Ordering New 65W CF Lights for Combo Fixture

[BuddaTurk]

Hi All,

I am ordering new lights for my 760W combo light I have for my 120G tank. I am getting two 250W DE Ushio 14K MH and for the 65W CFs I was thinking of either of these bulbs:

The Current 22" SunPaq Dual Actinic 420/460nm 65W

or the

TheCurrent22" SmartPaq 10000ºK/Actinic 460nm 65W


http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...pcatid=133 14

I thought my MH were for daylight simulation so I thought the dual actinics would help my corals more than an actinic/daylight combo.

Also, when do I run these lights? All at the same time or cycle them?

Many Thanks,
BT

[NewbReefer]

when you first bring em online be carefull if your corals aren't use that intense of lighting you can start to bleach em. i would slowely bring em up to your regular lighting schedule. theres a couple ways you can do this. start out only lighting em for an hour a day or 2 then bring em on for 2 hours for a day or 3 and so on until you get to where you want. or you can go to home depot and get some eggcrate to cover the entire tank and then buy a roll of window screen and place several layers of the screen over the eggcrate and run your lights just like you have been. every couple of days take off a layer of screen slowly making the lighting more intense and acclimating your system to the lights.

[daugherty]

i would use one of the pc as a 10k day bulb unless you want you tank to look very blue. if nit both bulbs the smart day/attnic bulbs.

[ccCapt]

You might want to look into UVL's new pc bulbs. They have a built in reflector like their VHO bulbs. Supposed to be a big improvement over regular pc bulbs.

http://www.championlighting.com/home.php?cat=704

[BuddaTurk]

My 120G is going to be a brand spanking new setup...no corals, etc.

I guess I am asking for my CF lights do I need to go daylight/actinic or is it OK to go actinic/actinic.

Also, do I run these at the same time as my Metal Halides, that's how our LFS does it. Otherwise how exactly do I run these?

This combo unit also has blue LEDs for nighttime.

Anyways I know which 250W MHs I am going with, just trying to gain perspective on either going 10K/actinic or actinic/actinic.

Sometimes I get lost here and just need for you guys to KISS for me (the stupid one!!).

Thanks,
BT

[Bifferwine]

With 250 watt MH, I'd go with actinic/actinic. MH daylights are very white (even my 250 watt 14Ks seem whiter than I'd like) and if I were you, I'd go with as much blue as possible to try and balance them out.

[McCrary]

Check out Sanjays lighting FAQ in the lighting section on RC. There are like 50 different bulbs and they are all photographed with and without actinics so you can get a feel for what your lights will look like. If you think that 14K halides and a pair of actinics are too blue than maybe try jumping down to a 10K halide. The halides are going to take care of the daylight look of the lighting, so use the CF for actinics, thats the reason they were added to the light, to even out the color and give coral and fish that actinic pop.

[fatman]

I grew up on 6500K halide bulbs and still use threm on everything but display tanks. I bumped up to 10000K with actinics because others prefer them (customers). I like different aspects of all K value lights. I prefer the growing capability of 6500K. For viewing it is entirely dependant on what species I am viewing. I do prefer a 6500K to 10000K supplemented with actinics better than a 14000K or a 20000K (with or without actinics). If I have multiple actinics I use both 420nm and a 460nm tubes.