mcdonald.kk

I've been looking into upgrading my lighting and ran across a compact light made by Current USA that is affordable and has a nice lunar light feature. It is the Satellite model. It's 65 watts, 50/50 10,000 K daylight and actinic 460nm in one lamp. Has anyone had good results with this or a similar type? I know plants absorb between the 400-700 nm range. Does the 10,000k mean that the light is hotter? Do I need to worry about over-heating? And what does the 50/50 mean? Right now I have a 15 watt, 7,000K bulb with a spectrum tailored to photosynthesis. I have a planted tank though and want to provide more light (it is a 20 gal). Ideally I will be able to fit both my current light and any new compact onto my glass hood. Thanks for any help you guys can give.

Tsunami35

I just bought that fixture about a month ago. Its a great fixture, mine actually came with a built in fan too, which wasnt listed on DFS where I bought it. However, I did replace the saltwater bulb that it comes with with a 6700K bulb, which was another 22 bucks. 50/50 means that half of the bulb puts out light in the 10,000k range, and half in the 460nm range. 10,000k doesnt mean that the bulb will actually run hotter, as far as I know, I could be wrong. The bulb that comes with it isnt ideal for plants, and i was having some algae problems using it. You want either a 6700k bulb or a 50/50 6700k/10,000k.

sgould

I have a Current USA dual satellite that I like, and am expecting delivery tomorrow of a Current USA t-5 fixture for a different tank. They are good fixtures. While the light will put out some heat, no worries with overheating...they have built in cooling fans. The kelvin rating is a temperature scale that indicates the color tone that light emits. Lower kelvin temperatures indicate lights that are giving off "warmer" colored light like red or yellow. Higher kelvin termperature lights emit "cooler" colors like blue or white. 50/50 usually indicates the bulb is giving off both daylight light ranges (that would be your 10000k), as well as actinic light (that is your 460nm). The actinic lights help pop colors in the tank a little more, and is good for corals and inverts.

mcdonald.kk

It sounds like a good light. Do either of you use the lunar light that comes with it? It sounds like it is mostly of benefit to the viewer so they can see their nocturnal fish, but I think it sounds like a nice feature to have.

Tsunami35

I use the lunar light, it looks kind of cool...

sgould

Yep...I like the lunar lights.