Lighting/Bulb Question

[Sidekick41]

I've been reading several threads on lighting and think I have a decent idea of what I need; however, I just want to make sure I'm on the right path.

I currently have a 50 gallon saltwater tank which is going through it's first cycle. I have about 22 pounds of live rock (15 of which has some small coral already on it) and only 4 small fish. More coral to come at a later time

I have a T5 lighting with 4 bulbs and blue LED lights for the night time. 2 of the bulbs give me a blue tint and 2 are full on white.

My question is my white bulbs need to equal 10,000-12,000K total of each bulb?
And does the color matter except or is it just for accenting the colors in the tank?

Thanks for the help

 

[Greenman]

From what I remember you need the Actinic (Blue) for coral growth. The white bulbs you want higher K... The higher the K the further in depth the light will hit. So basicly if you have a 10000k you may need to keep corals higher off the sand bed but if you had 14000k you can keep them lower in the tank.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

The bulbs will say what they are on the ends of them. Each one will say "10000k" on it. Each one is an individual, not a total combined. Ie, 2 6700k bulbs do not equal 13400k. I run 1 true blue and one true purple for different color spetrum. I also have 2 14k bulbs in mine, but i believe my tank is deeper. Fyi, once a year youll need to replace bulbs beacuse t5 loose there efficency and will promote unsightly algae. Good luck

 

[kbuser92]

Actinic is all about aesthetics, guys. For max growth, you want 6500-8500K. Any higher will be used for looks. Thats not saying that they wont still grow under 20,000K bulbs and actinics, its simply saying that it wont be maximum possible growth.

 

[Smitty]

The white bulbs is what grows the corals and give it the nutrients it need. The kelvin(k) rating doesn't need to add up to 10-12,000k, that's the rating of the bulb. The lower the Kelvin rating, the more yellow/whitish the color, but the greater the growing power.

The blue bulbs is what helps give the corals their amazing coloration. Their colors are around 460nm. Also, if the kelvin rating on the bulb is higher around 12000k-20000k, the bluer the bulb color will be.

 

[fastrd400]

The white bulbs is what grows the corals and give it the nutrients it need. The kelvin(k) rating doesn't need to add up to 10-12,000k, that's the rating of the bulb. The lower the Kelvin rating, the more yellow/whitish the color, but the greater the growing power.

The blue bulbs is what helps give the corals their amazing coloration. Their colors are around 460nm. Also, if the kelvin rating on the bulb is higher around 12000k-20000k, the bluer the bulb color will be.

+1

If you are thinking of getting new bulbs, call Reef Geek and tell them the look and spectrum you are going for. They will set you up with bulbs to match that.