Acinic light garbage?

[aniki]

I have a Actinic flouresent tube that I got from my buddy with a marine tank, I have a freshwater 90g that I'm about to heavily plant. Can I use the actinic light with another normal light for the plants? Would the actinic light have any good/bad effects on the tank or plants?

Thanks!

 

[Miles]

I believe it is the wrong spectrum of light, and will fuel algae growth over plant growth.

I have thrown actinic lights on planted tanks, but it also had 4 other bulbs on the same tank that were all white light, and the proper spectrum for plant growth.

 

[sohfatfish]

Actinics are 20000 kelvins. Sunlight is about 6000 to 8000 kelvins. Anything above 10000 kelvins and it will not be suitable for plants.

 

[mkpeters6]

yea actinics dont add much in the way of growth to fw plants -- if you want the tank to be hevily planted i would suggest something with a little higher wattage like pc's - a 4 x 65 watt coralife (48") with plant bulbs which are 6500 K would probably be the best at a relatively low cost

you would need at least 3-4 flourescents in order to provide enough light for a 90 gal b/c of its depth

 

[thunderbolt289]

Personally, I'd use power compact bulbs (pc) . Strait flourescents won't penetrate to the substrate like pc's will. Eventually you'll want them for growing more interesting plants. (carpet plants etc).

Reg Flourescent bulbs loose intensity after 6 months too. They should be changed out on a regular basis (not all at once!!!). Pc's can be used till they die with no lose in intensity.

Over 1.5 watts per gallon I'd add pressurized c02. DYI yeast style c02 generators are inefective on monster tanks. My pressurized c02 set-up was $210 with tank and regulator.

 

[HarleyK]

Personally, I'd use power compact bulbs (pc) . Strait flourescents won't penetrate to the substrate like pc's will. Eventually you'll want them for growing more interesting plants. (carpet plants etc).

Reg Flourescent bulbs loose intensity after 6 months too. They should be changed out on a regular basis (not all at once!!!). Pc's can be used till they die with no lose in intensity.

Over 1.5 watts per gallon I'd add pressurized c02. DYI yeast style c02 generators are inefective on monster tanks. My pressurized c02 set-up was $210 with tank and regulator.

Howdy,

I agree that compacts are the way to go for bigger tanks. However, if your tank's height is not more than 25 inches, regular fluorescent is just fine. I had a great planted tank (80 gal) with light-demanding plants and they grew nicely with regular tubes.

Even a heavily planted tank does not necessarily need additional CO2. I personally had it and I did not see an advantage after introducing it. Nor did I see a decline in plant growth after I took it down again. It all depends on what plants you want to keep. Generally, Cryptocoryne and Echinodorus are fine. If you want to keep Cabomba, that's a different story.

Bottom line: actinic is not the right thing to use in planted freshwater tanks. If you have the hood to mount compacts, then think about the Coralife freshwater compacts.


Have fun,

HarleyK

 

[pigblanket]

I agree power compacts are the way to go.

 

[seighten]

i definitely agree with power compact bulbs... that is all i use. an interesting sidenote, i have a blue spectrum 55 watter with my three daylights in my fixture. i have red tinged ludwigia plants at both ends and the ones at the end with the blue spec bulb are definitely outgrowing the ones at the other end. also, my mint bacopas are doing the same at the blue end as well...