lighting question

Talon

what is the difference between metal halide lighting and blue actinic lighting? does one control algae more or does one offer better light for corals im in the dark on this one. right now im running 14k coral growth light and a blue actinic light only because my lps didnt have metal halide should i switch it out or no?

Tazman

Metal Halide lights are extremely powerful and you might need a chiller to keep the tank cool, they give off an extreme amount of heat.

Actinic lights are used for aesthetic purposes and for coral growth, in the open ocean, the deeper you go the more light is absorbed by the water, the actinic lights mimic the effect of the blue hues that penetrate deeper into the ocean.

The zooxanthellae in corals use the blue light as a food source.

Metal Halides mimic the intense power of the sun on a sunny day. If you have a deep tank then it might be beneficial to go with the metal halide but your 14K coral grow will probably be sufficient and less of a drain on your electricity bill.

Reefing Madness

No need for a chiller. Run a couple fans across the surface of the water, this will cool it enough. I run Halides, and use 4 CPU fans across my water surface, the temp is 79 constant.
Halides are used mostly for deep tanks or if you are thinking of going the SPS (Small Polyp Stony) route. LED's are as of now the best, and most efficient. T-5 is next then Power Compacts. Actinics are for color rendering.
samsreef.com - PAR readings - How much light?
Aquarium Lighting; Reef, Planted Light Information. PAR, Bulb, Watt, Kelvin, Nanometers, MH, LED.
LED Aquarium Lights,*Lighting; emitters, PUR, DIY, more | Aquarium Article Digest
What Your Coral Needs | Successful Reef Keeping

brokenrules69

there are many differences with heat par wats lumens and stuff like that

this guy is where i learned basicly everything i know he is awesome

brokenrules69

one bad thing about led lighting that i have learned from people that have spent the crazy amount of money on it is that the led diodes start to die out after about 1 year even though most of them are advertised for 50,000 hours
if u click on the youtube page i posted and goto nysteelos channel he does a whole thing about the marineland reef led lighting