Actininc lighting i need some help please

[Ryan seymore]

Hi everyone ive been looking into adding more actinic to my lighting system and ive never had to buy
new bulbs so i need some help. I have a 55g reef with a diy 10g sump and refugium along with
a UV sterilizer and 2 lighting fixtures. 1 Deep blue professional T-5HO 54x2 with led lunars
and 1 odyssea T-5HO 54x4 with led lunars. 324W together. 3 actinic and 3 50/50 daylights
all are still factory bulbs and i know i need to replace them even though they are only
about 3 months old. Im very happy with the fixtures and my corals and coralline algae
are growing like crazy but i can only grow purple with my 10,000K bulbs.
Does anyone know what would help me grow more colors and what bulbs are
good and what to stay away from.

Thanks!

[Reefing Madness]

The Pink Coralline grows in the lower light conditions. You'll have to introduce the Green Coralline to the tank.

[Ryan seymore]

Thanks for your info. All of my LFS tell me that the colors grow in mixed lighting levels and that i dont have to add the colors so thanks for clearing that up. ive been reading alot and its always a different answer. Ive never seen anything but purple and pink coralline at any of the LFS stores
and like i said they tell me it just grows all i have to do is introduce the coralline and the colors depend on the lighting and levels of lighting
in my tank. does anyone make starter packs for this stuff or sell LR with some already on it? Id like to get as many color as i can even though
the purple is beautiful and growing like crazy id like to have alot of color in my tank. Also i still need to know about the actinic bulbs and if i
should replace some of the daylights with actinic..? i have 3x 50/50 daylights. 3x actininc.

Thanks for the help!

[Reefing Madness]

Thanks for your info. All of my LFS tell me that the colors grow in mixed lighting levels and that i dont have to add the colors so thanks for clearing that up. ive been reading alot and its always a different answer. Ive never seen anything but purple and pink coralline at any of the LFS stores
and like i said they tell me it just grows all i have to do is introduce the coralline and the colors depend on the lighting and levels of lighting
in my tank. does anyone make starter packs for this stuff or sell LR with some already on it? Id like to get as many color as i can even though
the purple is beautiful and growing like crazy id like to have alot of color in my tank. Also i still need to know about the actinic bulbs and if i
should replace some of the daylights with actinic..? i have 3x 50/50 daylights. 3x actininc.

Thanks for the help!

I have Pink, Purp, Red and Green Coralline growing in my tank. Purp and Pink are the norms, and the Green and Red are kinda here and there. You can buy Fully Cured Live Rock that has the coralline on it, but your going to pay some serious cash for it. Up to you. Now the lights, if you have Actinics, there is no reason to run 50/50 lights. Get 10k or 12k lamps, that will make a big difference. Your Nitrate, CA and ALK levels have to be normal in order for yor Coralline to grow and get a steady base going.

[Ryan seymore]

Thanks again and the daylights are just what came with the fixture and i need to replace them with actinics ive just been running the 50/50's for more lighting for the corals until i replace them and my nitrites ammonia and phosphates have never been an issue i keep up with my tank to keep the water levels in check and so far its working out great for me. My calcium is a bit high. around 500ppm and my alk and ph is perfect and my water temp stays between 76-78 degrees. Thanks for the help and ill be looking for LR with the colors growing.

[Reefing Madness]

Thanks again and the daylights are just what came with the fixture and i need to replace them with actinics ive just been running the 50/50's for more lighting for the corals until i replace them and my nitrites ammonia and phosphates have never been an issue i keep up with my tank to keep the water levels in check and so far its working out great for me. My calcium is a bit high. around 500ppm and my alk and ph is perfect and my water temp stays between 76-78 degrees. Thanks for the help and ill be looking for LR with the colors growing.

Right on. 50/50 do not add alot more light to the tank, compared to 10-12k. 10k 12k are straight light and not mixed with anything. Thats why if you are already running Actinics its not necessary to run a mixed lamp also, the corals will like the 10-12k lamps more than a 50/50 light.

[Reefing Madness]

Just hit me, my bad. When you are refering to Daylighters, it is a 6700k lamp your talking about, right? If thats the case disreguard my rant above.

[Ryan seymore]

HAHA! no problem at all and i appreciate your time. I checked today and my daylights are 10000k daylight bulbs i thought
they were 50/50's they were free with the fixture so i didnt get a good look at them being they were already in it.
So the bulbs i have are okay for now im guessing..?

[Reefing Madness]

Yup, 10k will do ya. Its all in the color for most people. The higher up the Kelvin ( K ) rating you go the more blue the light becomes. T-5 HO lights will do ya fine with corals also.

[Ryan seymore]

Great thats what i wanted to hear. i appreciate your help