Rate My Fish Tank Forum Index - Saltwater / Reef Tank Discussion - Lighting Variations - Reply
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rite now i am using 50/50 daylight bulbs (2 strips). I was wanting to change out one of the bulbs to a different kind i.e. actinic, blue, w/e. Does anyone do this or think would look kool? Or is it just a complete bad idea. So i would have 50/50 and another color..... |
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i run both - white light and blue{actinic} some people even run 3 kinds adding metal halides - i have mine on timers and use the blue as morning and evening lights - over night while the main lights are off theres a single LED that gives a little shimmer like moon light - - you might want to check out LED lighting, very cheap to run
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i run the 250 watt halide, and 2- 65 watt actinic pc's, i CANNOT figure out my coralife didgital timer........ i set the correct time, I.E it is 8:42 right now and thats what it says, and i set like certain timers for like i wanted my halide on from noon to 6 pm, and instead it comes on at midnight and goes off at 6 am, WHY? I HAVE NO IDEA......... i have a cord that comes off the fixture for the fan, one for the moonlights ( which now stay on constantly and im sure they are gunna burn out) , one cord that comes out of the fixture that goes to the ballast for he halide and one cord that is the power for the actinics. the timer has 8 slots, the top left two are colored, the bottom left two are colored a different color and the whole right side is supposed to be "constant" power........ according to the box the top left two are supposed to be day timers and hte bottom left two are night timers........ it has 7 time settings which also confuses me........................ im sure someone here has one......... |
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50/50 lighting is 1/2 white like and 1/2 blue light..... so you are really all ready diong what you want to do,
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Go to T5's and you can get a bulb called Fiji purple. Its only available in T5's as far as I know.....but its AWESOME. |
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yeah t-5's are the shit |
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In my old tanks i ran 50/50s It realy make water look clear and grows corals fast, if you add some purple in there you might not like the color,From experince.
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Yeah........pimp hit the nail on the head........PC bulbs are expensive. Not worth it to me for what you get. You can buy a halide bulb that will last twice as long......and gives you 3 times more light for the same price. |
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I have a coralife PC fixture and used to run a 10,000K bulb and a 50/50. Now I replaced them and run 10,000K and full actinic. OMG the new bulbs are blindingly bright. I can't even take a picture of my tank with just the actinic on. My photos comes out all crazy looking because the camera lens can't adjust it's so bright. |
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so should i just get actinic and that would bring out more color? or should i just stay with the 50/50? |
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Actinic will bring out more color and it will be a deeper and brighter blue. |
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BUT actinic doesnt have par levels that a 10k does........More par more light, more light more happy corals. :) I would personally.....(if I was staying with pc bulbs) do one 10k and one actnic. But thats me. The seperate bulbs are a LOT brighter than a 50/50 bulb. and you get better colorations. |
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does anyone have the same opinion as fihsboy. (not doubting you fihsboy) I def dont want unhappy coral. my 50/50 is 10,000k, and i just put in 1 actinic bulb. go back to the old setup or keep it?
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Well..........a 50/50 is half 10k half actinic. its running two different gasses through one electrical current. so if you can focus the energy on one gas, your going to get more par. thats why I was thiking instead of two 50/50's you could run one 10k and one actinic. Same exact thing, just a little more light as far as par goes. should be the same money too. |
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Metal Halides are the go. Cant beat them, I can see changes in coral growth everyday. |
Rate My Fish Tank Forum Index - Saltwater / Reef Tank Discussion - Lighting Variations - Reply