Just added actinic

[malkore]

So I just added a 96w actinic to my 75gal setup...the existing 220watts is growing plants fine, but i wanted some blues to highlight my fish.

eventually I'm gonna have a pair of 55w 50/50 bulbs in there, but I'm getting the bulbs from a friend and figured I'd just do it in stages, since I had to tweak my canopy a little to fit another bank of reflectors in there.

my 1x96w ballasts happen to be load sensing, and will power 55/65w bulbs no problem.

TravisSimonson runs actinics on his 125g and if you haven't seen his tank, its phenomenal!
granted, he tends to it very well, where i'm a little passive and lazy with mine at times, and you really do need to be consistent with dosing/water changes to have a real showcase tank like his.

I've also cut away a bunch of the brown hinge on my glass tops, so they won't block light. A dremel and patience is all you really need.

I'll update with some photos later.

 

[Glenc]

Cool, look forward to the photos. Before and after please!

 

[Buffalo Bill]

Cool I always liked the way that actnics make tanks look.

 

[Wood_Dog]

Pics please!!!!

 

[malkore]

I got pics taken, will crop and post them tonight when I'm off work.

 

[7Enigma]

Malkore,

I'd be interested to hear if it improved the look of the fish/plants/substrate in the tank. I have a 20gallon with a single 65w CF 6500K bulb and while my plants are growing well, they are a bit unwieldly and algae is a bit of a problem. I have a spare 65w 50/50 bulb (6500k and actinic) that I've been thinking about using it instead but I'm too lazy to go through the work of replacing it just to have a look. Also I'm wondering if the plants I have will still grow well at closer to 2wpg, or whether I should just stick with the bulb in there.

I have star grass, hydrocotyle (the lily pad looking things) and some very fine leafed plants (the leaves almost look like pine needles, and they are very skinny and grow straight up, and turn red near the tips as they reach the surface). (not worried about the anubias or java fern since I know they are low light)

Thanks,

justin

 

[mr funktastic]

the actnics are supposed to promote lush growth. make everything a little thivker and busier. it will be neat to see if it has any effects on grouth. i knmow it will make it look a million times better.

 

[7Enigma]

I've never heard actinics improving any growth related to freshwater systems. While I'm trying to get a read on how much better they make the fish and possibly plants look (which would probably make me switch my bulb out for the 50/50), I'm still on the fence.

I believe actinics are primarily used for SW setups as it is very beneficial to corals, so that might be where you heard it promoted growth. I know for our FW setups you really cannot count much (if any) of the actinic light when doing wpg estimation.

 

[Jchillin]

I am standing by for pics of that tank Malkore, it's been awhile since you posted pics.

Actinics are a mainstay of SW reefs definitely to help with light penetration for corals. I have yet to see where it helps FW plants other than providing a terrific looking accent to the livestock.

 

[7Enigma]

Jchillin,

That's what I understood as well. And I second the pictures. You promised!

 

[travis simonson]

I'm anxious to see how your Africans look under the actinic lighting. That's the main reason I use them, certain colors of fish just glow under them, especially the blue fish

 

[malkore]

Steve Hampton has said the actinics do indeed promote bushier growth, but only when the rest of your spectrum is already good on red and blue.

Sadly, the photos I took didn't turn out. about a year ago my 5 year old camera got dropped 4 feet onto concrete...I think its on its last leg.

I'll try again tonight though. And I did at least get a shot of my cut hinges on my glass tops.

 

[7Enigma]

Would you think tiger barbs (they have blue-ish stripes in them) and my gold-cherry-checkered barbs (don't ask) would look good in the actinic lighting?

And can anyone comment on whether those plants I mentioned in a previous post would be fine using the 65w 50/50 bulb?

Not trying to hijack this thread but would rather not create a new one for a question I feel is closely related to the OP.

Here is a pic of my tank from a while ago to get an idea of the plants I have (this was right before a major trimming and I no longer have wisteria in the tank due to its tremendous growth rate).

 

[7Enigma]

So I got home yesterday and changed out the bulb (easier than I thought). Put it on and......I'm torn. I miss the very natural look of the 6500k bulb, while the 50/50 almost reminds me of my original stock 18w NO flourescent. I gave it a couple of hours and I'm warming up to the lighting a bit, this morning it looked better to me.

My fish do not seem to look any better in this lighting, which is a shame because my tiger barbs black stripes definately have blue in them when caught in a certain light. Other things I noticed from the 50/50 are as follows:

-particles in the water are much more apparent as they have a bluish tint to them. I have a diatom filter which will definately get used sometime this week and I'll reserve final decision on the bulb at that time

-fish as mentioned don't look any different

-plants are a mixed bag, some seem to have taken on some new hues, but I also feel like I'm in the Matrix (everything is tinted somewhat)

-Plants had a large amount of bubbles under the leaves prior to lights out last night so I know they are producing a good amount of O2. I rarely see pearling in my tank (probably CO2 related or more accurately CO2 distribution as I'm awaiting a powerhead to give my water a bit more current) so I'm confident that the plants are still getting a good bit of usable light.

I'll just have to wait and see how the algae and higher light plants do on this lowered light level. The fish seem to not mind and after a few skittish minutes (probably because the tank light went off while I was changing the bulb), seem normal. I'll have to wait and see if the barbs become more midlevel tank inhabitants, as all of my fish tend to stay at the bottom. One theory I had was that possibly the 65w 6500k was bright enough that the fish were trying to get away from it being so bright. Improbable, but why the heck do none of my fish like to swim in the upper 1/2 of the water except during feeding??

 

[malkore]

Well, keep in mind that you reduced total 'white light' wattage...where as my white light stays the same, and I just add more blue, so the effect is a lot different. instead of 50/50 i'm 70/30 right now, and when I get the new bulbs, i'll have 275w of white and 55w of actinic.