Anyone use actinic supplementation with 400W MHs?

[Reefer Rob]

Anyone using actinic supplementation with 400W metal halide lights. So far I've only had my T5s come on in the morning and evening for dawn/dusk, but with my new MH bulbs I'd like a touch more blue. I have 2- 56W Actinic Plus T5s, and I can't see any difference at all when I turn them on with my halides on. Would a true actinic bulb show up at all, or are 400W lights too strong for supplementation? I don't want to waist $60 on actinic bulbs if they won't do anything.

Thanks
Rob

[bv_reefer]

i was wondering the same thing, i want to go with the 400 watt-XM bulb at 14K but i'm starting to think that the intensity from the bulb will just cover the actinics, so at the moment i think i'll just go with 20K, alot of people have just told me to refrain from actinics if i get a good 14K bulb, but with my past few experiences with 14K's they have'nt been blue enough

[Aquattro]

I ran 2 phillips actinic 03 bulbs with my dual 400w 10k setup, and I could notice a difference. Actinics with 14k or 20k ar probably pointless other than dusk/dawn effect.

[wickedfrags]

Not sure who would suggested refraining from actinics on your system........what possible reason could there be???

Plan them into your system, and should you not be pleased with the colour spectrum with the halides on, simply run them for a dawn to dusk effect. You may change bulbs later and run them, who knows.

Also be mindful that different ballasts will fire XM bulbs differently, meaning one may produce more blue/white light than another.

Personlly, I have used 400W XMs on Maxkor ballasts with VHO actinics for 3 years and am pleased with their performance and colour. At them same time I do not recommend the Maxkors as IME they have proven not to be reliable.

Originally Posted by bv_reefer

i was wondering the same thing, i want to go with the 400 watt-XM bulb at 14K but i'm starting to think that the intensity from the bulb will just cover the actinics, so at the moment i think i'll just go with 20K, alot of people have just told me to refrain from actinics if i get a good 14K bulb, but with my past few experiences with 14K's they have'nt been blue enough

[Reefer Rob]

Yes, supplemental lighting is necessary for viewing when the halides aren't on, unless you plan on running you halides 10 hours a day (which I understand you actually do Dave). I was trying to get opinions on whether a true actinic bulb is actually visible with 400W MH bulbs (currently 14K)

[bv_reefer]

Originally Posted by wickedfrags.com

Not sure who would suggested refraining from actinics on your system........what possible reason could there be???

Plan them into your system, and should you not be pleased with the colour spectrum with the halides on, simply run them for a dawn to dusk effect. You may change bulbs later and run them, who knows.

Also be mindful that different ballasts will fire XM bulbs differently, meaning one may produce more blue/white light than another.

Personlly, I have used 400W XMs on Maxkor ballasts with VHO actinics for 3 years and am pleased with their performance and colour. At them same time I do not recommend the Maxkors as IME they have proven not to be reliable.

mind you every time i think about the intensity of a 400-watt i tend to shy away from actinics, at the end i'll probably end up with them though..

Very true different ballasts differnet output, the one i'm getting soon is a PFO, i'm really hoping that the actinics show even with the 14k's, i think i'll be ok though as alot of 14k's are a crisp whiteish blue like the hamiltons i'm running now, and i'm going with 1x96 watt PC which I've heard is brighter than VHO in most cases.

[kjcote]

I run the hamilton reef star 400w hqi's and use actinics, have never seen a big difference only slight highlights on corals.