Explain Bulb Choice

Piggy

Reef enthusiast
I'm confused on lighting. I know light consist of color spectrum. Depending what color a bulb has will give you the color outcome. I know that corals need actinic bulbs. My fixture holds 7 bulbs. How many should I have? Also I really have no idea how you decide on the others. To me they all look the same. I bought some different ones and I see no difference. Am I missing something? The more I read the more I'm getting confused.
 
Well,I'm not sure corals need actinic light Piggy.Its more for our viewing pleasure and it does help corals from getting shocked with to much light at one time.That's why most of us set actinics to come on before and after the daylights goes out.

I am confused on why you think all daylight bulbs look the same.I have a 3000k bulb that is very orange,a 12000k that is a crisp white bulb with a blue hue,a 10000k which is a crisp pink/white color,a 6500k which is yellow.Maybe I'm not understanding the question?
 
Piggy,
Whats the K-rating on your bulbs?From my understanding,thats what determines what color you'll get.
 
It's my understanding that the higher the number the bluer the lights get. Am I right on this ????????
 
First off I thought corals needed actinic light. Can't remember why but I thought I read it somewhere.

Here is what I started with 2 actinic and 5 aqua blue+ (company sent wrong ones)
Here is what it says about these bulbs.

Blue Spectrum Peaks at 450 nm
Supplementation Lamp encourages blueing in SPS coral, minor fluorescing.
Recommendations: Great when used with 10k or 6500k metal halide lamps to encourage bluing in SPS.
450nm peak is similar to Radium Blue metal halide lamps.
Other preferred ratios include 1:1 with Sun Lamps, or 2:1:1 Sun/Blue/Actinic for best blend of bluing and fluorescence.

So should these bulbs give the tank a more blue color?

The ones I ordered but didn't get were the 11000K which are 60 actinic/40 white.

I changed one bulb out for a 6700 because I thought maybe all the aqua blue + were too bright. Loks the same though.

To me all the bulbs make the tank look bright white.

So does it really matter which color bulbs you use for corals or is it just for show?
 
The 6700 range bulb is in the yellow/green spectrum. the 11000 is white/white-blue. The closer to 20K the bluer it will be. 6700 is great for photosynthesis which is great for growth of corals and plants(and aglae) but tends to leave water with a yellowish hue. 10k is considered white in color. Actinics will be blue. Im pretty sure of these colors but Im sure Ill be shredded if Im wrong
 
6500k-14000k is what I see the most for daylight lighting with T5's.If half of your bulbs are in that range then you have enough light for corals.Somehow I'm thinking you don't like the white light your bulbs are putting out.Do you feel it looks to wishy-washy to your eyes?

Maybe try 4 actinics/3 daylights.Thats how I'm running the 14bulb fixture/7 on each side.
 
You got it. It looks wishy-washy. I have a few extra bulbs that I bought. I'll trade them out. Can I do them all at once or just one at a time?
 
I would do it one at a time so you can see the difference each bulb is making and adjust it until its pleasing to your eyes
 
You can change them all or one at a time like Ryan suggested.As long as you're going less daylights then your decreasing light meaning no shock to the corals.I hope you find a happy medium somewhere Piggy.
 
To begin with, this may sound cynical, but most retailers and even their suppliers lie about the K values of their bulbs. They tend to advertise their bulbs at i=or near the K value of what ever is the sales fad at the time. So unless you read articles by reefgeek, Dana Riddle or Joshi, you are at the mercy of people interest most in your money. Sadly the European bulbs tend to be nearest there K value claims , not the US made bulbs. All that aside. The lower K bulbs are nearer mid day sunlight. The high K value bulbs are near the white of moon light only of course intense. The actinic are more to make the light warmer noon day lights pleasing to the human eye through supplementation. Supposedly the most widely sold combination for viewing at the moment is supposedly a combination of 2.5 parts 10000k to 1 part actinic. Straight 6500K are typically favored by commercial coral growers.
 
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