Is this lighting the wrong spectrum?

[katkaldev]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum, but have been reading responses and liked what I read, so hi to all and here goes:
I just upgraded to an 80g bowfront w/a canopy. The guy gave me two 48" actinic lights and two 20k (not sure what wattage, probably 96), when I got home two of the lights wiring in the canopy didn't work, what I was wondering was if the 20k light is too high a spectrum, I have a FOWLR tank, maybe someday would like some easy corals, nothing complicated or too hard. But that's a ways off. I also want my coraline to keep growing, will this spectrum be too high in the blue region, I read somewhere you shouldn't go above 10k because most plants and algae can't thrive in that high of a spectrum. Right now only 1 actinic and one 20k are on. What are the 20k good for then? and will they stop my coraline growth? Thanks for any help.

[dougc]

It's not entirely clear what kind of bulbs you have. The 48" bulbs would most likely be flourescents. Are they standard or VHO? 96 watt bulbs sound like they could be compact flourescents. Are the bulbs U-shaped? Do they plug in at one end, not both?

If the mystery bulbs are 20k, then you will indeed be running the "blue light special". 20k bulbs produce less intense light that 10k bulbs, but that shouldn't matter if you are running a fish-only tank. What matters more is whether the light is pleasing to the eye. Your lighting would be good for a deep-water tank. Coralline algae will probably grow just fine. Many types of coralline prefer low light and seem to thrive under flourescents. When I was using VHO lighting for my tank, I had much better coralline growth than I did after I switched to metal halides.

[Wai]

Hi Dougc,

Little query if the reef tank is with some maxima clams. As I tried to use florescent tubes (blue + sunlight), the clams doesn't open as I seen on the shop with metal halides.

Any ideas to keep the clams opened healthy without metal halides ?

regards / Wai

[dougc]

Clams are pretty light-hungry. Depending on their size, they may need to be fed, too. Small clams, even under ideal conditions, can not get all their nutrition from symbiotic algae. What kind of flourescents do you have? I wouldn't even attempt a clam unless it was VHO or T5. Even then, the clam would need to be as close to the lights as possible.

If the clam is not opening up, it is probably not happy. I am no clam expert, though. I have only kept one crocea, and that was under metal halides.

[katkaldev]

Well, as it ends up a little cleaning to the pins of the lights and a little tweaking and voila, they all work now. I called the guy and he said the lights are the following: 1 Coralife 20k, 1 Coralife 50/50 and 2 Coralife 03 actinics.
All compact flourescents not VHO. They all have 2 pins on each end and both ends go into the holder thing. (sorry it's late right now)
It doesn't look blue to me, maybe slightly but more normal now that they all work together. But my coralline seems to be bleaching a bit on top from the new lights, so I'm trying just the actinics for an hour or so in the morning, then all the lights, then the actinics at night again. So we'll see. I think I would still be happier with a 10k instead of the 20k. No inverts/reef creatures in this tank.

[Steven Pro]

If there are two pins on each end, they are not compact fluorescents or power compacts. They can only be either VHO (very high output) or normal output lamps.

Is there are writing near the ends of the lamps or on the fixture?

[katkaldev]

Oh, yes there is some writing, that's how I know what brand they are but I don't see where they say anything about VHO or not. They just say Coralife 03 actinic, or 20k or 50/50. I can't see anything else.

[katkaldev]

Ok, so we were thinking of getting one of those Jebo Odyssea 48" high compact light fixtures. They total 260w, 2 12k daylight bulbs and 2 actinic lights. Does anyone have any experience with these or opinions on them?
Here's the link.
http://www.thehobbypalace.com/catalo...2405cb5dca5572
Thanks
Kathy

[dayze9]

I had 2 of the 220w Jebos in my 50g tank and they seem to work very well, it's just missing that extra something that MH has.

[katkaldev]

Thanks Dayze9,
I appreciate your response, it helps relieve a little worry of not knowing.