Actinic vs 50/50

[TheChad]

Hey all,

In my current setup I have 2-96w Actinic's and 2-150w HQI's.

When my HQI's are lit, you can turn the Actinic's off and it really doesn't make much if any difference at all to the tank.

So I'm curious if 50/50 bulbs would be more usefull than the Actinic's?

What say you?

Thanks,

-TheChad

 

[Ziggy953]

What is the color temp of the HQIs?

Since the PCs are on a separate switch you could have them on to simulate dawn and dusk before and after the HQIs come on and go off.

 

[TheChad]

What is the color temp of the HQIs?

Since the PCs are on a separate switch you could have them on to simulate dawn and dusk before and after the HQIs come on and go off.

The HQI's are 14,000k Phoenix bulbs, which to my understanding are a bit bluer than most 14,000k's.

That said, I am going to be changing them here in the next month as they are about 2 years old and my tank is starting to grow some serious hair and red slime algae.

I am probably going to give the new Iris 14,000k bulb's a try, they are suppose to be comparable to the Phoenix bulb's and only cost about $24/each.


I do use the PC's to simulate dawn and dusk, they come on 1 hour before HQI's and turn off 1 hour after the HQI's. However they are also on the entire time the HQI's are on.

I was just curious if the 50/50 may offer more (for lack of a better word) light for the corals.

Obviously spectrum matters for coral's, so I know that 96w is 96w, but rather than the Actinic spectrum it would be a daylight spectrum.

Hopefully that makes since?

Thanks,

-TheChad