Lighting

[BondStreet]

Hi There...

I just got my new Jalli 48" 230watt lighting fixture for my 75 gall planted tank. Looks great, however, I have 2 questions:

-It came with 2 daylight lamps, and 2 ACTINIC lamps. I am not sure what exactly ACTINIC bulbs are. Could anyone lend insight? Do I need to have those on as well as the daylight bulbs? Meaning do they work in tandem? Or would the daylight lamps suffice?

-With the new, more powerful lighting, is 8-10 hours still the minimum time I want the tank lit?

Thanks for any help anyone can give!

Bondstreet

 

[tyler]

actinic bulbs are used primaraly over saltwater tanks. their output is primaraly in the blue spectrum which is what is best used by corals. it would probably be more effective you replaced those bulbs with daylights. i'm sure you can find somebody on the classifieds to take those actinics off your hands.

an 8-10 hour photoperiod should be fine. too much longer and you're asking for algae. do you have it on a timer?

 

[Bearfan]

Actinic serve no purpose in a planted tank. Go ahead and replace those with 2x65W instead.

You will need a timer. If you have Siamese Algae Eaters, you can go with a longer cycle time (12 hours) and weekly reduce it by 1/2 hour until you see no additional algae growth (more than normal). If you don't have these priceless creatures, then I would start around 8 and work up slowly until you start to see more than normal algae growth and you'll know you just past your ideal setting. Manually remove excessive algae. This is what has worked for me in the past.