Best Combo from hellolights?

[nanobrad]

I looking to buy 4 - 28 watters, whats the best combo:

 

4 - 50/50 or

 

2 - 10K and 2 - Actinic??

 

Thanks,

 

Brad

[reef93]

I would go for 2x10k + 2xactinic which gives you dusk and dawn effect.

[nanobrad]

Thanks...but I run the 4 - 28 off two ballest. I would have to put the 10K's toghether and the actinces toghter to do this instead of spacing them. Would this be okay?

[Bocephous]

2 10k, 2 actinic is better, or even 1 10k and 3 actinic. (I like a lot of blue)

 

50/50 bulbs dont work quite as well imo

[Satchmo]

You don't have to group them together just because you're only running 2 ballasts. Do 10K-Actinic-10K-Actinic. Just wire the 10K's to one ballast, and the actinic to the other.

[nanobrad]

Satchmo,

 

I know you don't have group togther but to get TRUE dusk/dawn effect you would have to. Maybe I don't understand you response. Are you talking about re-wiring?

[MKramer]

First, to get a TRUE dusk/dawn effect, you wouldn't be turning on the actinic first. Actinic radiation is strongest at the day's peak and virtually non-existent in mornings and evenings. People just do actinic for dawn/dusk for aesthetic reasons.

 

But what Satchmo is saying is that you cna place the bulbs in the hood in the order: 10k, blue, 10K, blue. But you can still hook up the two 10Ks to the same ballast, and the two actinics to the same balast. Just because they sit next to each other does not mean they have to be on the same balast. Of course, it depends on your lighting electronics. This won't work if you have integral ballasts, but it can if you use remote ballasts. Look at hellolight's 4x55W Retro Kit for visualization:

 

http://www.hellolights.com/24retrokits.html

[nanobrad]

Thanks. Didn't want to re-wire.

 

Not sure about the you 1st paragraph. Never heard that before. If true we shouldn't flip on the actinic's first thing in mornings then this whole discussion on dusk/dawn is moot for most of us anyway. Espically MH users.

 

Thank,

 

Brad

[MKramer]

You can verify the actinic thing in most any physics book that goes into optics, or most any earth sciences book.

 

At a low angle-of-entry, only low-spectrum colors of sunlight reach the earth's surface. Hence pink/orange sunrises and sunsets.

 

Or think about it this way.... during what hours of the day are you likely to get sunburn? Only the peak hours, right? That's because UVA light is extremely high wavelength (moreso than the blue actinic we use in aquariums), and is considerably filtered during other hours.

 

I imagine you've seen prizms before. They illustrate the low-angle-of-entry quite well. I sketched a quick pic to try to illustrate what's happening.

 

You're right, it does make the usage of actinics for dusk and dawn moot, at least from a "as in nature" point of view. But doing it this way does have advantages for the viewer. For one, you actually ahve two hours a daywhere you can see your corals fluoresce under actinics. I have 50/50 bulbs over one of my tanks, and have never gotten to see how my candy canes and zooanthids shine under actinic light. It's a bit of a bummer.