
Hope that helps