Too much actinic?

[scubaprashant]

I have am setting up a 90 gallon reef which will mainly have softies & about 80lbs of LR. I just purchased the Aquaticlife 6 Lamp T-5 and wanted some input on the lamps that it comes with and if I should substitute one or two of the actinics with a 10k.

I just want the healthiest possible environment in the tank.

This is what it comes with...

1 - 10k (white) 54w
1 - 460/620nm (purple) 54w
4 - 420/460nm (blue) 54w
8 - blue LED moonlights

Thanks in advance!

 

[bongarone]

Looks good to me.

Corals don't look good under white light. They look brown.

Also, natural reefs are deep enough that only the blue spectrum of light shines through.

 

[sirreal63]

Looks good to me.

Corals don't look good under white light. They look brown.

Also, natural reefs are deep enough that only the blue spectrum of light shines through.

So those reefs in shallow water, and the opposed to direct sun are unnatural, and brown? Really?

 

[scubaprashant]

Thank you for the input. I've done a lot of searching but wanted to hear it from someone with experience. Thank you.

 

[scubaprashant]

Also, what is your opinion, sirreal63?

 

[sirreal63]

Having grown very colorful corals under 10k lights with actinic supplements, I believe in white light. I have used 20k bulbs, 14k bulbs and got the best growth and excellent color from 10k's, and I am not the only one, when I got started in this hobby, a lot of people were still using 6500k bulbs, and they were not brown. The blue color is more popular but it is not the best for growth, keep some white light unless you just want slow growth. Most softies don't want high light, but with the mix of bulbs you have and the fixture, there isn't much danger of that. Here is a good read, and something that may help.
http://www.coral.org/resources/about_coral_reefs/coral_overview

If you want, I will send you a link to the pics of my old 125 that was run with 10k bulbs and vho actinic and you can decide for yourself if white light makes brown corals. Some of the most beautiful reefs in the wild are in shallow water.

 

[scubaprashant]

Having grown very colorful corals under 10k lights with actinic supplements, I believe in white light. I have used 20k bulbs, 14k bulbs and got the best growth and excellent color from 10k's, and I am not the only one, when I got started in this hobby, a lot of people were still using 6500k bulbs, and they were not brown. The blue color is more popular but it is not the best for growth, keep some white light unless you just want slow growth. Most softies don't want high light, but with the mix of bulbs you have and the fixture, there isn't much danger of that. Here is a good read, and something that may help.
http://www.coral.org/resources/about_coral_reefs/coral_overview

If you want, I will send you a link to the pics of my old 125 that was run with 10k bulbs and vho actinic and you can decide for yourself if white light makes brown corals. Some of the most beautiful reefs in the wild are in shallow water.

Thank you very much for the advise and input. Yes, I would greatly appreciate the link, as I am learning as much as I can about marine care. I had a hunch that it was overkill on the actinic, so I will definitely be making some changes. Do you think 2 10K would be sufficient 3 Actinic and 1 Purple? Or would you go with 3 10k and 2 actinic +1 purple?

 

[sirreal63]

Try a few different combinations, softies can handle the low light and they can also handle higher light. Find a combination that works for you and don't be afraid to try other combinations.

 

[Amphiprion]

Having grown very colorful corals under 10k lights with actinic supplements, I believe in white light. I have used 20k bulbs, 14k bulbs and got the best growth and excellent color from 10k's, and I am not the only one, when I got started in this hobby, a lot of people were still using 6500k bulbs, and they were not brown. The blue color is more popular but it is not the best for growth, keep some white light unless you just want slow growth. Most softies don't want high light, but with the mix of bulbs you have and the fixture, there isn't much danger of that. Here is a good read, and something that may help.
http://www.coral.org/resources/about_coral_reefs/coral_overview

If you want, I will send you a link to the pics of my old 125 that was run with 10k bulbs and vho actinic and you can decide for yourself if white light makes brown corals. Some of the most beautiful reefs in the wild are in shallow water.

Some of the best looking tanks, IMHO, utilized warmer colored lamps with actinic supplements. At the very least, the light itself seems more natural to me.

 

[sirreal63]

Here is a shot from one end to the other of a brown 10k lit with a single 6' VHO actintic 6' 125 gallon tank. I have no idea how I was able to stand it.

 

[Bk2Reefin]

what do the purple/pinkish bulbs provide? is it more for coral growth or to help make colors pop?

 

[karsseboom]

Here is a shot from one end to the other of a brown 10k lit with a single 6' VHO actintic 6' 125 gallon tank. I have no idea how I was able to stand it.

Looks nice bro! you never post pics of your tanks...lol

 

[sirreal63]

Yes I do, you just havent noticed, lol. I took that one down in 2007 before coming back home to Texas. It had 150's on each end and a 250 in the middle, you will notice the growth was better on the ends under the 150's than it was under the 250. I always crack up when I see people say you can't do sps very well with 150's or even more amusing, that you must have blue light. The sad thing is I had a great camera for outdoor shots but it totally blew chunks at taking good shots of the tank, it was much more colorful in person and the growth was phenomenal. It was a simple tank, good skimmer, a small amount of ozone, carbon, calcium reactor, chaeto, and mad amounts of flow, I fed heavy and exported heavy, that has been a formula for success for a lot of people for a long time. The current tank will be better, but it has a long ways to go, but I am patient.