actnic ??? Pl lights

[VANAN]

Just wanna find out, would it be better if i use a 1700k Pl or a actnic Pl for the corals to glow... which is better actnic PL or actnic FL???

I was at downtown east LFS, saw a nano tank they setup...very nice looking ... noticed the pl light they use has one white strip and one blue strip. what Pl is that???

another thing, wads the diff between a normal ballast and an electronic one. which is better and why???

[Bluebeard]

Just wanna find out, would it be better if i use a 1700k Pl or a actnic Pl for the corals to glow... which is better actnic PL or actnic FL???

I was at downtown east LFS, saw a nano tank they setup...very nice looking ... noticed the pl light they use has one white strip and one blue strip. what Pl is that???

another thing, wads the diff between a normal ballast and an electronic one. which is better and why???

hey hi vanan,

i don't think there is 1700k PL tubes, should be 6500k, 7200+k, 10,000k or others. 1700k is too low.

for actnic, FL will be a better choice. from from what i know, PL actnic are not very blue and cosume more power. so FL actnic will be better and also cheaper, depending on brands la.

those PL light with 1 white and 1 blue strip is 50/50 PL which consist of 1 white and 1 blue tube. they both looks white when off though. if you don't have much space for lights, that will be a good choice but the bad thing is that you cannot control the blue and white tube indivdually.

normal ballast and electronic ballast is the construction, normal ballast uses transformer to convert the voltage, electronic ballast uses electronic components. also got price difference, usually e-ballast cost 3 times more than normal ballast.

but the benefits of e-ballast is a lot:-

1) save energy

2) generate less heat ( the ballast but the light tube still generate the same amount of heat)

3) no need for starters

4) won't flicker when just switched on

5) since it won't flicker when switched on, it's suppose to not shorten the life span of the light tubes.

e-ballast is highly recommended.

3)

[Tanzy]

I'll recommend e-ballasts for their efficiency.

Problem with PL tubes is that most of the 'Actinic' tubes aren't real actinic but just blue lights. Real actinic have a very narrow spectrum which is concentrated at 420nm and is nearly monochromatic. Blue coloured lights on the other hand are just plain garbage, they won't fluoresce corals like Actinic 03.

Real actinic 03 is mostly in the form of FL. Actinic PL exists but will probably be very expensive.

[BarraCudaTM]

the 50/50 PL tube you saw is the JBJ brand .. I bought their blue PL before .. pure crap .. no glowing but somehow their 50/50 looks good

you can either choose to go for coralife actinic which cost abt $50 each or 17000K bulbs (which I believe is the highest PL we can find) .. the 17000K should be able to produce the glowing effect .. but not as good as actinic

I also recommend e-ballast, they run cooler and lights dont flicker

you can buy those 2in1 e-ballast where 1 ballast can support 2 x 36watts

you can get them at nature aquarium at $20 each

they also sell 10000K osram PLs at $30 for 2 ..

[VANAN]

posted wrongly...sorry

[VANAN]

Ok so i intend to put one 18W actnic FL, one 36W 10,000k PL and one 36W 50/50 PL.

Is this alrite for a 2ft nano tank I intend to create.

any comments????

I intend to keep Mushrooms, zooantids and xenias... is lighting sufficient

[Tanzy]

That should be fine for most softies and some LPS, but I'll rather go with one actinic and two 10kK and lose that 50/50 for higher light intensity.

[VANAN]

Tanzy....What combination should i have should i have inorder for me to sustain SPS in my tank... other than MH

[Tanzy]

The max number of FL you can fit over a 2 foot tank is 4, maybe 5, that's not really gonna be quite enough for SPS to maintain their colour. I believe they will survive if place near the surface but will be brown with a little green fluorescence at best. There's a guy who worked at GARF and he used 10 FL 48" NO tubes for SPS like Acropora and Montipora. The corals were OK, the colour was obviously not as intense as under MH. Later he switched to VHO and the colour really took off! I don't know why he refused to use MH, maybe he has a FL fetish or something. I wonder what he does with all the spent tubes cause he changes them every 6 months. On the long run, that's going to be super expensive.

PL and T5 might allow you to cram more wattage into the limited space and lumen per watt these are probably the most efficient lighting available to reefers.

[VANAN]

So its not adviable for me to put SPS under my type of lighting even if i was to add another 10000k PL..... Hmm......??????

[loonz]

I recommend you go for Philips fl actinics...they are about 20 bucks for a 3' tube. They work the same as Coralife, only more than 50% cheaper. I dont know whats the deal with Coralife FL, they are very expensive. I think you pay a lot for the nice packaging...

[Tanzy]

I'm not saying you can't. They will survive, but won't thrive and don't expect them to be anything but brown in colour. LPS and softies will look so much better.

Also, I'm quite sure you know, but just to remind you, SPS is not just about light, temperature and water quality is crucial.

[fantom]

Loonz,

Where to get the Philips FL actinics?

Thanks.

[VANAN]

I'm not saying you can't. They will survive, but won't thrive and don't expect them to be anything but brown in colour. LPS and softies will look so much better.

Also, I'm quite sure you know, but just to remind you, SPS is not just about light, temperature and water quality is crucial.

I know...i am only trying to venture to hard corals after playing around with my tank and i am quite satisfied with my water quality...

But i think i rather not go with SPS.... Wouldn't want them looking dull when they can look so much better in some other tank...

I think i will just go with Softies and LPS...

Any beautiful softies or LPS to recomemnd???

[Tanzy]

Softies I will most definitely recommend are mushrooms! They are colourful, easy to propagate, cheap and tolerant of temperature.

LPS that I recommend are any Euphyllia spp.(Torch, Hammer, Anchor, Frogspawn), Fungia, Favia and Favites. There are lots more look around. Galaxea might be suitable for your tank because their sweepers are too long.

[bawater]

fantom, try keong seong@ havelock for phillips.

[bawater]

fantom, try keong seong@ havelock for phillips.

vanan, wif all those tubes, keep track of your temp.

that was my battle wif my previous nano & providing enough light.

2 ft with 4 FL - shot temp up to 32c (without using a fan/chiller)

& as tanzy said, FL actinic 03 would give best results.Its Somethin i try not to do without.

If u go to KL, keep a lookout for the 20w T5 tubes available there (wif elec ballast)-The new FL generation. intensity of these are superb.

[LiveRock]

Hi Loonz

Where u find Philips actinics?

[loonz]

Like bawater said, look for them at Keong Seong. They have Philips actinics, but only those with thicker diameter ones. Marinelife used to stock the slimmer variety but not anymore. Cheers. Anyone else knows where else to get these tubes, please share the info, thanks.

[wedgee]

Hope this thread is still alive...anyways, i just got one Philips "Actinic" 18W from Pasir Ris Fish farm, but I'm wondering if it is REALLY an actinic... It costs just $24, just like Loonz described. But why the big difference between pricing compared to Coralife? The tube is TLD model, and it's written as "Blue" on the tube itself.

To be honest, I'm all blurred out here!!! Is this a real Actinic? Wat makes a real Actinic? Where can I find true Actinic 03 tubes?

[Achilles Tang]

Blue doesn't mean its has actinic phosphors in them. The blue should peak at 420 nanometers.

The box should be clear that its actinic 03 lights.

If not, it'll just be a bright blue light.

O3 are usually dimmer... deep purple colour.

In my old PL DIY lighthood... the centre blue PL is the true actinic PL. The centre left and right is Blue PL.

It only makes the corals flourescent a little... whereas the 03 PL has the disco UV light glow effect.

Ever seen your teeth glow bright green in a club? heh!

[wedgee]

WHERE TO GET THESE 03 TUBES?

[Achilles Tang]

Well.... I bought it at Marinelife but you can get it at most marine LFS...

It's Coralife brand Actinic PL tube, 36 watts, 16 inch, 2G11 pin arrangement, at around $50 to $60!

[hongqixian]

I'm going oof topic here but Vanan, keep your alk at about 12 dkh or the xenia might suffer. This sounds to be at the high end of the recommended but I believe xenia does better with high alk. Or they melt.

[loonz]

WEdgee, the Philips tubes have 03 imprinted on the tube itself...CHECK!