lighting? three actinics and one full?good or bad?

[dorian965]

i just changed my no. output bulbs to run one full spect. and three actinic. i like the look and thought my coral might benifit from the added blue spectrum.

it looks like im running 20k halids without the high wattage.just curious if you guys thought it would be harmful or helpful. i know every fixture runs 2 of both but i thought it was just for looks. i like this better anyway.

 

[Tex]

I really hope someone answers because I have the exact same questions.

 

[Hara]

How many total watts on how big of a tank? I would suggest doing no more than a 50/50 split on the bulbs. What types of corals are in the tank?

 

[dorian965]

160 on a 55 gallon tank with lowlight corals,mostly shrooms,pom pom and stoneys.

 

[dorian965]

having algae problems and thought that would help.

 

[malkore]

having algae problems and thought that would help.

Not really, unless your old bulbs had degraded in spectrum. SW bulbs have to be changed every year...or more often with NO tubes, and every 4 months with ODNO.


What are your phosphate and nitrate levels? I'm betting phosphate is more than 0.00ppm and is the fuel for your algae.

 

[dorian965]

yea , im fighting phospate but i like the look of the 3-1 actinic look. ive been running it for a week and everything seems ok. my coraline has taken of for some reason. it growing everywhere.