Lighting for freshwater quaestion.

[gmaddox]

I just purchased this on Ebay for $40.

110 watts total output.

55 watt Daylight bulb 10,000K.

55 watt Actinic bulb. 10,000K

I wanted it so I could get my plants to flourish.

Here's the question.

Is the Actinic light safe for freshwater fish?
I read that it's mainly used for Saltwater species.

Is this wattage too high for a 29 gallon?

I just wanted to make sure my fish will be ok.
I did read I might need a Co2 Regulator though.

Any input would be great.

Thanks!

[LunchBox]

actually 2 55s is just about right to grow most anything in a 29 IME. that gives you over 3 wpg, which should be right on :) with that much light though you will most definitely need CO2 injection of some kind. I use a DIY setup on my 29 and it works just fine so hopefully you don't need to shell out for the regulators and whatnot ;)

the problem is, I've read that freshwater plants can't use the light from an actinic bulb. I'm sure someone else can elaborate on that (or correct me if I'm wrong), but you may have been better off with 2 daylight bulbs.

now, the 10,000k rating might raise some eyebrows as well, since most folks seem to prefer lights in the 5000-6700k range. not exactly sure why (lights aren't my specialty ;) ) but I'm sure someone will give you a good reason :)

[beatle]

Plants can use the actinic, but it won't be as useful as a bulb in the 5000K - 6700K range. I've read that a lot of light over a smaller tank can cause algae outbreaks if you're not dosing CO2. I ran a 55w AHSupply retrofit over my 29 for a while and I started to get green water. I cut my photoperiod to 7 hours and the water cleared up. Try experimenting with the length of time you leave your lights on before adding CO2... unless you want to go all out from the beginning. :) CO2 can do a lot for a tank.

[phanmc]

Actinic lights won't hurt anything, it'll just make your tank look bluish. Whether or not it's beneficial to plants at all is another matter. Most people think that it has little to no affect on plant growth, I haven't tested them out to tell for sure.

The 10k daylights are fine for plant growth. Aquatic plants are very forgiving on the light spectrum they receive due to weakening affect water has on the light wavelengths. Anything from incandescents to 10k will grow plants, what you want is sufficient wattage.

[gagaliya]

I just purchased this on Ebay for $40.

110 watts total output.

55 watt Daylight bulb 10,000K.

55 watt Actinic bulb. 10,000K

I wanted it so I could get my plants to flourish.

Here's the question.

Is the Actinic light safe for freshwater fish?
I read that it's mainly used for Saltwater species.

Is this wattage too high for a 29 gallon?

I just wanted to make sure my fish will be ok.
I did read I might need a Co2 Regulator though.

Any input would be great.

Thanks!

You bought it wrong, that's a saltwater light strip not freshwater. Actinic is safe but wont do much for freshwater plants. So you basically have 55W over 29G that's less than 2 WPG, which is low for most plant's requirement.

Take the bulb back and see if you can exchange it for some 6700K bulbs. At the min change the actinic to normal 6700K CF bulb.

[atc_ben]

Just like the one inch of fish per gallon rule, I feel the one watt per gallon rule is flawed.

Check out this article. (http://woo.gotdns.com/Aquarium/Lighting.htm) I found it pretty informative.

[phanmc]

Just like the one inch of fish per gallon rule, I feel the one watt per gallon rule is flawed.

Check out this article. (http://woo.gotdns.com/Aquarium/Lighting.htm) I found it pretty informative.

While the article points our some really good issues about the flaws of the WPG rule it makes one fundamental flaw, it bases the light efficiency on the lumens of the bulb. Lumens is the measurement of the brightness of the light to the human eye, and not what is most beneficial to the photosynthesis process. Many specialty plant bulbs will have a lower lumen rating than daylight bulbs, but will have an equal or greater PAR (photosynthetically active radiation), which are what really matters to plantgrowth.

Aquatic plants will make this even more of a moot point. As light travels through water, the properties of water and the floating particles within it will further absorb and filter the light wavelengths. Aquatic plants have adapted to the lower light conditions to be more forgiving on the spectrum requirements. While terrestrial plants will have a noticeable growth increase from the use of high PAR rated light, the growth difference for aquatic plants are minimal to negligiable.

When all is said and done, the WPG "rule" is a still a good baseline guideline for the majority of the tank setup if people realize that it is a guideline for the most typical of setups and modify their setup accordingly.

[gmaddox]

Now I'm really confused.
:help:

I understand that the actinic light won't have effect on my plants though.

Another question would be what's the best for the price Co2 system
for a 29 G tank? :D

[TetraFreak]

The thing about Actinic Lights...

They ARE useless for plants. I have a 4 x 55Watt that came with 2 10000K daylight and 2 actinics. I replaced the Actinics with GE 9325's and it's making the plants go bonkers! Cabomba was growing like 3-4 inches a week!

Check out the specs on the GE 9325's at:
http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page/001/PROD/PlugInPLL/F55BX-AR-FS

and at $14.20 each, definately worth the investment. you may want to buy 2 so you have a spare.


PEACE!

-TF

[phanmc]

When it comes to lights, use lights that looks good to you. Most people prefer lights within the 6,500k range or higher. If you prefer something not as bright or a different color, go ahead and use it.

If you have a small tank under 20g, the WPG rule doesn't work very well and you'll need higher than the recommended wattage.

If you have a very large tank over 90g, the WPG rule doesn't work very well and you can go with lower wattage.

If you're using CF or T8 lights, your lights are more efficient than the lights the WPG is based on (T12).

If your tank is a deep tank, you'll need more lights than what the WPG rule recommends.

As for CO2 systems, the best option is to go with pressurized CO2. pressurized CO2 systems are expensive though, with the initial costs ranging between $100-$200. A much cheaper alternative is a DIY yeast system made out of 2 litre soda bottles, or the premade yeast systems like the Nutrafin CO2 system.