# Antic Bulb In Freshwater



## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

I just bought a light fixture for my tank and it came with 2 54w 12k bulbs and 2 54w antic bulbs. Correct me if I am wrong but antic bulb on freshwater you will grow algae right??


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## ryanimpreza (Jul 19, 2006)

lo4life said:


> I just bought a light fixture for my tank and it came with 2 54w 12k bulbs and 2 54w antic bulbs. Correct me if I am wrong but antic bulb on freshwater you will grow algae right??


no purpose for antics, I dont think it has growth value at all


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

I didnt think so.. I didnt realize when I bought it that it came with them or i would have ordered some 6700 bulbs....


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

They look cool though.


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

I just replaced mine with 6700's


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

actinic bulbs wont hurt, but they arn't much of a benefit. It will be just like moon lights that are always on and give your tank a blue hue depending on how much of other lighting you have. In sw tanks actinic helps for coral colours, but im not sure if it would impact the colours of fw fish or not, but i know its not effective to keep plants


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

I have moon lights on the light I just bought. So I guess I will have to pick up some 6700 bulbs today.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

I have run these bulbs on my freshwater tanks for almost 5 years now without any harm
it will not increase algea growth....My tanks are spotless
No benefit to running them other than the look.
Ran in a combo with other bulbs is how I get the coloration for my fish...works well.Just have to find your happy medium is all...


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## thedude8 (Oct 6, 2008)

you might want to replace those 12k bulbs too.

Freshwater plants ideally need between 5000k-10000k


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2010)

ryanimpreza said:


> I just bought a light fixture for my tank and it came with 2 54w 12k bulbs and 2 54w antic bulbs. Correct me if I am wrong but antic bulb on freshwater you will grow algae right??


no purpose for antics, I dont think it has growth value at all
[/quote]

Pretty much sums it up. I would go so far as to say they actually make plants look worse. I enjoy when people have them for fish only tanks though - the neons spring out.


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## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

Actually antics do have quite a bit of value for plants. The wavelenght of light coming from most antics are centered around 420nm. That's just about centered on the low peak of chloriphyll type a.

Here's a graph:









NASA has actually been working on growing plants with less energy for space farming. One of there techniques has been using LEDs that match the 4 primary peaks for chloriphyll production. I've been looking into trying it too, but it's almost impossible to find a decently powerfull LED in the 660nm wavelength area. Also for anyone else that's interested, the best mix of light for this is 92% in the red spectrum (600ish and up) and 8% in the blue spectrum (around 520 and down).

That concludes our science lesson for today.









Oh ya, don't run your lights during the resparation stage for plants, even antics for reasons pointed out above.


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

Plowboy said:


> Actually antics do have quite a bit of value for plants. The wavelenght of light coming from most antics are centered around 420nm. That's just about centered on the low peak of chloriphyll type a.
> 
> Here's a graph:
> 
> ...


NO IT DOESNT








first... i am too lazy to type all this, so i found the info and will quote it...



> 1. Light Wavelength Measurement = nm nanometer 1 billionth of a meter
> 
> 2. Photosynthesis = in this case, plant growth (Carbon uptake)
> 
> ...


AND Really LEDS are going to quickly get stomped out... watch for my next topic in a few minutes


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## jp80911 (Apr 3, 2008)

how do you compare the power of LED to regular light when it comes to plants? Obviously the power rating on them are different, do you compare them in Lumen and/or Lux?


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

jp80911 said:


> how do you compare the power of LED to regular light when it comes to plants? Obviously the power rating on them are different, do you compare them in Lumen and/or Lux?


Lumens per watt typically... OR Comparisons of PAR readings certain distance from the bulb, theres lots of way to compare them.


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