Ture Actinic 03
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: Equipment
Forum Description: This is the place to ask question about reef equipment.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1026
Printed Date: May 15 2025 at 12:43pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Ture Actinic 03
Posted By: ffc3
Subject: Ture Actinic 03
Date Posted: September 20 2003 at 9:37pm
| I have some actinic bulbs (two Coralife and two cheap JEBO). The blues are very different from each other and neither of them say they are the true actinic 03 lights. How important is it to use true actinics? Should I toss the actinics I have and spend some money and purchase true actinics? My white bulbs are 10000k and are the same brands but the lights are similar relative to the blue. |
Replies:
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: September 21 2003 at 7:29am
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I'm running several power compacts over my tank right now. I just recently removed my actinic (which is a verb referring to their effect, not a noun refering to their color) bulbs and replaced them with blue bulbs. I bought my bulbs from Scroll (Thanks!) and they are awesome. I may be losing some of my actinic benefits, but the color is much better and brighter. So for me, the actinic lighting wasn't nearly as nice as my blue lights. Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: September 21 2003 at 4:20pm
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For NO Flourescent, Blue Moon's are the bomb, but I don't know if they are made for VHO or PC. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: mdawson8931
Date Posted: September 21 2003 at 5:55pm
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I'm using 2 13watt blue pc's along with 2 175mh's. They dont look bad at all. ------------- Mike Layton, Ut. |
Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: September 21 2003 at 9:00pm
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Atinic usually refers to light in the 420 nm range. This is in the blue to violet spectrum. This is the light that causes greens/yellows to "glow" in our corals. I've had "blue" atinics (36 watt JALO) that were just that... blue. They did very little to enhance the flouresence of my coral. For this reason, I switched to VHO. IMO, if your after "atinic" to make your coral glow, flourecent lights (either VHO or NO) are the way to go. But if you like the blue shade that "blue" lights add to the tank then use "blue" lights. Let your eye's decide. ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: ffc3
Date Posted: September 21 2003 at 9:14pm
| My main concern is what is best for corals. I saw on a different forum that true actinic 03 has the correct light and others labeled just "actinic" are just blue lights that don't benefit corals much. The actinics I have make the corals fluoresce but I just want to make sure they are not missing any blue that they need. |
Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: September 21 2003 at 9:34pm
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ffc3, you're of course right. But getting a concensus on what lighting is best will be near to impossible (even among the experts). For example, if you follow the advice of Eric Borneman atinic doesn't matter at all. It's all about the amount of light in the PAR range (photosynthesis range) and 420 nm is a very poor performer in that area. ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: September 22 2003 at 7:15am
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I agree with Jon, he said that well. There is certainly a difference between best light for corals, and best light for human eyes. Hmmm, which light would you rather have. Tough question. Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Posted By: SSpargur
Date Posted: September 22 2003 at 8:20am
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personally I want what's best for my tank inhabitants. If they're happy, I'm happy. ------------- Sean Spargur West Valley, UT |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: September 22 2003 at 11:05am
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Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it the actinic effect at the 420 nm range that was determined years ago to be best for coral that come from the depths below, say, 15 ft.?
When I had a shallow 8"x3'x3'cuttings tank lighted only by 2- 30 Watt Blue Moon T10 lamps, all the coral, soft and stony grew well. There was no calcium nor kalkwasser reactor but did use Kold-Steril water and tap water and Aragamilk. I also attribute some of that good growth to the surge device which not only gave strong wavelike movement but ample circulation to a very shallow tank. Well, I took it down last year and sold the setup without taking any pics, but the first chance I get I'm going to replicate it, but not quite so shallow this time. The color was beautiful to my eyes and over the long term seemed good for the coral too. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: September 22 2003 at 11:27am
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Very difficult for me to answer, I'm torn between all sides of this arguement. Sometimes I want to agree with Mark's number of 420nm. But there are times I would lean towards the 480-490 theory. And yet still, look how many of our corals grow in the top 6 inches of the water column. It has certainly been proven that white light or even yellow light (like from metal halides) provides the best light. The other side I lean towards is the theory that we are adding certain lights because we like the way the corals and tank looks, regardless of how they look in the wild (like red cardinal fish in reef tanks). Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Posted By: imaexpat2
Date Posted: September 23 2003 at 8:53pm
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I am with Mark, for NO's...Blue Moons are the bomb! I can only find them in 48 inch NO max! If anybody knows of a source for larger ones please enlighten me. I have been using them for about 2 months and they are great. ------------- 300 gal. Frag System 300 gal. Live Rock Vat 240 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank 135 gal. SPS/Clam Reef Tank 75 gal. Softies only Tank 65 gal. LPS/Softies 24 gal. SPS/Softies Nano Reef |