ACTINIC only?

[SnowManSnow]

I always wondered if I could grow anything much under JUST actinic lighting. Zoas? Algae?

I'm setting up a frag / fuge tank that will be tied into my 120 display, but I've only got a few 24" VHO actinics laying around haha...

I just hate to fork over the cash to have a few lamps shipped.

the reef life sucks if you're in NE alabama! No local distributors with anything decent to pick from for hardware OR livestock.

B

 

[Ben1]

A VHO ballast can run, and overdrive NO bulbs. They will also wear out faster. You could just go get a couple of GE Coolwhites, just an idea since its for a frag tank who cares. I have just two VHO's over my 20 long frag tank and grow my SPS frags in there.

 

[blackcloudmedia]

Grow things under just actinic? That would rip the time-space continuum. I suppose it could be done. Let us know.
Ben, you can use NO bulbs on a VHO ballast? Wow I thought that would make em explode or something.

 

[Ben1]

I guess I should specify that this AFAIK only works with electronic vho ballast like Ice Cap. But years ago people were using it saying it increase's lamp output. I had used NO bulbs in my Ice Cap ballast years ago. The only downfall was the bulbs ran much hotter so burned out faster, and shifted their color faster. Keeping a fan on the bulbs was a good idea. Just like people run T5's now on Ice Cap ballast like the 660 or 430 to overdrive them, but need to be sure they cool them with fans.

 

[Ben1]

Here;s an ice cap artical on it, http://www.icecapinc.com/01/www.icecapi ... v1.htm.pdf

 

[Anonymous]

http://ledwholesalers.com/store/index.p ... ductId=407

This guy did his own:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqfxfqJ4QZ4

He's keeping some nice stuff under there with far less LEDS than the one above, although his may be 3 watt leds(about same overall wattage. It also creates glitter lines, which are a must for me..

 

[Anonymous]

Most of my SPS are high in the tank and the rest I will move up. I am looking to cut energy costs and keep the heat down. The link I showed had the corals in a 75 with a monti cap at the bottom. I am gonna use 108x1 watt LEDs I may add another 36 later. The guy from the company said that they use magnifying lens' to make the LEDs stronger and to aim them downward. He did admit he did not know the PAR reading. The white LEDs are 5500K and the blues are Actinic, when combined they are between 12000/14000K. He also admitted that they cannot punch the light to the sand, but keep their power to 18". Most of my SPS are in the top 12" anyway, I will just move my deeper ones up. I will take photos and keep you all posted. I will keep the Mh setup just in case.

 

[Anonymous]

I think the problem with growing stuff under actinics only has more to do with the quantity of light rather than the quality. Due to their spectrum, Actinics are specialized bulbs with low PAR. I would expect that to be the largest drawback - weak PAR.

The overdriving option of NO bulbs mentioned above is a good one. You can even do it with standard ballasts if you wire them right (ending up with HO rather than VHO). Here's a good place to start reading about that...http://www.geocities.com/teeley2/overdrv1.html

Do overdriven *Fluorescent* bulbs actually shift spectrum? I used to be sure they did but I recall being proven wrong on that - can't recall the details though.