marine lighting for my african cichlids

[Catlid]

since u guys might know more about this i went ahead and posted this in here. I want to know what that cool bluish lighting is in marine tanks i see at petstores and was wndering if african cichlids would be ok with it.

[mogurnda]

The blue lighting is called "actinic," and is usually mixed with daylight lamps. I use 50/50 for my cylindricus tank, and it brings out the blues nicely.

[anthworks]

I ran a 125 african setup with 1 Actinic 1 daylight VHO. I noticed that the PH would drop a little during the day with the lights on.. Might want to keep an eye on that.

[Catlid]

i have two single bulb hoods so how would that work?

[mogurnda]

Are you using them at the same time? Then put a white/daylight in one, actinic in the other.

The pH thing sounds weird to me. If there is photosynthesis going on, the pH should go up. Otherwise, the light shouldn't have an effect.

[Catlid]

so one side of the tank will be blue and the other will be whitesh?

[mogurnda]

Doh! I thought it was one in front of the other, rather than side by side.

Here's another possibility. Would it be possible to install a small (like 9 or 13 watt) compact fluorescent fixture in the hood? There are actinic bulbs available in those sizes. Or maybe an LED Moonlight (http://www.coralreefsupply.com/detail.php?table=lighting_moon&item=CV-MLLED)?

[Catlid]

So just having a actinic light wont be enough?

[Sregnar35]

You can buy bulbs that are a 50/50 mix of blue and daylight. The tank won't be AS vibrant as 2 seperate bulbs, but mine looks pretty good with the 50/50 bulb.

[mogurnda]

So just having a actinic light wont be enough? If it's true actinic, it will look pretty dim. The fish won't care.