How much Actinic 03 do I really need in a 60 Gallon Reef?

[MadManMac]

I am building a retro system for my new reef aquarium and I am going to be trying to keep things with both high and medium lighting requirements. I am looking at either a dual 175w MH or a dual 250w MH, heat is my big concern with the 250s. I also considered a single 400w MH, but figured the dual system would let me split the distribution up and spread it out across the tank more. I have two 13w lights, one red and the other Actinic, but I figured 13w was not nearly enough for such a big tank. I am thinking about either 36w, 55w, 72w or 110w depending on what I read here.

My rock shows up Tuesday, so I will order my lights and have them ready (hopefully) in three weeks when I need them. TIA for your thoughts and great input. I am learning so much so fast, I cannot wait to actually get my hands wet!

 

[reefrunner69]

If you use 20K bulbs in your MH, it is entirely possible that you will not need any actinics to achieve the look you want Persoanlly, I'd go with the 250s, heat can be addressed and 2 X 250W will give you some room to upgrade if the desire ever strikes, and it's not that much more expensive

 

[Brisc0]

I think the general rule of thumb here is one 03 actinic per (3) full daylight bulbs. What is your tanks dimensions and gallons?

 

[MadManMac]

My tank is 40 long x 22 tall by 16 wide with an integrated in tank sump so it works out to be about 55 gallons of water. I am going to add, due to the advice of this website, a dual 250w MH retro with a 96w PC actinic.

 

[MadManMac]

My tank is 40 long x 22 tall by 16 wide with an integrated in tank sump so it works out to be about 55 gallons of water. I am going to add, due to the advice of this website, a dual 250w MH retro with a 96w PC actinic.

 

[fishfreek]

Brisco I had not heard it put that way before. I acutally usually end up with a 1:1 ratio of 10K to actinic bulbs on my tanks usually.

For example I have a 80 LONG with 2 96W 10K and 2 96W actinic PCs. And a 20gal with a 55W 10K and 55W actinic and soon to have a 75 with 2 110W super actinic and 2 110W actinic white VHOs.

 

[Brisc0]

I got it out of one of Fenner's books. "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist"

" Many marine aquarists have found they like the effect of adding 03 actinic, or blue actinic, flourescent lighting to their systems. These bulbs tend to bring out the flourescent greens and blues of fishes and corals, and they do work well as gentle lighting during the dawn and dusk periods in systems that have timers (and the number of different, separately wired bulbs) to accomplish this. Keep in mind, however that full spectrum lights still provide the most biologically effective lighting power, and the actininc may be doing more for your eyes than your specimes. A generally accepted recommendation is one blue actinic blub in combination with three full-sepctrum flourescents."

-Robert M. Fenner, "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist"


whoo that was a long one LoL, hope it helps to clarify. I typically trust what Fenner says as most people highly respect and believe in his work. I have used this method in my tank and really like the results. i have 6X65W full daylights, and 2X65W 03's. I keep the actinics in a central position across the tank to shine on the LR and then blast the rest with full daylight.

 

[fishfreek]

Thats cool. I didnt have a problem with it. Just curious where it came from or if it was just personal prefrences.

Ultimatly the amount of actinic we use depends on our personal taste. If we dont like how our tank looks then thats not a good thing.

 

[Brisc0]

Thats cool. I didnt have a problem with it.

Hey bro, hope I didn't come across as pissy to you, I just wanted to answer your question as thorough as possible. Sorry if my response seemed defensive.

 

[fishfreek]

Na. No biggie. I probably read the exact same quote out of his book and quickly forgot it. I have awful read retention.

 

[onebadgsx]

i personally run 4 110 vho's, 1 being actinic white an dth e other 3 being actinic 03 blue. i like the look better with more blue.

 

[MadManMac]

I am planning on running at least one 96watt PC full Actinic 03 for the blue light and then the 13 watt is only for moonlight effect.

BTW- My first order of LR and LS arrived tonight, I am so excited to watch it.... cure!