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Hi, can anyone tell me if acenic blue bulbs will work well with planted tanks? I purchased a 4 bulb light fixture and it came with 2 acenic blue bulbs and 2 10000K daylight bulbs. Will these work well or should I change the acenic blue to the freshwater bulb?

Thanks in advance for any help,

amackattack

I believe, from people who have tried them on freshwater, that they are a recipe for algae.

I'm not sure on planted tanks and if the plants have a use for them, but for the time being I'd use the daylight ones only

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

A bulb with a 6500k rating is what I use and a lot of people use in a planted tank.

Now that I have had the tank going for a week with the acenic blue bulb and the plants, the algae is going to be a problem - not recommended.

Thanks for the confirmation Callatya and suggestions lowlight. Now to find the daylight bulbs.

thanks again,

amackattack

Hi,
See my reply to you in your other post in this forum.

DAYLIGHT AND SUNLIGHT are the type of bulbs that you would
want to use for plants. The actinic bulbs are designed
for reef tanks. The high blue wavelength of the light
helps the invertebrates develop their intense coloration
through a symbiotic relationship between algae and the
invertebrate.

Generally, one sticks with lower wattages and more
reasonable Kelvin rating bulbs for planted tanks.

One of the way plants are "sorted" is by light demand.
Low light plants would thrive from 1 to 2 watts per gallon.
Medium light plants would thrive from 2-3 watts per gallon.
High light plants thrive in 3+ watts per gallon.

The depth of the tank also comes into play. As the light
makes its way down through the water column, it is
absorbed and also scattered by particles floating in it.

The lower Kelvin rated bulbs are more toward the "red" end
of the light spectrum, and the higher Kelvin rated bulbs
are toward the blue end of the spectrum. Red light is
easily scattered and absorbed within the first few inches
of water, while the blue light penetrates deeper into the
water column.

Freshwater planted tanks less than two feet in depth can
function great with Kelvin ratings in the 6500-8800K
range. When you have a tank around two feet or more in
depth, then you could "finesse" the light through the
water column by going to higher Kelvin rated bulbs. I'm
not a fan of bullying the light through the water column.
By that I mean increasing the watts per gallon in an effort
to get more light down to the substrate level. Instead,
I'd rather stick with the "normal" watts per gallon and
just increase the Kelvin rating to 10,000K.

10,000K is the generally accepted "top end" of the spectrum
for freshwater tanks. That, and higher Kelvin rated bulbs
are for use in Saltwater tanks.

Hope this helps...
Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--