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 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

80w 5700k NO and 96w actinic

96w actinic

 

[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.