# Lighting types



## Rigio (Jul 23, 2013)

I'm soon going to be purchasing a quad 30'' T5HO w/ led moonlights for my 50 gallon, however I'm stuck on which bulbs to choose. I'm aware that the blue and punk blues aren't used by plants as much as the 6500k but I'd like some input. 

Option 1: 4X 6,500k and use led to simulate moonlight
Option 2: 2X 6,500k, 2x pink blub to simulate sunrise and sunset
Option 3: 2X 6,500k, 2x actinic blub to simulate sunrise or sunset
Option 4: 2X 6,500k, 1x actinic, 1x pink to simulate sunrise and sunset

If maybe there's an option I haven't mentioned please feel free to post it


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

actnic bulbs will make your tank look blue and grow algae like crazy. I would stick to good old fashioned 6500 k full spectrum bulbs


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## Rigio (Jul 23, 2013)

pyrrolin said:


> actnic bulbs will make your tank look blue and grow algae like crazy. I would stick to good old fashioned 6500 k full spectrum bulbs


So option 1, thank you for your response.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Yep. Just fyi, those actinic bulbs are intended to mimic the light that corals get in the ocean. They are great for growing corals, but not for growing plants in fresh water.


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## Rigio (Jul 23, 2013)

Fishfur said:


> Yep. Just fyi, those actinic bulbs are intended to mimic the light that corals get in the ocean. They are great for growing corals, but not for growing plants in fresh water.


I'm aware that they are mostly used in marine applications however in had read somewhere that I can't recall that plants used a small portion of blue light and thought that perhaps a small dose would help them in the 'stimulated' sunrise and sunset. Perhaps it's not as useful as the article made it appear


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

It's true plants use blue light. They also use red and violet, and are affected as well by light we can't even see, such as ultraviolet.
If you're really interested in the topic of light colour and temperature, try looking up John Ott. Think Ott lites.. he's the guy, and he did a ton of research.

Before the current 65 and 6700 K lighting became available, about all you could get was 'cool white', which is the typical office/warehouse/etc. cheap flourescent lighting. It's very blue, but you can use it to grow terrestrial plants, IF the tubes are very close to the plants. Within inches as a rule for most plants. 

That's why they don't really work so well for water plants, they don't penetrate the water well enough and are also not at all balanced for the plants. But for a terrestrial light garden they will grow some plants. Not all, but some.

But the blue light on the actinic bulb is a specific wavelength that's good for corals as opposed to aquatic plants.


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## Rigio (Jul 23, 2013)

Fishfur said:


> Before the current 65 and 6700 K lighting became available, about all you could get was 'cool white', which is the typical office/warehouse/etc. cheap flourescent lighting. It's very blue, but you can use it to grow terrestrial plants, IF the tubes are very close to the plants. Within inches as a rule for most plants.


In your opinion what is better for planted tanks 6,500k or 6,700? And why


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## cape (Jun 18, 2010)

Sorry to hi jack thread, but this is pretty interesting. So blue lights won't help plant growth but produces algae? Is this the glass type algae that shrimps like?


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

My experience is 6500 or 6700 makes no dif, just different companies have one or the other, might just be something in the manufacturing process that makes them slightly different in the k value.


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## default (May 28, 2011)

Personally I use 2x 6400-6500k and 2x pink bulbs on my 65 gallon.
Go for the lower spectrums, my recommendation would be a new option.
Default option : 2x 6000k 2x pink bulb. And placement on fixture from front to rear - midday, pink, midday, pink.
This is the best combination I've ever seen. My plants grow like crazy and it's a great looking combo.
Also a thing to note is that the bulbs depending on maker actually makes a difference. I've tried, odyssea, coralife, aquaticlife, sun blaster, trulumen, and giesemanns. And personally giesemanns and aquaticlifes have been my personal favorites. Don't go too cheap on the bulbs 
Good luck


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

I like a nice even true colour for my tanks so I just stick with all 6500 or 6700, 6500 happens to be what I've been using lately.

I can't stand it when a tank looks pink or blue or something. Maybe it all goes back to my years working in a photo lab analyzing colours.


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## default (May 28, 2011)

pyrrolin said:


> I like a nice even true colour for my tanks so I just stick with all 6500 or 6700, 6500 happens to be what I've been using lately.
> 
> I can't stand it when a tank looks pink or blue or something. Maybe it all goes back to my years working in a photo lab analyzing colours.


All really depends on the their position personally - I hate bluer, redder, more yellow tanks as it bothers me, but yet in my tank with 6000 and pink(420lm?) the light in the tank looks almost white, very good colour display as well.

Also I feel plants grow better with more variety and ranges of the spectrum.


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