# actinic?



## hiphopn (Feb 10, 2005)

will actinic lighting aid in plant growth or no. i ask cuz i just ordered this http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageA...WPROD&ProdID=25 and i was hoping the actinic aould help or should i replace them with regular cf tubes?


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## channafreak (Mar 27, 2004)

hiphopn said:


> will actinic lighting aid in plant growth or no. i ask cuz i just ordered this http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageA...WPROD&ProdID=25 and i was hoping the actinic aould help or should i replace them with regular cf tubes?
> [snapback]953969[/snapback]​


Nice..... Thats alot of wattage. 75 Gal?? I typicly dont use the 10000K bulbs. I stick between 5500-7500K for greatest spectrum. The actinic are usually for saltwater reef tanks I beleive. Either way those CF bulbs are expensive and I would try out the setup and see if your plants do well. The sheer wattage should get most plants to grow. There are better bulbs suited for planted tanks, but try out what you got unless you got money to blow.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I asked Twitch the same thing and he said basically nope...they are the wrong kind of light for plant growth....or something like that.


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## hiphopn (Feb 10, 2005)

Grosse Gurke said:


> I asked Twitch the same thing and he said basically nope...they are the wrong kind of light for plant growth....or something like that.
> [snapback]954054[/snapback]​


so i should replace them with regular cf? well with my other lighting on the tank right now i will have 4 wpg. is that enough . t=what is the most wpg a person will eveer need?


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

That is a pretty good deal. I bought the same light strip off ebay for around that same price. You should change the bulbs to 6700k's or so. Look on ebay you can buy a set of four straight pin 6700k bulbs for $40.


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## spree_rider (Mar 20, 2004)

actinics are no good, only light in the blue range which is not good for plants at all, you need just regular sunshine tubes, or even cw and a ww would do. actinics are only for saltwater tanks. mostly reef tanks. also they make your fish look terrible as the only light is blue and piranha have very little blue, wont show any red and will probably make them look just black.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

They make my geryi look sweet....but dont do anything for the plants.


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## hiphopn (Feb 10, 2005)

ok well i got em in the mail today and yah it does look alot like a saltwater tank now. hmmmmmmm it makes my reds sparkle. i kinda like it but since i was getting more lighting for plants i guess i should replace half of the cf;s with regular cf. anyone have any tips on what kind of compact tubes i should get? what is all this 10000k and 20000k stuff the spectrum what is that? i dont get it....


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Well if you like how it looks, it might be alright but could lead to algae problems having that much lighting in the wrong spectrum. As well, the plants won't really use that light so it basically cuts down on the light you're outputting since the plants are only interested in the light they can use. So if you have 96 watts and it's half actinic, to the plants you only really have 48 watts.

You already have it and like the way it looks so see how your plants do. It's not the best for plants, but there's something to be said for achieving something that is aesthetically pleasing for you to look at as well.


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## Scolopendra (Feb 24, 2005)

Current puts out a nice dual spectrum daylight bulb, having both 6500 and 6700 in one bulb. The series is sun paq.


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## nomaddan (Nov 26, 2004)

Scolopendra said:


> Current puts out a nice dual spectrum daylight bulb, having both 6500 and 6700 in one bulb. The series is sun paq.
> [snapback]963811[/snapback]​


I recently bought the sun paq system an dlove it. I replace my actinic bulbs with 6700k ones for 27.00 each Here is the site:

http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW/F5...8/Itemdy00.aspx


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## hiphopn (Feb 10, 2005)

what is a 12000k bulb? i have some 10000 and some 12000 bulbs... what are they good for the 10000 are 55w and the 12000 are 65w will my plants love them?


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

nomaddan said:


> Scolopendra said:
> 
> 
> > Current puts out a nice dual spectrum daylight bulb, having both 6500 and 6700 in one bulb. The series is sun paq.
> ...


27.00 each! Damn, check ebay, you can get 4 for 40 bucks.


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## hiphopn (Feb 10, 2005)

yah 27 each is way to much for me to spend on bulbs..... what is the difference between 6700 and 10000 or 12000 what do these #s mean?


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## channafreak (Mar 27, 2004)

http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=78694

Dont know if you read my last post here. If you have the actinic 03 blue, Id keep em. They got some growing power. The white even though a little "hot" at 12000K, is still full spectrum. Decent mix of red to blue. I dont think you will get a huge advantage switching bulbs.


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## hiphopn (Feb 10, 2005)

channafreak said:


> http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=78694
> 
> Dont know if you read my last post here. If you have the actinic 03 blue, Id keep em. They got some growing power. The white even though a little "hot" at 12000K, is still full spectrum. Decent mix of red to blue. I dont think you will get a huge advantage switching bulbs.
> [snapback]964805[/snapback]​


so the blue bulbs i have are 03? what is the difference between 12000k and 6700k?


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## channafreak (Mar 27, 2004)

hiphopn said:


> channafreak said:
> 
> 
> > http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=78694
> ...


I would imagine you have the 03 blue. It should be stamped on the bulb somewhere. The Kelven rating denotes the color of light emited by the bulb. Higher being more blue and lower reder. I see you have 10000K bulbs for two of the CF's. They are not actinic and should be a bit on the blue side of color. Most planted tank aquarists use 5000-7000K bulbs for the broad spectrum. I might consider swaping these. See how your plants are growing with your current setup.


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