It's here finally

I'm really a novice on the lighting area. Yep it's only the MH. So I should just buy a 4' 20k Actinic bulb? Would that be enough or get more than one. It's a 67gal. 18" deep.
I originally thought that the LED's would suffice as the actinics.
Now I need to get a chiller. The tank is running at 85.5 degrees...

 

I have built in moonlights on mine, love them.

 

This fixture also came with the moon lights. 6 LED's. I love em' too
Luna, I forgot to add, the bulbs are HQL 15000K

 

The moonlights will not do the same job as actinics. The actinics give off the "blue" spectrum of the sun, the lunar lights dont. The lunars are just for "show". I recommend you get some 20k hqi bulbs to get the same effect as if you have actinics. Luna

 

ok. but could I just buy one or two coralife actinics for now? Instead of replacing the 15K MH's that I have? I ask because I have them in the store where I work.

 

Yes you could. I just dont like having two sets of lights on top of the tank, it looks ghetto( plz no offense to anyone who has two sets of lights). Also keep in mind that the stock ballasts may not power up all bulbs. I dont know if Odyssea fixed that problem or not. The bulbs that I found that worked with the stock ballasts where; Odyssea, Current, Aqualine and I think Coralife.


Luna

 

Cool. Thanks for the info Luna. That makes sense. Having two fixtures would look kinda weird. I'll see if I can get a 20K hql bulb. Would it be okay to run a 15K on one side of the aquarium and a 20K on the other? Because I don't want the tank to look too blue.

 

Once again, you could do that and I have seen some tanks that way, but I think it was b/c one of the bulbs went bad and they had no choice. I personally dont like having two different K rated bulbs, it looks uneven. Hey, you dont have to listen to anyone here, this is a free country and you can do whatever you want. I dont want you to think that we're telling you what to do. I dont what to sound like an a........hole. Whatever you choose, keep us posted.........................and with pics, we love pics.;D



Luna

 

Well I want to have a successful reef and I know the lighting is one of the most important factors in a reef tank. And judging from everyone's pics, you guys know what ur talking about. I think if I give the corals the full spectrum of the sun by adding the actinic, they will be satisfied and hopefully flourish.
Thanks for the help and pics will be coming soon when I put fish in.

 

The lights I have, which have actinics, hqi and moonlights, might not be the best lights for my tank long term. The tank is fairly tall and the fixture is fairly low wattage, and shorter (overall) than the length of the tank. I purchased it because it fit my budget and allowed me to get the tank up and running, and keep it running for some time to come.

Maybe you should look at your fixture in this perspective. It may not be the perfect long term fixture, but why not just let it ride and see how things go. You can always replace it later when a good deal comes along for something that better fits your needs.