Hi all,

I just purchased a Current 48" 4x65 light for my reef. There are a total of 4 bulbs, two each daylight and actinic. Each has 2 tubes. When lit, both tubes on both daylight bulbs light brightly. But each actinic bulb has one blue and one purplish tube. Is this correct, or is one side burned out or not getting power or something? Thanks for you expertise.

Deeder

the actinics are 2 types, 420nm and 460nm. a normal bulb configuration.

welcome to the site DeederMC. Havn't see you around before.

wow whats actinic mean....sounds swedish:unsure:

Thanks for the welcome! I love reading the site but haven't posted before because usually everything I need has already been covered - everyone here is so knowledgeable.

Sounds Swedish? Perhaps you were thinking of the Borg? :)

Hello and :welcome: to TR! Could you share a picture of your tank?

Bobby

Do you run two types of actinics? I did'nt think you needed to? What is the difference between 420 and 460 and how do they effect/affect corals????

Bobby

Do you run two types of actinics? I did'nt think you needed to? What is the difference between 420 and 460 and how do they effect/affect corals????

You don't need to run any actinic bulbs at all, but they can sure make things look prettier.

The difference between 420 and 460 is... um... (grabs calculator) the difference is 40! :)
... but seriously, the 420nm bulb is simply outputting a shorter wavelength of light and will appear more "violet" than the 460nm, which will be in the "blue" range (see chart at the bottom of this post).

The effect of running multiple actinics will vary depending on the species of corals in your tank. For instance, adding both a 420nm and a 460nm actinic bulbs to a tank containing a Montipora caliculata specimen can trigger multiple fluorescing pigments and make the colony look absolutely surreal (assuming it is situated near the surface of the water) but a Montipora digitata colony in the same tank (and at the same depth) might not look much different.

Dana Riddle wrote a wonderful 8-part article series on fluorescing pigments for Advanced Aquarist that delves much deeper into this subject:

Link: Coral Coloration: Fluorescence, Part 1 (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/9/aafeature)



PS. For the curious, here's a rough chart of colors in the visible light spectrum and the wavelength range for each: violet 380–450 nm
blue 450–495 nm
green 495–570 nm
yellow 570–590 nm
orange 590–620 nm
red 620–750 nm

^^^ what he said ^^^

^^^ what he said ^^^

heh...

If anyone here is running multiple actinic spectrums and has the time it would be nice to see pictures of one of your corals for reference (ie. no actinics, actinic #1 only, actinic #2 only, both actinic bulbs). I've got spare actinic bulbs of different spectrums but don't currently have any coral specimens that would take advantage of both of them ... and also I'm lazy :)

Wow - what a warm welcome - thanks! Here's my tank - under my new actinics, of course. ;)

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a63/deedermc/Tank-123007.jpg

Doc Wrote- The difference between 420 and 460 is... um... (grabs calculator) the difference is 40! :)


Edging ever so closer to the comedy stage doc...your dry sence of hummor is great for a giggle.



Thanks for the welcome! I love reading the site but haven't posted before because usually everything I need has already been covered - everyone here is so knowledgeable.

Sounds Swedish? Perhaps you were thinking of the Borg? :)


well done its nice to meet a newbie to the site that lurked for awhile ...searching the actual site;). i often wondered what happened when i hit the flush button..now i know! lol

And was the Borg thing a tied in joke from lurking for so long or just coincidence. If so i really would be impressed:agree:

And was the Borg thing a tied in joke from lurking for so long or just coincidence.

Just me being a major Star Trek nerd. :)

welcome DeederMC and nice tank

V, I won't give away your secrets. You guys know that we need to mount a attempt to recuse Fat Walrus from the Borg.

Nice tank, Great center piece!

Nice tank, Great center piece!

Thanks for the compliment - funny you should mention my "center piece", who took off a few days ago and is now my "lower right corner piece". :)

Thanks for the compliment - funny you should mention my "center piece", who took off a few days ago and is now my "lower right corner piece". :):lol: Mine does that too!