Acttinics Yes or No?

[jimroth]

I always took it for granted that I needed actinics with my MH setup I'm building for my new tank, and I planned to use VHO actinics.

Now I read in Ant'ny Calfo's Coral Prop book that they are not neccesary with MH, it's an aesthetic choice.

Do we have any people here who skip the blue tubes?

 

[roadking05]

you don't need them, but corals do look nice under them. I only have 10 t5 actinics on my tank.

 

[mikem]

I have no actinics on one of my tanks. Just 12K reflux MH's. I love the look.

 

[Brian]

If I didn't need the par, I would love to switch to 12k reeflux bulbs and only use the actinics for dawn/dusk.

 

[DaveK]

When MH lighting for reef systems was first available, about the only bulbs you could get were 6500K. These tend to look yellow, so to get a balanced color in the tank, actinic was often used. Actinic was also used in systems with other types of lighting on the theory that the blue light was best for corals, and it would help them grow better/faster.

Today you have a whole range of MH bulbs to choose from, so you can choose the amount of yellow verses blue light you want. With a color tamp range from 6500K to 20000K, you don't have the same issues you originally did.

There are people that do believe that actinic in addition to MH provides the best possible lighting. However, like others said, it's more a matter of personal choice.

What I would do is plan your lighting to include a place for actinic lighting, but start off with only MH, and see how you like it, and how well it works for you. You can always go back and add the actinic if you want to. That way if you like the MH alone, you will have saved some money, if you don't like it, you will not be any worse off once you add the actinic.

 

[steve68]

I like Super Atinics they make the colors pop.
do u need them no but they look great when u mix them with MH.
i use 12k reeflux with my atinics & i like the look.
like everyone said it's up to u.

 

[danthemanj]

I am currently running my tank on just MH bulbs (Reeflux 12K). I am trying to avoid adding actinics but as Steve said, you'll love the way the colors will pop out with them. I'll be experimenting with higher Kelvin bulbs over the next couple of months to see if they make a difference and give me a similar effect to actinics.

 

[jimroth]

I think what I'm going to do is run with 48" VHO actinics, which I have the ballast for, rather than go nuts and set up for 60" VHO actinics, since I would need a new ballast etc.

When MH lighting for reef systems was first available, about the only bulbs you could get were 6500K. These tend to look yellow, so to get a balanced color in the tank, actinic was often used. Actinic was also used in systems with other types of lighting on the theory that the blue light was best for corals, and it would help them grow better/faster.

Man, did I get good SPS growth under those 6500K Iwasakis!

 

[DaveK]

Yes, 6500K bulbs tend to have very high PAR values. As I pointed out, years ago MHs for aquarium use that was all you could get. 175w SE bulbs were sort of standard, and gave plenty of light for the LPS and soft corals being kept at the time.

Since the trend today is SPS corals, and a lot of blue is wanted for the colors, it's not unusual to see typical bulbs of 20000K and 250w. (Which reminds me, it's time to replace my MHs)

As for going with 48" VHO actinics, because you already have a ballast. This will work fine, but if the ballast is a "coil and core" ballast, it's usually less expensive long term to replace it with an electronic ballast. A "coil and core" ballast is only about 60-65% efficient verses about 90-95% for an electronic ballast.

 

[jimroth]

No it's a regular IceCap VHO ballast, so I think I'm good. And hey, I grew some fairly righteous Green bali Slimer and Blue Tort under my 6500K MH...after a while, the yellow tank looks normal!