Actinic Lighting!

[JamisonBWolsh]

HI!

Question for everyone that knows about lighting. I have a 20 gallon tank that is mostly a catfish tank (there is also 10 serpaes in the tank). Catfish tend to like dimmer lighting situations. I have LOTS of hiding places and my petricola come out rarely in the day.

Question is: I have a 50/50 coralife on my 60 gallon and works great. However, for my 20 gallon, I would like a dimmer light. Would a Coralife Actinic blue light show any change of behavior in the petricola catfish? Since it will be darker, they should be happier. BUT what about the serpaes? would they mind the light loss?

I know, in general, catfish likes it when its dark (nocturnal). Usually pure Actinic blue light is for saltwater (im sure FW also) that live in water at depths of 30 feet and more. Would this type of light work for my tank? and if its GREAT for mt petricolas, what problems would occur by the serpaes? Thanx...

[125gJoe]

My opinion, from what I saw on my tank, was that Actinc 'washed-out the color of the tank to a blue color. That's for just Actinic alone. Maybe a 'full-spectrum' 5500K to 6700K and Actinic would
work? Actinic is definitely a blue looking color of light.

[krowland]

I've got the 50/50 Coralife Actinic bulbs on all my FW tanks. I agree it does give off a bit of a blueish cast but I like the look overall and my fish seem to be comfortable. If you like the look go for it!

[AsahiToro]

krowland,

Is that the actinic03/10K pc bulb that you are talking about? I'm considering that bulb on a planted tank.

[JamisonBWolsh]

Yea... I have the 50/50 as well on my 60 galloon. Its really nice. But on my 20 gallon, I was think of the pure blue acitanic bulb. Is that too dark for the serpaes? My petricolas would like it.

20 gallon:

10 serpaes
10 petricolas
3 albino bristlenose

[Richer]

i don't recall blue light bringing out nocturnal fish, but i do remember red light doing the trick. check this link (http://www.aaquaria.com/aquasource/insomniac.shtml) out for more info on "night" viewing.

*edit*
mmm.. k, the link doesn't work for some reason. anyways, in a nut shell, blue light penetrates water easier because it has a shorter wavelength. so its hypothesised that blue seems bright to fish. while red light has a longer wavelength, so it would seem much dimmer to fish.

HTH
-Richer

[gcvt]

Richer - the link seems to be working now...interesting article.


For those of you thinking about actinic lighting on your freshwater tanks, here's a little photo comparison I did on my planted tank not too long ago (some of you may have seen this on the old board):

80w 5700k NO and 96w 6700k PC
http://www.motorworld.com/gcvt/pets/fish/pics/actinic_fresh1.jpg

80w 5700k NO and 96w actinic
http://www.motorworld.com/gcvt/pets/fish/pics/actinic_fresh2.jpg

96w actinic
http://www.motorworld.com/gcvt/pets/fish/pics/actinic_fresh3.jpg

[AsahiToro]

Thanks for the photos gcvt,

I like the look of the middle tank above. CSL makes a twin tube Smart Lamp that is 8800k/actinic03. I bet that would look great. I'm going to pick one up for my planted tank.

[JamisonBWolsh]

so the blue light would have no effects on nocturnal fish? I know there is Red light, but that wont look good if you have it on all the time, unlike the blue light. It looks like it would simulate the evening hours and I would think the nocturbal fish would come out more often...

[RTR]

Red light works for noctural viewing only because the fish don't see it. If the room is lighted, or there are other light sources on the tank, it is no-go.

The actnic is an aesthetic choice. Fish have no problem seeing this light. I would suspect that many or most crepuscular or nocturnal fish could be enticed out if there is a regularly scheduled (timers) twilight between full lighting and no lighting. That works for me, regardless of the spectrum.

Richer: Tom's Place is transitioning boards also, periodic outage of some sections of the site has been going on all week. Evereything should settle down soon, as today is the official cut-over to the new board and the freeze of the old.

[JamisonBWolsh]

So if I left the blue light on all day, it will be no effect. ok thanks. Maybe I can add a "spotlight" for night viewing like what toms place suggests.

So let me get this straight. Corallife hase MANY types of bulbs. For a FRESHWATER UNPLANTED TANK, the different choices has no effects on lighting preferences for the fish only on our viewing? I know with Saltwater each bulb has a different benefit.I have a 50/50 coralife bulb on my 60 gallon thinking that was why the elephant nose was coming out alot because it was darker. oh well. But I cant believe the fish could tell the difference between the pure acitanic bulb and the 20,000 bulb. I mean, thats a drastic difference in lighting. I know with Saltwater each bulb has a different benefit.

One question: I heard with the 50/50's and acitanic bulbs, they need to be changed every 6 months? Mine has been going for a year now. Thanks for the helpfull info. LOVE those PICTURES!

[slipknottin]

yea pretty much, if your not growing photosynthetic creatures the lighting doesnt really matter. the different bulbs will look different and could bring out the colors of your fish better.

actinic bulbs can still be pretty dang bright, and i doubt the fish would take it as night time. from everything ive heard, red light is the most effective for this.

the reason they replace the bulbs every 6 months is that the bulb losses alot of intensity after the first 100 hours. In SW many people use the bulbs to grow photosynthetic critters, so a drop in intensity means slower growth.

[JamisonBWolsh]

So with FW tanks...we can keep the bulbs untill they "burn out" instead of the 6 month rule. Saves us FW hobbyist lots of money!
I may try the acitanic blue light just for the fun of it and see.. Big als sells them for 13.00 I think? The coralife 50/50 light on my 60 gallon is awesome. So I would probably by both for my 20 gallon and see which one "looks better".

PS. That middle tank is not a TRUE example of a 50/50. Its 2 different bulbs ( a blue one and a normal one). A 50/50 Is not nearly as blue as the middle one. It just has a very small tint of blue. Not too much, but not to bright eithor.

Here is a BAD example (blurry..webcam hooked to computer..I need a REAL camara) but you can tell the different lights. the 60 gallon has the 50/50 and the others are the "normal light" (lights that came with it.

[RTR]

As slipknottin said, if you have no photosynthetic organisms, light spectrum for normal viewing is purely aesthetic and that is personal choice.

Clarification - ALL fluorescent tubes have much higher output the first 100 hours, but the are not rated for output until after that period. Fluorescents also tend to gradually lose output throughout their life, and may shift their output spectrum during that time as well. The severity of the loss and the rate of the loss is dependent on the phosphors used and the engineering of the tube. Cheap tubes need replacement after relatively few months due to output decline and color shift - but again, if no photosynthetics, do you care? At least until the tank is obviously dimmer?

[Rocketman]

Hey KVTC, how much was the middle picture setup with the
80w 5700k NO and 96w 6700k PC
For my new FW tank, I would like to pick some lights that show well on the tank and provide the few plants I will have with enough light to keep going ahead of the algea, but not so fast that I must trim them every other day.
Would that be the right setup for me? Cost must be low ($30), as I am not willing to spend to much on lighting, it seems like a silly thing to spend a lot of money on. This will be a 60 Gallon tank, with no supplemental CO2, and most likely no fertilizer or other added nutrients - I want these plants to grow well, but slow. Anyway, I would like the look you have in that middle picture - what is the cheapest way to acheive this?

[slipknottin]

Originally posted by RTR


Clarification - ALL fluorescent tubes have much higher output the first 100 hours,


preliminary T5 fluorescent testing by icecap, the bulb manufactuer and a couple independent sources (Sanjay)
shows T5 linear fluorescents dont loose ANY output in the first 100 hours. (all tests thusfar have been done on either fulham or icecap ballasts, and using GElighting 6500K 54 watt T-5)

CF bulbs typically loose quite a bit, and are worse than most NO linear bulbs. VHO bulbs are about equal with CF bulbs, URI bulbs are generally a little better.

[JamisonBWolsh]

I thought corallife bulbs was the best in making bulbs..if they arent the best....which is?

[slipknottin]

URI brand NO and VHO bulbs are generally regarded as the best.

i dont know which PC bulb is regarded as the best...

[ewok]

i tried using actinic on my 55g ..... single tube (NO?), and found it to be too gloomy for my tastes. it was hard to see things in a way.... 50/50 seems to me to be the way to go with that and that would gain you nothing along the lines of what you are trying to achieve.

[Rocketman]

50/50 does that mean two separate tubes of different... whatever? Would I be fine just keeping the tubes that come with the hoods bought at the LFS, for a lightly planted tank?

[slipknottin]

50/50 bulbs are CFs, linear (straight) fluorescent bulbs cant come in 50/50.

with the CFs there bent in half so there are either 2 or 4 straight pieces. half of them are normal lights, the other half are actinics.

[JamisonBWolsh]

hm,mmmm..... I have a coralife 50/50. works GREAT and have been working for a year now on a 60 gallon. I am going to try a acitanic flouriscent bulb for my 20 gallon tank.

For a RED light, can I just use the bulb that came with the light fixture and just add a RED TINT PLASTIC, so the light that comes out will be red? would that work as a "red light"?

[Richer]

That should work, I've heard that some ppl use a red filter over their flashlights to watch their tanks at night... what your proposing is more or less the same.

-Richer

[Rocketman]

Yeah, I'm mechanically sound, but I don't know the first thing about lights and I don't want to force a burden on you guys to explain them to me. So, will the ordinary bulbs a get in a hood from the LFS suffice to keep my plants alive? Becuase those would be the same hoods with the same bulbs I have on my other tank, which I am happy with.

[JamisonBWolsh]

Corallife and some others make bulb ESPECIALLY for plants. So the light spectrum is more focused for that of plants. plants will flourish with them!!!!!! much better then the others...

[Rocketman]

So a CoralLife 5500K-6500K ... and I can put these in any hood, this would be 2 24" hoods. Is that all the info I need, or are there different models of the 5500K-6500K lights?

[JamisonBWolsh]

Im not saying if the corallife BRAND is the best or not....do your research off the internet....but BUY the bulbs at Big als or petwarehouse and you will get a good deal on them! I ordered lights from them and all times lights came unbroken (except one time , but they replaced it free of charge)

Check your light holder...see if it is a T-8 or a T-12

Bulb called Corrallife "nutri Grow plant light"

Petwarehouse= 10.99 for any size

Big als= check them= they are usually a few bucks cheaper

[bayoupr]

I like the 50/50 lighting. I have two four footers on my 125g and they look great.