Difference in 420nm and 460nm 03's?

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Brisc0

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I just found a brand of PC bulbs with square pins "Current USA" They offer a 420nm and a 460nm bulb and I have no idea what the difference is. Any help?
 
That is the peak wavelength output of the light bulb measured in nanometers.

You are probably more familiar with the color temperature. This can be arrived at by dividing the constant 2,900,000 by the wavelength in NanoMeters. For example:

2,900,000/420nm = 6905 K

2,900,000/460nm = 6305 K

So bulbs with these spectral peaks are good aquarium bulbs but not as Bluish or whitish as bulbs at 10,000 k bulbs.

HTH

Tom
 
At 420nm the light should be a light blue, the 460nm should be a deeper puple as it's going more towars violet. Both should make your corals floresce. The 420 should be a bit brighter.
 
When you say brighter is that in regards to the florescence or the lighting in general. I have four 10K daylight bulbs already I am interested in what makes the corals look the best. Thanks for the awesome info and speedy replies its greatly appreciated!
 
When you say brighter is that in regards to the florescence or the lighting in general.

I mean in general, although it is my experience the ligher "blue" does flouresce the corals better. The more purple bulb will have more of it's out put in the UV which is invisible, so the other will seem more intense.
 
TheMadNucleus said:
You are probably more familiar with the color temperature. This can be arrived at by dividing the constant 2,900,000 by the wavelength in NanoMeters. For example:

2,900,000/420nm = 6905 K

sorry... this equation just doesn't work.

fyi - Actinic light (420nm) has no Kelvin temp. The scale only goes to 20,000K and 420nm is far far beyond that.

If I had to choose between 460nm and 420nm it would be 420nm hands down.

To me the 460nm sounds more like a bulb with blue glass that filters out everything except the blue light where the 420nm sounds to me like a bulb using phosphors that peak at 420nm. Just guessing though since I don't know what bulbs you're referring to.
 
Sorry this equation does work - the reason that Actinic is not measured in Kelvins is that part of the spectrum is filtered by using Actinic reacting gases in the flourescent tube and therefore the spectrum is limited to a narrow bandwidth i.e. does not exactly follow the "black-object-heated" rule of spectrum vs. temperature.

However, the rating 420nm exactly means that that is the PEAK WAVELENGTH of the light emitted by the bulb (however at a narrow bandwidth). So the temperature of the light is meaningful but those unfamiliar with its meaning and application think that it does not apply.

"goes up to 20,000k" You mention that 420nm is far beyond that - what does that mean??? are you talking about visible spectrum or radiation in general. The statement about it being far beyond that is totally meaningless. The visible spectrum is about 320nm to 720nm (about 10,000k to 4,000k).


Also be aware that it works the other way, for example:

2900000/10,000k = 290nm Peak wave length for a 10,000k Bulb.

household bulbs of approx. 5000K:

2,900,000/ 5000k = 580nm

This is a very well known equation for converting temperature to wavelength and visa versa - you will find it in any physics 101 class. It does apply to actinic bulbs as well as long as you understand the meaning of temperature and light and that Actinic has a peak output but has a narrow bandwidth as well.

But thanks for your interest.

HTH




Tom
 
Okay just to clarify a little bit I just spoke to the guys over at MarineandReef.com to place my bulb order. For those of you familiar with CSL bulbs, the 460nm is what they sold as their "Ultra Actinic" its the bulb that I have been trying to get away from for so long as it has IMHO 0 asthetic value. The 420nm bulb is the identical light spectrum of Coralifes true 03 actinic which I consider to be a superior bulb, however it is not available in square pin. This new brand "current USA" offers both of these bulbs in square pin as well as a "Dual Actinic" which is 50/50 420nm and 460nm. So for those of you out there who need replacement bulbs for your CSL fixtures, current USA now offers them in 22" 65W and all the other standard lengths and wattages.
HTH (even though its my question LoL)
 

Long story, but the short of it is when I got my 250w Coralife Pendant, the ballast was broken. The gave me the "runaround" saying that I had to return it to Coralife. When I called Coralife, they said they couldn't take it back because they only except returns from their sellers (a.k.a. Hellolights).

In the end, I had to return it to Hellolights which it turn sent it to Coralife. Hellolights refused to send me another unit so it took about a month to get the thing back. And it still didn't work correctly. The ballast was overdriving the bulbs. I blew 3 bulbs in the span of 3 weeks.

It was Hellolights attitude that really turned me off though. One of their employees told me on the phone that, "We are only going to do this once". He meant that they were only going to take the ballast back once and if it still wasn't fixed, tough luck!!

That is when I learned to build my own ballast.

:)

BTW, hellolights.com's true actinics are very pinkish purple and they will make the corals glow, but nowhere near what the CSL actinics do.

Really? I wouldn't say mine are pink, but they do have a tint of violet in them. CSL 03's are going to get harder to come by as time moves on as I don't believe they are manufactured any longer. Wonder if there is another bulb manufacturer that can produce a CSL "look alike".
 
LOL, your in the thread for it, the Current USA is the new CSL from what I understand. The 420nm actinics are probably the CSL true actinics ;)
 
I should have the bulbs friday, I will resurface this post and let you guys know the scoop on these Current USA bulbs.
 
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