neupane00

hello all. I am brand new to this hobby pls help. What are actinic light? I was reading about lights in aquarium. Seems like higher the K rating of light it will appear "blue" right? Does that mean actinic light that looks blue are very light K lamps??
okay here are my questions:
1) Whats the benefit of actinic light in aquarium
2) there are 2 types of actinic light, 420nm and 460nm. Whats the difference? Which one is better?
3) actinic light that look blue, does it have ligher K rating . are those 15000K light? if not whats the K rating for most actinic lights?
4) in reef aquarium, is it important to have both: higher K rating lamp like 15000K, plus also actinic light?

Thanks all for clearing my confusion.

mathas

As color temperature ratings increase, the color of light emitted by the bulb should follow what's known as the Planckian locus.

This is not always the case, though, as GE9325K bulbs actually emit a pinkish glow.

In what kind of tank? In one of your questions you ask about reef tanks, but you placed this post in the Freshwater Beginners forum.

I'm not convinced there is any benefit for a freshwater tank. In a marine tank, actinic light is used for photosynthesis by zooxanthellae, the microorganisms that feed corals.

You've already answered what the difference is... the wavelength of light emitted. I have no idea which is better, you'd need one of our saltwater experts to answer that one (and all the other questions you asked that I ignored).

Nate McFin

I agree with Mathas regarding plants not caring about lamps too much as long as the wattage is there.
My Cardinal Tetras however really dislike my 10,000K/Actinic combo lamp. I swapped it out for awhile with a different set up and they were much more active and not hiding. The plants prefered the Combo set up though, as the wattage of the other light set up was not enough.