Types of lighting

Wetty

Wetty

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Can sumone explains the different types of lighting, eg. Actnitic, oceanblue, sunlights, etc

Why its needed for which ever creature or organism,

And how they use it to live?

hope u understand the Q, wasnt sure how to state it.
 
Basically with out getting too sceintific, as i dont know the sceince of it. The basic lighting needed for coral growth is Sunlight ie the 6000K range. The problem with this is the light is really yellow and makes the tank look like its filled with Pee hence we go for the 10K or 15K range. The actinics and the ocean blues etc are basically there to enhance the appearance of the water and corals buy enhancing certain colours that you may not see under the 10K lighting.
 
Alan - just to add to this - it seems that over a long period of time, lighting colors in the actinic ranges seems to activate corals to be more colorful as well (this in addition to running a VERY VERY low nutrient water system)....
 
Alan said:
Basically with out getting too sceintific, as i dont know the sceince of it. The basic lighting needed for coral growth is Sunlight ie the 6000K range. The problem with this is the light is really yellow and makes the tank look like its filled with Pee hence we go for the 10K or 15K range. The actinics and the ocean blues etc are basically there to enhance the appearance of the water and corals buy enhancing certain colours that you may not see under the 10K lighting.
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So is actnitic important....or just a nice to have?

Also, iv got t5 tubes in my set up...one ocean blue and one actnitic. Which other types of tubes do I need to complete my set up...to have an allround lighting spectrum?

Im mostly going for FOWLR.
 
Guys... to add to this question..... an not wanting to hijack the thread ...

I understand that the corals like the 6000K to 6500K range because there is a lot of energy available for growth.... this however gives off a pee like colour, and is fairly unattractive to say the least ...... lights that may give off this sort of lighting would include the like of 50w halogen lights which have been used with some significant success in the sumps of some members systems .... lights that are much cheper than the T5's and MH options ......

What do you think about running these sorts of lights for 2 - 3 hours a day.... while this would create an undesirable colour (could be done at midday when most of us are not at home) it would essentially feed the corals much more??? Or is this a case of good in theory but not in praactice?????
 
Wetty said:
So is actnitic important....or just a nice to have?

Also, iv got t5 tubes in my set up...one ocean blue and one actnitic. Which other types of tubes do I need to complete my set up...to have an allround lighting spectrum?

Im mostly going for FOWLR.
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In a FOWLR, i would say you are fine the tubes you have they should pick up the fish colours fairly nicely as for the Actinic its a nice to have and not a have to have for the survival of corals.
 
Neil H said:
Guys... to add to this question..... an not wanting to hijack the thread ...

I understand that the corals like the 6000K to 6500K range because there is a lot of energy available for growth.... this however gives off a pee like colour, and is fairly unattractive to say the least ...... lights that may give off this sort of lighting would include the like of 50w halogen lights which have been used with some significant success in the sumps of some members systems .... lights that are much cheper than the T5's and MH options ......

What do you think about running these sorts of lights for 2 - 3 hours a day.... while this would create an undesirable colour (could be done at midday when most of us are not at home) it would essentially feed the corals much more??? Or is this a case of good in theory but not in praactice?????
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Yes Neil - it can possibly be done. BUT perhaps not if you want to use these lights IN PLACE of e.g. metal halides.... or many T5's....

It is ALL about the PAR rating (photosynthetic availability) of the light being used. Lights/globes within the 6000/6500 Kelvin coloration levels, seems to have the highest/best available PAR rating.... (the PAR rating is basically defined as the actual light available for corals to photosynthesize properly).....

The globes that you have mentioned, are MOSTLY in the 2700 to 4000 kelvin range.... and these Kelvin ranges are (once again) on the "other" side of the PAR rating, just like the globes with a white coloration rating of between 14000 and 20000K and actinics.....
 
Thanks Jacques ....

what globes would you reccommend in the 6000 6500 range???
 
Metal halides: Osram's 150 watt Double Ended NATURAL DAYLIGHT.
T5: Osram's Sky white T5's (+-8000K)

I believe that there are also some energy savers in this reason - not sure of the exact "models"/types though.....

BUT - IF you want to go this route (no problems with doing this) - you WILL most likely still end up putting in a LOT of actinics to counter the coloration these globes make the eater appear....
 
yeah i think you would need to add more actinic etc to counteract the pee colour as jacquesb said, but you can also achieve the same sort of thing by maybe having 10000ks (white)to counteract the yellow. would make it even better for the corals(higher PAR than actinic) and would be brighter in the tank, right jacquesb? it would then just be a tinge of yellow would you could then counteract with an actinic to give it the blue tinge.
 
scubaninja said:
yeah i think you would need to add more actinic etc to counteract the pee colour as jacquesb said, but you can also achieve the same sort of thing by maybe having 10000ks (white)to counteract the yellow. would make it even better for the corals(higher PAR than actinic) and would be brighter in the tank, right jacquesb? it would then just be a tinge of yellow would you could then counteract with an actinic to give it the blue tinge.
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That's correct ScubaNinja - that could work too....
 
scubaninja said:
yeah i think you would need to add more actinic etc to counteract the pee colour as jacquesb said, but you can also achieve the same sort of thing by maybe having 10000ks (white)to counteract the yellow. would make it even better for the corals(higher PAR than actinic) and would be brighter in the tank, right jacquesb? it would then just be a tinge of yellow would you could then counteract with an actinic to give it the blue tinge.
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Do u get 10,000K in T5 spec?
 
scubaninja said:
yup i've got some, white would be better to try and counteract the yellow IMO, so give it a try:thumbup:
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I cant seem to find T5 globes anywhere...iv looked at quite a few shops
 
scubaninja said:
try the sponsors, what size are you looking for? cause for a FOWLR system trying to increase the light for corals seems a bit like :beatdeadhorse5:
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I know...but id rather plan ahead and have all the hardware for when I do go reef eventually. Even if I just keep it in teh cupboard till then
 
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