Royal blue VS Actinic blue bulbs

shimmy · #1 10-22-2009, 12:26 AM

What is the difference between the Royal blue and the Actinic blue compact florescent bulbs?

shimmy · #2 10-25-2009, 02:21 AM

Does anyone know?? I don’t want to spend $65+ each and find out they are will not work for me…

chris88 · #3 10-25-2009, 06:17 AM

its the wording of your question i think. Royal blue vs. actinic blue? What are your trying to figure out exactly? If you are looking for growth bulbs then dont use actinic becuase they are lower in par and are not very borad in spectrum. On the other hand if you want them to help make your colors pop then actinic bulbs are the way to go. If you are using you power compacts as your main source of light then find a bulb that has an 11,000k spectrum which si more of a bright white. You could even find something similar to ati blue plus bulb which is heavy in the blue spectrum but is not classified as an actinic bulb. post what bulbs your are comparing so i can give you more specific advise.

shimmy · #4 10-25-2009, 06:46 AM

I was looking at the ones offered from J&L aquatics
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/lb...ht-Pin%29.html
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/lb...ht-Pin%29.html
I was trying to decide on what would give me a good color for my fish but without sacrificing the life of my corals and they don’t say anything about the difference in the two. Its all so confusing being new to SW tanks. hope the link works too.

bauder1986 · #5 10-25-2009, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shimmy

I was looking at the ones offered from J&L aquatics
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/lb...ht-Pin%29.html
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/lb...ht-Pin%29.html
I was trying to decide on what would give me a good color for my fish but without sacrificing the life of my corals and they don’t say anything about the difference in the two. Its all so confusing being new to SW tanks. hope the link works too.

Oh Shimmy, the "Royal Blue" is J&L Aquatics's way of trying to rename the actinic blue to spure up sales. But the Actinic bulb of "Royal Blue" is the one you want. Is your fixture with 2 x 65watt bulbs?

shimmy · #6 10-25-2009, 07:16 AM

No I have a 4 X 65W fixture, so what would be the best setup to run for color and still have corals? Im currently thinking of running 2 x 65W 10,000K daylight bulbs with 2 “blue” (no idea on which ones are the best that’s why I started this thread) bulbs behind the daylight.
Is this a good idea or???

Drock169 · #7 10-26-2009, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bauder1986

Oh Shimmy, the "Royal Blue" is J&L Aquatics's way of trying to rename the actinic blue to spure up sales. But the Actinic bulb of "Royal Blue" is the one you want. Is your fixture with 2 x 65watt bulbs?

I'm not sure how you got the renaming part to spur sales, the coralife packaging in the picture says Royal blue, i dont think J&L renamed the bulb.
It is a different spectrum of Blue provided than the regular actinics.

chandigz · #8 10-25-2009, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shimmy

What is the difference between the Royal blue and the Actinic blue compact florescent bulbs?

I believe the difference between the two bulbs is a slightly different spectrum. Standard actinic peaks at 430nm while I believe that the royal blue peaks at 460 nm. I think the royal blue tends to be more blue looking. I don't know how it affects coral growth and colour though.

shimmy · #9 10-26-2009, 04:08 AM

Thanks everyone for the input and help, I will take it all into consideration when ordering more bulbs but im starting to think im going to end up buying lots of bulbs with lots of trial and errors. If anyone else has any other suggestions for my setup I would like the here them.
Chris its good to see im not the only one the lives nowhere from decent fish supplies.