What are good lighting conditions? what degree of kelvin is

[FLOPPYFISH]

Hey all, i was just wondering what you people think about lighting conditions as far as kelvin rating goes:
what is good? right know i have 110w PC with a 7100k daylight bulb and a actinic bulb is this good enough? would a 5500k or 6500k be better or should i get a 10000k bulb but i think that would be too much blue.
I am asking in terms of the daylight bulb not the actinic. this will go on a 15g tank(not set up). if any of you could help me out and maybe tell me what i should or shouldn't get in terms of corals that would also help.
Thanks every1

Matt

[ April 17, 2002: Message edited by: FLOPPYFISH ]</p>

 

[MattM]

What looks good to you? That and good PAR should be your goal.

Manufacturer's color temperature numbers are almost completely meaningless. It is merely the opinion of the marketing department, not a scientific measurement. This is because a color temperature describes the color vs. energy curve of a continuous spectrum source, like an incandescent bulb. It can not be applied to emmission spectrum sources like fluorescent or metal halide. It's like trying to measure your tank volume in kilohertz - you can pick a number out of your hat, but it doesn't really mean anything.

This is why we can have four or five different bulbs all listed as 10,000K and they are all different colors.

 

[FLOPPYFISH]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

what looks good to you

but what looks good to me might not be good for the animals i keep. correct?
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

manufacturers color temperature numbers are almost completely meaningless

then why do company's bother to rate them at all? surely there must be some meaning behind the numbers and to what animals you would want to use them?
just curious? not to say i don't believe you but just triing to get a grasp of what all those numbers mean.

Thanks Matt

Matt