should I get actinics?

[Holton]

I was told people in here know alot about lights, I need to know if I should get actinics for a future well planted asian tank?

 

[Mr Burns]

absolutely not...all you'll end up with is a well planted algae tank

here's something from rex's faq:

Lighting.

For a successful planted tank you must have light. A recommended starting light level is 2 watts per gallon; note that these are florescent watts. There are some plants that will survive and possibly even grow at lower light levels but these plants are few and far between. Most "fish" tanks don't come with nearly enough light to grow plants. A good case in point is the standard 55 gallon tank sold in the US. It comes with either one 40 watt bulb or two 15-18 watt bulbs. This is enough light to see the fish and prevent the majority of algae growth.
As far as special plant bulbs, they do work, so long as you get to the 2 watt per gallon range. Most any color temp or K bulb will work so long as they fall into the 5000k-10,000k range. Most people shoot for 5000k-6700k range. One thing to avoid is actinic reef lights. The blue light of these bulbs will not help your plants much if at all and some people have said they tend to promote algae growth. One thing to note is if this is your first foray into planted tanks you want to stay under 2.5 watts per gallon unless you are willing to invest the time and/or money into a CO2 system.

 

[malkore]

no. actinics are for saltwater/reef tanks. they have no business over a freshwater planted tank.

 

[Holton]

what should i have instead of acinics? I have to have four lights I was going to have 1 actinic, 2 50%50s, 1 full spectrum light for a well planted asian rain forest tank what do you think i should do? :?

 

[malkore]

How about 4 full spectrum plant lights?? Seriously, actinics are salt water bulbs....as are 50/50's (50% actinic, 50% daylight)

 

[Medusa Head]

You won't get a definitive answer on the net. I have found people split around 50/50 on their opinions. Many say a 5500-6500 halide with power compact actinics in a freshwater planted tank works wonders. Others say using actinics does no good for freshwater.

I experimented a little. I tried running my halide/pc pendant with 5500k and 6500k halides combined with 6500k, 10000k, and actinic pc's. The combination that seems to work best for me is an Iwasaki 6500k on a magnetic ballast combined with actinic pc's. Many people also really like the cooler looks of higher temperature lights, but they aren't as good in a planted tank (at least that's the theory). Combining a lower temp halide with actinic pc's is a pretty cool compromise. I do get green algae buildup on the tank top, but it's easily wiped off every few days.

I have learned that plants are very adaptable and lighting a planted tank is just as much an art as it is a science.

The "science" behind actinic is that they're supposed to be used in reef tanks. The theory is that water absorbs the colors of the light spectrum unevenly, so that reds and greens get absorbed first, then as the light penetrates deeper into the water, blue is absorbed last. This is why large, deep bodies of water appear blue. Most reefs are at a depth where there is only blue light. Since most tanks are only a foot deep, the actinics reproduce the blue light that reef animals and plants have adapted to.

 

[Guest]

Also note that actinic lights are designed to simulate the conditions found on a reef in the 15-25 foot depth range. Most all of our plants are found much shallower than that and need a more full spectrum light.

My personal favorite bulb is the GE 9325k 55 watt PC light.