Blinky?????? re: lighting

Wow I was a little scared seeing my name with all those question marks!
High five! Nice buy - Ebay's the best :D
Unfortunately, actinic bulbs aren't really what you want - they're very 'blue' - like Geoffgarcia said, they're used for reef tanks.
For a planted tank you can use many types of bulbs, but you want something that covers the red and blue ends of the spectrum, or the plants won't do very well. I've got 9325K PC bulbs on my 65 and love the colour - it's a little bluer than many people might like; to my eye it's very crisp. Anything from 5000K - 10000K should be fine as far as the plants are concerned. 'Daylight' bulbs are usually around 6700K, which is a nice 'warm' colour to look at and many things I've seen online say it's the best for plants - it's supposed to approximate midday sun in the tropics. If you don't want to worry too much about Kelvin ratings (light temperature) go for something with a name like 'full spectrum daylight' - that way you'll most likely be pleased with how it looks and the plants will appreciate it :D
 
good thing is I can buy bulbs for it :) Thanks.. The blue wouldn't bother the plants would it? I thought maybe it would tone down the lighting a little for the timid fishies. I kind of like the idea of it being more subdued, but if I must change the bulbs, I must.
 
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It's not that it would bother the fish or plants, but it won't give the plants all the parts of the light spectrum they need for growth - you want bulbs that provide red and blue light (green is less important to them - they reflect most of it) and actinics are lacking in the red end of the spectrum.
As I understand it, given enough light - any light - plants will do their best to grow, but for healthy plants I'd try to give them what they need so they don't have to struggle.
You might be able to sell/trade the actinics to someone on AC with a SW tank, just a thought :)
 
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