Royal blue VS Actinic blue bulbs

[shimmy]

Does anyone know?? I don’t want to spend $65+ each and find out they are will not work for me…

[chris88]

its the wording of your question i think. Royal blue vs. actinic blue? What are your trying to figure out exactly? If you are looking for growth bulbs then dont use actinic becuase they are lower in par and are not very borad in spectrum. On the other hand if you want them to help make your colors pop then actinic bulbs are the way to go. If you are using you power compacts as your main source of light then find a bulb that has an 11,000k spectrum which si more of a bright white. You could even find something similar to ati blue plus bulb which is heavy in the blue spectrum but is not classified as an actinic bulb. post what bulbs your are comparing so i can give you more specific advise.

[shimmy]

I was looking at the ones offered from J&L aquatics
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/lb...ht-Pin%29.html
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/lb...ht-Pin%29.html
I was trying to decide on what would give me a good color for my fish but without sacrificing the life of my corals and they don’t say anything about the difference in the two. Its all so confusing being new to SW tanks. hope the link works too.

[bauder1986]

Originally Posted by shimmy

I was looking at the ones offered from J&L aquatics
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/lb...ht-Pin%29.html
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/lb...ht-Pin%29.html
I was trying to decide on what would give me a good color for my fish but without sacrificing the life of my corals and they don’t say anything about the difference in the two. Its all so confusing being new to SW tanks. hope the link works too.

Oh Shimmy, the "Royal Blue" is J&L Aquatics's way of trying to rename the actinic blue to spure up sales. But the Actinic bulb of "Royal Blue" is the one you want. Is your fixture with 2 x 65watt bulbs?

[shimmy]

No I have a 4 X 65W fixture, so what would be the best setup to run for color and still have corals? Im currently thinking of running 2 x 65W 10,000K daylight bulbs with 2 “blue” (no idea on which ones are the best that’s why I started this thread) bulbs behind the daylight.
Is this a good idea or???

[bauder1986]

Originally Posted by shimmy

No I have a 4 X 65W fixture, so what would be the best setup to run for color and still have corals? Im currently thinking of running 2 x 65W 10,000K daylight bulbs with 2 “blue” (no idea on which ones are the best that’s why I started this thread) bulbs behind the daylight.
Is this a good idea or???

well, 50 / 50 is a good idea, the perfect balance between 10000k and actinic. but if your tank is shallower than 24" what I would do is get one actinic and place it in the middle and the rest 10000K. that way you can have some brightness and you will get the effect of the actinic as well. But the set up is very dependent on your tank depth and what corals that you are stocking in the tank as well.

[shimmy]

The tank is a 72gallon bow front, 48” long and 24” high. The lighting fixture is a 2 bulbs wide by 2 bulbs long that’s why I was thinking daylight in front and blue in the back but would it be more affective to have a 50/50 in the back for more daylight? As for corals I am not totally sure what I want to put into it currently all I get is one anemone and a Kenya tree. As for future corals im unsure I kind of buy cool looking stuff as I see it and just want to be ready for anything.

[Drock169]

Originally Posted by bauder1986

Oh Shimmy, the "Royal Blue" is J&L Aquatics's way of trying to rename the actinic blue to spure up sales. But the Actinic bulb of "Royal Blue" is the one you want. Is your fixture with 2 x 65watt bulbs?

I'm not sure how you got the renaming part to spur sales, the coralife packaging in the picture says Royal blue, i dont think J&L renamed the bulb.
It is a different spectrum of Blue provided than the regular actinics.