i know with my tank, i only see algae when i increase my lighting more than 6 hours... even with ammonia at 3ppm i dont see a drop of algae. It all depends, i would rather have a few hours of great looking lights, than many more hours of so-so looking lights. I dont know what my tank would look like with only daylight lights... so i have nothing to compare and i dont want to buy bulbs and be stuck if i dont like the look.
I am surprised that your plants grow with only 6 hours of light. Do you only keep the actinic bulb on for 6 hours or all lighting? Are your plants showing signs of growth? If you are worried about the look, go to plantgeeks.com and ask around for examples of people's tanks with different lighting. There are alot of very knowledgable plant people over there so they could help you out.
14000k is simply a depth whitch the light travels so if there is plants and corals around 40 to 50 ft below sea level then yes i would. they are like apples and oranges, true actinic blue bulb has the same light properties as a freshwaterplant bulb.i am not saying you could only run a actinic bulb. because you do need the lower k rating in a bulb for plants.
Several things. 14000K is not the depth the light will travel. It refers to the color of the light which you are right, does relates to how far it can travel, but the main purpose of stating the temperature of a bulb is not to say how far it will travel into the water. Also, an actinic bulb does not have the same properties as a FW bulb. Actinic's have a different spectrum, and hence emit light at different frequencies and wavelengths than FW bulbs. The frequency and wavelength of light are two of its main properties so it is incorrect to say they have the same properties.
I registered on www.plantgeek.com forums already and these people could probably get technical enough to convince me. The thing in coral that needs light is, so I've heard, the same thing that's in plants: chlorophyll. That is where these folks get the idea that there is a similar requirement for light. I think the main reason you need actinic light for coral is because that is the spectrum that gets down to the corals that are more than a few feet under. Most plants in nature are much shallower I believe and are used to using a broader spectrum of light. I think the actinic spectrum may be good for plants, but I guess with my reasoning a broader spectrum would be more appropriate and may produce more growth. Do I make sense?
hi garman. I used a 50/50 SW bulb that came with one of my compact flourescent fixtures. One half of the bulb is literally pink - the actinic half, the other half is 10,000K so fine for plant growth.
However, my plants reached past the actinic half as if it didn't exist at all. I don't think that it actually promotes algae, but it may if your plants start to die from the super-low light and water quality deteriorates.
That's my experience using a half-actinic bulb in a FW planted tank. IMO, that light spectrum seems totally unusable by plants so you're wasting your time and money if you choose such a bulb. I had to for a week or so, because I bought the fixture like that and had to order the 6700 K FW bulb separately.
So far, one person agrees with me that it is unusable for FW plants. We will see what else others say. I have kept several heavily planted tanks, but those people know more than me so I'll trust what they say either way. I have a sneaky feeling that your actinic is causing your algae to grow because there is no way you should have to reduce your lighting to 6 hours a day to keep it from growing. That is just too short of a time. I would doubt many people at plantgeeks would say that plants can grow with this kind of light duration. I'll stay up-to-date with what they say though.
I used to buy my plants from a guy named Off-Ice who I believe started that site. He used to sell me some really nice plants, but I am not sure if he still sells them or not.
Miami, I don't have a planted tank... I was just referring to the length of light versus algae... I didn't realize the thread had moved over to planted tanks, I was only referring to the type of light because i have a 50/50 and was wondering the use of the actinic on the tank in general. I guess i'm lost on where this thread is going, lol.
My fault, my fault - I must have assumed it. I sincerely apologize. Now, I understand why you are able to only keep your lights on 6 hours a day. By all means, yes only keep it on 6 hours a day if you like the light. It doesn't matter if you don't have live plants. Do whatever works for your tastes. I am sorry again - I don't know where I started thinking you had live plants. Is your tank all set now that you figured out it cycled and did a water change?
I am still interested over on the plantgeeks site to see if they think it promotes algae. I'll stay tuned over there.
i found this. it says that blue light is nedded,but idk. i only know what i read with freshwater. i guess this is just another learning experince. miami dont take offence to any of this . it is a good post thogh.this post also says nothing about a actinic bulb.i wish i could find out the k rating on a actinic03blue bulb.
don't apologize... and yes my tank is doing great, thanks! Trying to see if there are any tiny schooling fish that will do ok with my angelfish. As far as my lighting, I just wonder what the tank would look like without the blue light...
if u find out any more info from plantgeek we'd love to know...when its time to replace the bulb i might just get daylight bulb and see how it works, id just hate to have to keep my light on even less.
really the best way is for someone to put only an actinic bulb on a 5 gallon planted and see what happens...
Here is an interesting response from the thread at plantgeeks. It looks like the actinic is needed to grow a certain kind of algae at the depth most coral are found. The coral then use this algae to stay alive. It is a very good answer for the marine side of things, but doesn't answer the FW question. Anyway, here it is.
Promotes welfare of invertibrates For a marine aquarium to realistically represent reef life, it is essential to provide the best conditions for corals and invertebrates to thrive. Most important in this is the survival of zooxanthellae, a specific form of algae, which symbiotically assists the invertebrates to feed and remove waste matter. In nature, the sun provides over 100,000 luxlux 'lumen per sq. metre'. At depths of typically 5 to 10 metres, where many of the corals and invertebrates are found, the visible light to be seen, is basically only in the blue wavebands, thus the familiar blue appearance. All the other wavelengths, particularly reds have been absorbed and filtered out by the salt water. This remaining blue light is the light which invertebrates have evolved to utilise for zooxanthellae symbiosis. The Arcadia Marine Blue Actinic lamp range has been created to provide the specific spectrum '400 - 480nm' necessary to achieve the blue chlorophyll absorption for zooxanthellae symbiosis to develop. This concentration of light energy in the so called actinic range peaking at 420nm, is essential for the survival and good health of fish, corals and invertebrates in marine aquariums. Another important element of the Arcadia Marine Blue Actinic lamp is the UV output present, which creates a very pleasant fluorescent effect on corals, invertebrates and exotic marine fish. When used at night with no other lamps, the effect is of a dark moonlit night with the vivid colours of the corals and invertebrates fluorescing brilliantly. When used in conjunction with the Arcadia Marine White lamp range, the high levels of light output create a most realistic marine reef environment. This combination gives the most natural and pleasant appearance and highlights the fluorescence and bright colours of the fish, corals and invertebrates, along with the correct spectrum output at the required wavelengths to achieve the reproduction of the symbiotic algae, zooxanthellae.
Just as a side note, (this is not meant for plant growth - just light in terms of what I like on my cichlid tanks) -I used to have a very hard time figuring out which light to buy. I'd buy one and it was too blue - I'd buy another and it was too yellow. Finally I found these All Glass 8000K bulbs and they are perfect (for my taste). I really like the 8000K temperature. So, if you ever do change, check this out and see what you think. It does not have the deep blue you are probably used to with the actinic so you may not like it, but I thought I would pass it along. Glad to hear the tank is going well. I really like the pic of your angels on your profile.
Is it for glass tanks? i have to be careful with my acrylic tank as the lights i have right now are close to my tank top and heated it already, bending the cover on top :(
