Need Some Help With Actinics

Kevin34 · Aug 1, 2009

well i am breaking down my 125 soon and setting up just a 55g frag tank. My current lights are 2 250w MH. They are retro fit to my canopy over my 125. the 55 is going to be an open top and I plan on hanging the halides above the tank. I have heard that actinics help coral growth a lot and would really like to get an actinic setup on the new frag tank. But if I am hanging the halides where would I put the actinics? i had the idea of getting 2 of the lamps that clamp on to something. they sell them at office max and stuff. getting 2 of those, clamping them on both ends of the tank and using a 10 watt mini compact actinic bulb. would this work? what about just a blue flourescent bulb? is there a certain spectrum you need for actinics?

gilmour01 · Aug 1, 2009

the halides would wash out those small actinics. you wouldnt even be able to notice them. i've never heard that actinics help with growth...only with color. why not just use some good 20k bulbs to give the corals some pop.

Kevin34 · Aug 1, 2009

well i have 15K now. is it true the higher the K value of the bulbs the slower the corals will grow? but the better their color?

Azurel · Aug 1, 2009

Kevin34 said:
well i have 15K now. is it true the higher the K value of the bulbs the slower the corals will grow? but the better their color?

This true to a point.....In the past the higher K bulbs were always low in Par but they have been improved and some of the higher K bulb have more par then some of the low spectrum bulbs. It all depends on what manufacturer you buy. People have had great growth from higher K bulbs and better color.

As far as actinic being good for the corals that is hard to say so far all evidence is that it is good for color but not much else. But personally I think it also depends where and how deep the corals come from.

Your best bet to get some actinic if you don't want to go higher then 14-15k build a light box and attach the actinics to that along with your MH. If your going to go with actinics I would suggest using T-5 because of the smaller bulb and higher par....