lighting question

[fijiwigi]

I am going to purchase a new 96w actinic bulb for my 36" coralife lunar aqualight and there are 2 choices 460nm actinic 420nm actinic and a dual actinic which has 460/420nm There there is dual bulbs that have 10k/ daylight I am a little confused on why 2 different types of actinic bulbs and also daylight verses 10k could someone shed some light on the topic. no pun intended lol

[Devilishturtles]

I may be wrong, but this is always what I assumed about actinic lighting. If you know anything about color spectrums, 460 nm is in the blue spectrum while 420nm is in the end of the violet spectrum. There is a *slight* difference in the color of the bulb, but I would imagine it is hardly enough for us to notice when running with a 10k bulb. Dual actinic is, I assume, just a mix of 420nm and 460nm phosphors to get a mix of the two spectrums. A mix of 10k (which is the same as "daylight") and actinic is often referred to as a "50/50" bulb and you can find a lot of compact flourescent bulbs this way. If you already have a daylight bulb in your fixture than you do not want a 10k/daylight bulb, but rather an actinic only bulb (either the 420, 460, or 420/460).

HTH

[Kurt_Nelson]

I think there are different versions of "daylight" also... just like actinic. I've seen some 6700nm "daylight" and 10000nm (or 10k) "daylight bulbs". Just like the actinics, the only difference is the color of the spectrum. The higher the number for daylight, I *believe* the truer "white" it is.

[Lance M.]

It's not 6700nm or 10000nm. It's 6700K and 10000K. "nm" refers to the wavelength, Kelvin (K) refers to the color temperature.

How many bulbs do you have in the fixture? If it's just one 96 watt pc then you would wnat to get a 50/50 bulb. If it's two then you would want one with 10,000K and one with actinic or one 50/50 and one actinic. There are lots of combinations.

[fijiwigi]

It is a 2 X96w fixture I have a 10k bulb and my question I guess is should i go with the 420 or 460 Actinic I would assume the 460 would have more of a color effect that would be better visually. Just curious what kind of situation would present itself to where a 420 would be ideal why would less be preferred???

Also with some of the basic corals is it recommended about 4-6 watts per gallon If I have 46g a 96w 10k and a 96w actinic Is the 10k the only wattage to include in the equation at 2watts per gallon or does the actinic wattage also help the photosynthesis of the corals making it 4watts per gallon. I like the way actinic makes the tank look but also do not want to take anything away from photosynthesis later on when I one day actually get some corals??????

[Lance M.]

It's mainly your preference on how your tank looks.

I use Coralife bulbs so it's just Actinic.

[Kurt_Nelson]

It's not 6700nm or 10000nm. It's 6700K and 10000K. "nm" refers to the wavelength, Kelvin (K) refers to the color temperature.

Oops. You are correct. Got confused with those actinic numbers.

If I have 46g a 96w 10k and a 96w actinic Is the 10k the only wattage to include in the equation at 2watts per gallon or does the actinic wattage also help the photosynthesis of the corals making it 4watts per gallon.

Both actinic and the 10k figure into the total wattage. You have about 4 watts per gallon, just like me. Good enough for zoas, mushrooms, and LPS corals.

[fijiwigi]

Thanks for the input everyone I appreciate it