anyone put 10000k/actinic on their freshwater tank?

Originally posted by latazyo
I was stunned

in my opinion my tank looked 30,000 times better
I had one 10000k and one actinic03.......

Click to expand...

I had UltraDaylights 10,000K and Actinics that came with my Custom SeaLife hoods (2). I did NOT like the washed out look at all... These were Compact Flourescents..

latazyo,

I had one 10000k and one actinic03

--IMVHO the 10K bulbs are going to work the same as any "X" wattage bulb. Plants like power, the wattage. (You are trying to duplicate sunlight with a light bulb). Plants don't really care about spectrum as much as viewer does. 80gJoe has indicated his opinion, yours may be different. If you like the look, go with it. IME the 10K bulbs are going to make the aquarium 'bright' and some colors will wash. Taking photos will be difficult. The plants won't care.

I don't remember what the spin on the actinic lights is. I've never used them in a FW application. It seems to me that there is some reason why, but I can't recall it. Perhaps RTR or Tom Barr will comment and shed some light.

I can't imagine what PC or VHO would do to the tank (besides algae up the ***)

--May I clear up a myth? The myth is that lighting causes algae. Not true. It isn't the lighting, but the imbalance that the light causes that opens the door for algae.

When you increase your lighting you also increase several other factors in the aquarium. As the plants grow they will start using up the available nutrients in the closed atmosphere of the aquarium. You'll also increase the need for carbon. (Almost half of the plants mass is carbon). If you aren't supplying it, the plants will start robbing the carbonate/bicarbonate ions from the water column. If not kept in check, it can cause the pH to crash, but that's a different subject.

As you begin using up the available nutrients the nutrient in least supply will become exhausted. When this happens, none of the other nutrients, no matter how much of it you have, cannot be utilized by the plant. Plant growth is limited by the nutrient in least supply.

When the plants can no longer utilize the nutrients they become "excess". And guess who looms everywhere, waiting for the perfect time to exploit the plants?

When you increase lighting, you also have to increase the availability of C02 and nutrient supplementation. The C02 is more important than the nutrients, but it is a close second.

Keep the balance. If you keep things matched, supply meets demand, you'll have very few problems. It really is easy.

HTH

PP

When I tried it on the fully planted tank, the plants grew fine, but it looked a bit dim. I am using a 6700K&actinic combination on the cylindricus tank and it really brings out the blue in their bands. The java fern and anubias are growing just fine, but they aren't horribly picky.