65w daylight vs 65w actinic, do corals care?

[CAT]

I was very disappointed a couple of months ago when I bought some really nice colored rics and polyps that looked great at the lfs and faded (immediately) when I put them in my tank.

I knew that my lighting was the problem - I have pc's on my tank, 1 65w 10,000k daylight and 1 65w actinic. It seemed to me that the actinic couldn't compete with the daylight bulb so I wasn't getting the nice colors I wanted.

I just switched the daylight for a 50/50 pc bulb so I now have a ratio of 3:1 actinic to daylight. Colors are a lot nicer so my question is: do the corals (lps and softies) care if the lighting they get is actinic or daylight as long as the bulbs are still 65w?

 

[nigle]

Oi!

Well 2x65w is great if it's 29 gal or smaller, what size of a tank are these lamps on, and what it is that you are trying to keep?

Depending on who types and depending on what it is that you are trying to keep in the tank the ratio of light to gal can be as low as 3:1 to as high as 10:1 but usually hovering around 5:1.

If we knew what size the tank is, and what it is that you are keeping, and if it is shrooms and zoos, that cold be enough, but if they are in a 50 gal then ~~~.

Also you have to remember that the tank conditions in the shop and yours are not the same. There will always be 'changes' in the condition of what you get untill they are 'settled'.

Cheers!
nigle
!~!

 

[CAT]

Hi Nigle. The tank is a 28 gal bowfront. What I meant was that I switched the daylight bulb for a 50/50. So now I have one 50/50 and one actinic on the tank -- both bulbs are still 65watts so I was just wondering if the lps and softies care whether the bulbs are actinic or daylight if the wattage is the same. They seem to be expanding the same right now.