lighting

[Jm9760]

Hi, I am new to fish tanks, and have a lighting question. I am setting up a 40 gallon reef tank. I am using a metal halide. The way it is set up is the halide is in the middle, and there is a fluorescent on either side. I currently have one fluorescent with a actinic bulb in it, and the other has a full-spectrum bulb. Is this the way I should do it, or should I use two full spectrums? The tank is shallow, (about 13 inches) so I was wondering if the actinic is necessary, or at all beneficial. If it is not beneficial, would it be beneficial to replace the bulb with a full-spectrum? Any help would be appreciated.

[bertoni]

[welcome]

The fluorescent bulbs can be anything you want. Most people use them for actinic to add more blue, but the choice is mostly a matter of personal taste. The wider-spectrum bulbs might encourage a bit more coral growth, in theory.

[arts007]

What kind of fluorescent bulbs are they? NO (normal output) VHO (very high output) HO (high output) PC (power compact)

[kenny77]

actinic will only bring out the best of your corals color. but it hasn't been prove that they help coral growth.

[Jm9760]

Thanks for all the responses. The bulbs are high output.

EDIT: I also have one more question. My tank is 36" long. The metal halide is only 24". Someone I know also has a fluorescent light that is 36" long that they can give me, but it is not as strong as the metal halide. Should I use that because it covers more area, or just stick with the halide?

[jadeguppy]

What do you want to keep in the tank? I am having the same issue with a 40 long. How to get proper coverage, actinic highlighting of colors, enough light for acros without burning the low light corals, etc. I know a guy that use to run his 40g breeder with 1 mh light. The low light corals went to the sides and the high light right under the bulb. He had two small cp actinic for supplement.

[Jm9760]

I'm not exactly sure what I want to keep in there yet, but it is going to be a reef tank, so I would like the tank to be able to handle a variety of corals.

[bertoni]

With the MH, the ends of the tank will be a bit dim for some corals. That's okay. The fluorescent might be okay if it's T5 or VHO.

[Jm9760]

Ok thanks, I think I am going to just stick with the mh, because I don't think the fluorescent is strong enough.