Do you need actinics with Metal Halide??

[reefpod]

I am planning on upgrading my 29gallon (18" depth) lighting from pc's to MH so i can get hard corals, clams, etc..
I am getting some mixed responses as to whether or not I need to add actinics. I plan to get either 1 250watt MH 10k or 1 175watt 10k. Lots of people on reefcentral have said that if i get either of the two that I wont need actinics and the corals will be just fine. Although Premium Aquactics informed me this is "absolutely false" and that corals such as zooathids need actinics. So which is it? anyone?:confused:

[SeanT]

We are right. :D
You do NOT need actinics.

I ran my tank for 9 months with just metal halides and all was well...except for the beginning but that had nothing to do with the lights.

[stealyourhouse]

I think actinics are necessary if you want to keep good colors in your corals.

[DMK]

how many watts of just actinic per gallon would be good? :D just jumping in. i'm interested in making my corals glow!!!

[McSierra]

Originally posted by DMK
how many watts of just actinic per gallon would be good? :D just jumping in. i'm interested in making my corals glow!!!

Yea what he said...

I too would like to know...

[Tadashi]

watts per gallon is kind of a false measuring metric. Light is lost by distance from the bulb and the viscosity and clarity of the medium. According to TRA vol 2 (pg ?) you lose up to 70% of your light at 17". It is suggested that for up to 24" use 250-watt. For 24"+ use 400-watt bulbs. If you use reflectors then ot should light a 2x2 area.

Over my SPS& clam 172-gal (49x27x30) I use two 400-watt 20000K bulbs, and two 250-watt 6500K bulbs and I am adding another set of 400 HQIs. The spectrum is pretty much up to your preference as long as it is above 5500K. I like the higher K bulbs for looks but the 6500K bulb seems to produce the high growth.

Over my 10-gal with clams I had a 250-watt 12000K MH.

BTW, take advice from LFS and online FS with a grain of salt. Remember they are in the business to make money. Having you buy an additonal Icecap VHO ballast is what they want.

You do not need VHO supplemental lighting. However, ensure you tailor your light to what you are keeping. Some softies and LPS do not like the intense lighting MH. My trumpets and open brain do not expand as much with my MH after switchinf from VHO.

If all you want is the shimmer you can probably go with 150 or 175-watt MH and use VHO for your main lighting.

My friend had zooanthids in his 105-gal with 400-watt 6500K MH (later switched to 20000K) and they grow like weeds. He ended up having to trade 60% of his rock for fresh non-zooanthid inhabited rock for his SPS because the zooanthids were too aggressive.

[ReefHobbyist]

I had 2 175W 10K bulbs over my tank and had decent success with SPS and clams. Probably not as much as if it were 250 or 400W, however. I was never happy with the color until I added 2 95W VHO actinic to the tank. It just added enough difference to be noticeably more colorful.

Scott

[McSierra]

Originally posted by ReefHobbyist
I had 2 175W 10K bulbs over my tank and had decent success with SPS and clams. Probably not as much as if it were 250 or 400W, however. I was never happy with the color until I added 2 95W VHO actinic to the tank. It just added enough difference to be noticeably more colorful.

Scott

So you have:

350W of 10K & 190W of Actinic

That is: total of 540 watts of lighting on your 120g with the mix of 65% 10K 35% Actinic

Do you have a Pic with and with out your Antinic lights on..?

[ReefEze]

On my 75g I have 2x175w halides and 220w VHO acintic. I think the color is slightly too yellow without acintics, but its hard to notice without a good comparison. I think it's worth it, but if I was doing it all over I'd get 20kk's, an eballast, and VHO acintics.


my .02

RE

[littleprince]

I have a 250W ushio over my 20 H.

I also have 2 13W 03 actinic bulbs from hellolights. THey really make the corals glow. But with the ushio on, you can hardly see any color from that.

So I also have a 15w Marine GLo NO bulb. This makes the color of the ushio perfect IMO. Regardless of whether or not the PC actinics are on(they dont change the color, only help make corals glow for me).

I'm sure your corals would be ok w/o actinic supplementation, but you might want some for yourself

[ReefHobbyist]

Originally posted by McSierra
So you have:

350W of 10K & 190W of Actinic

That is: total of 540 watts of lighting on your 120g with the mix of 65% 10K 35% Actinic

Do you have a Pic with and with out your Antinic lights on..?

I didn't have any pictures like this but I took some tonight. Please excuse the construction. :) My tank crashed last October when we painted a room in the house and didn't ventilate well enough. Little did I know that paint fumes absorb into the water. :( I lost most of my SPS, a few LPS and a clam. Starting over with frags.

Lighting comparison (http://homepage.mac.com/sgeiger1/Reef/PhotoAlbum21.html)

Scott

[FishDoc]

Wow Scott, that's a nice comparison. Do you have any experience with the metal halides at higher that 10K values? I am particularly interested in the 20K Radiums. I am planning on using them on my 225 tank without actinics at least to start. The actinics certainly add to the 10K bulbs on your posting.

[David P]

Originally posted by SeanT


I ran my tank for 9 months with just metal halides and all was well...except for the beginning but that had nothing to do with the lights.

I was gunna remind you about your tank of death....:p

[RooFish]

Technically you don't have to have them, I just think they make the colours better. The greens really glow, and there might be some really benefit too. Can't hurt, might help...

[Denzo]

Question:

I have 3 -400 10k
4 - 6 feet actinics vho and 4 6 feet actinic white vhos
280 G tank.
Is this overkill??

[ReefHobbyist]

Originally posted by FishDoc
Wow Scott, that's a nice comparison. Do you have any experience with the metal halides at higher that 10K values? I am particularly interested in the 20K Radiums. I am planning on using them on my 225 tank without actinics at least to start. The actinics certainly add to the 10K bulbs on your posting.

Unfortunately, no I haven't been able to try out other MH bulbs. The ballasts I am using are the original IceCap ballasts that were "tuned" to one particular bulb. I haven't taken the chance to see if they will fire up other bulbs. IceCap may be able to upgrade them, but I haven't looked into it.

If I buy new ballasts I will probably look into 250W.

Scott