Lighting question...
 

Currently I have a 250MH 14K hamilton bulb over my tank, Im wondering if because the 14K has blue in it, do I still need to attinic bulbs? Or will I be ok with just the MH and the moon lights(Moon lights run 24/7)
Thanks again guys!

Nvm. Apparently I'm still a joke on here.

actinic it is then! Thanks!

it does?

I wonder if smurf **** helps as well. lol

no need to add anymore blue, its mostly a looks thing. some people prefer a whiter spectrum while others prefer blue.

WRONG! there is no Par value to Actinic (420nm-450nm) so it does nothing but pop color.

To the OP
What bulb are you running? I used to run 2x 250w Phoenix 14k bulbs and didnt have any actinic. It still popped color and I got excellent growth!

You dont need to run actinic but if you wanted to I would go LED with Royal Blues.

Wow that's a good way to be friendly, and encouraging at the same time. Way to go.

Pardon me OP if I was in correct, but I had been told before that actinics aid and are primarily the light used for growth. I didn't claim to be right. Just my opinion. Sorry everyone that I made a simple mistake. No need to be rude though.

no, that's not what grows the corals at all. I don't have any actinic and I have only one Pheonix 14k 250 watt in my 75 gallons and my acroporas are growing 1 inch per month.

Yeah I corrected myself. I'll just remove the comment. Man.

No need to fight:) But thanks for all the advice, I am running a 250 Watt 14K hamilton bulb. And moon lights, But I know(I think I know) those are purely for cosmetic reason.

yeah if you like the look I'm all for it, I love the blue. sorry to mess up your thread there are some people on here that choose to be rude. its unfortunate cause Im new too and dont know a heck of a lot, but only what I am told, and its pretty discouraging to have people bash you for it. but hey the world needs people like that I suppose.

It is more of a personal preference. If you like the look, don't bother. some ppl just like the look with adding actinics.

What you 'need' depends on what you 'want'. I like the saturation of colors u get from the actinics. I run dual Phoenix 14k 250w hqi on my frag tanks + actinics, dual 250w 14k Hamilton moguls + actinics on my show tank, geissemen 10k 150w mogul + x4 T5 actinic (454) and daylight mix on my grow tank and XM 15k 175w (no actinics) on my qt tank. If u look up the color spectrum on the bulb u have/want to buy, you can see where the peaks are (i.e. 454nm vs 420nm) and compare that to actinics to see of they will fill a gap in your bulb's color spectrum. The bulb you have has a good balance between color and growth, which is why it is such a popular bulb. Generally 20k bulbs are heavy on color and lighter on growth while 10k are opposite, with a balance in the middle in 14k or 15k bulbs. I add the actinics and run them +1hr on either side of my halides 'cause it looks cool', that is, after all, why I have my tanks :) essentially, everyones comments are opinions, you just need to find out what you like. Take a look at a few tanks in shops to see the difference and determine if that is where you want to spend your hard earned cash. Good luck,
Dan

There is a thorough article here:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts...._Lighting.html
that goes into detail on the various aspects of light. It claims, and I agree, that PAR runs from 400nm to 700nm, and of particular importance is the 400-550 range, and in the actinic range, the highest PAR is found in the 465-485nm range.
Dan

When I ran Phoenix 14000k over my reef tanks, never turned on the Actinics except when the MH were off.

The spectrum of Actincs ARE in the photosynthetic range of your corals, and broaden the spectrum of the "Peak" that Metal Halides put out. The issue is that most people use low watt Actinics, that won't show a noticable help with your coral growing. But as for flat out "They don't help" That is wrong, they do, just not as much as the MH. I turn mine on as a dawn/dusk for my tank for an hour before/after the halides, all my coral wakes up, and has incredible polyp extension during these times. When i was turning them on at the same time as my halides i would not get this coral feeding time.

refer to : http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/3/review
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009.../image_preview