Mars aqua and actinic question

[mark freshwater]

Hi
i was just down the lfs and they were asking me about my lights (mars aqua 165w)
they brought to my attention that there is no actinic which is need for real growth and help.
My units have 460nm and 450nm blues , where as they were saying actinic is about 420nm.
Is this correct ?
They showed me on there lights and they look more purple and they explained how it works both in the tank and the ocean. (i thought the purple was infared or uv or something and not necessary)
should i start looking in the 420 actinic leds or a t5 actinic to add aswell along side my mars aqua?
or replace a few leds with said actinic?
thanks
Mark

 

[Retro Reefer]

Yes actinic is 420nm and IMO it’s very beneficial for your corals.. you could just add a ATI t5 true actinic bulb or two to your lighting

 

[Reefpuck]

I had marsaqua units before and ended up swaping out a few lenses in order to add some purple/uv.

True actinic is sub 400nm. 420nm would basically just be a purple/violet color. I definitely liked the color better when I added some 420nm and 395nm (uv) diodes. Swapping them out is pretty easy (just google it...a few videos on it). Or you could look into a T5 actinic supplement (I don't think the color is as good as led actinics...and will get washed out easily by your marsaqua units).

You could also look into an SBreef sbar actinic led bar to supplement...although it probably has more blue than you're looking for.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Actinic is the spectrum of light that’s producing a photochemical effect, 420nm would be considered the peek and is the most common target and reference in our hobby.

 

[alton]

Both retro reefer and reefpuck are correct, either add actinic lamps, or add some sub 400 diodes and 420 diodes to get the entire spectrum of the actinic lamp. Orphek also has a actinic strip that can be attached to an existing setup

 

[mark freshwater]

thanks
Where would i get 395nm or 420nm to replace some blues in my mars aqua?
Also what is the difference between diodes and lenses? The lens is the cover over the led , whats the diode ? only diode i know is part of a circuit board.
Or i can get a 54w T5 from the lfs.

 

[alton]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/upgrade-and-replace-burnt-out-leds-in-ai-lights.421481/
This person got his from Rapid leds
https://www.rapidled.com/uv-violet/

 

[mark freshwater]

Awesome thanks

 

[trido]

Here are some "no pcb" 395-400nm emitters for a mars aqua, evergrow, or sb reefbrite light.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/5-10-20-50-pcs-1W-3W-High-Power-8Type-UV-ultraviolet-365-410nm-LED-Lamp-Light/322191143692?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&var=511097742169&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

[Bpb]

There’s a lot of incorrect terminology going on here.

Actinic: traditionally a term applied to bulbs. It’s a range from 400-450 nm. It is VIOLET in appearance. Fairly dim. Causes a lot of fluorescence but is also a very high PUR (photosynthetically usable radiation ) as chlorophyll a uses a lot of light in this range.

UV: mostly invisible to the human eye. Wavelengths shorter than 400 nm. Kessil, Orphek, and Sb reef include some diodes using the very upper slightly visible ranges of the UV range. They appear VERY dim. There is theory that it contributes mostly to color development. Little growth benefit. Most metal halides, especially the lower kelvin bulbs put out a tremendous amount of UVA, but much is filtered out by the tempered glass shields. T5ho bulbs emit a TINY amount because most of it is phosphor converted into visible light.

Purple: a mixture of red and blue wavelengths. It’s not a pure color on the radio metric spectrum. It’s a combination. Much like “white” light. More red, and it becomes closer to “magenta”

IR: infrared. Long wavelengths up in the 800+ range. It is mostly heat. Theory abound that this improves color a bit as well. Orphek includes IR diodes in their panels. Also nearly invisible to the human eye. Again, metal halide bulbs put out a good amount at lower kelvin numbers. T5ho puts out a tad. Even the ati Blue+ has some trace amounts of output over 800 nm.

You don’t NEED 420 nm diodes in your light. If your LFS told you this, put simply, they’re wrong. I’ll elaborate that while they may understand the basics of wholesale ordering and product moving while managing costs, the statement that your mars aqua doesn’t work and that you need 420 nm diodes indicates that these people have a poor grasp of basic light physics and biology/photosynthesis. I would avoid seeking their advice any further.

Simply look up some of the tanks out there that used the old AI Sol lights. Some of the best most densely packed tanks you’ll find. Using only cree 450 nm royal blues and 6500k whites. Nothing more

 

[mark freshwater]

Thankyou Bpb , i thought my mars aquas where working just fine ,
10 years ago i had compact floros and T5s still was able to manage.

 

[mark freshwater]

Another thing i noticed about the LFS is they have there white lights mainly off like most shops do, but i bought a long goni , and a short goni which looked mainly yellow under there lights , when i got them home under my lights the long goni was a beautiful metallic green , and the other a nice light green totally different colour.

 

[Bpb]

Thankyou Bpb , i thought my mars aquas where working just fine ,
10 years ago i had compact floros and T5s still was able to manage.

Oh you can do more than manage with CFL or T5HO. People packed their tanks with growth using VHO bulbs from the hardware store back at the turn of the century. Granted. Those bulbs had a ton of violet and blue in their spectrum