Actinic/natural VS. 50/50 bulbs

[SoS]

I was shopping for lights and was wondering if anybody had any preference or arguments tor wards the use of:

 

all are 13W power compacts:

 

a actinic bulb and a natural light bulb

 

or

 

a the use of two 50/50 power compacts which are half actinic and half 10000k white.

 

I talked to a few people and they suggested the 1st option separate bulbs with timers. But I want that almost pure white that 10000k

 

any suggestions or theories

 

thinking of a third bulb that's a 50/50 to balance things

 

tank is a 10 gal nano-reef

 

any tips, suggestion or violent Japanese congress style arguments would be cool

 

Thanks:)

[Satchmo]

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "natural light bulb", but my personal preference is balanced lighting: 1/2 10000K, 1/2 actinic. I would do one bulb of each. Most 50/50 bulbs do not use true actinic, just a good fake, although I think true 03 actinic 50/50 bulbs are out there somewhere.

 

For a 10g, if you only get 2x13w lighting, you'll be limited to what you can keep. If you go with 2x36w, you can have just about anything without having to upgrade down the road.

[MKramer]

There's so little difeference between "true actinic" and other actinic bulbs, that it certainly isn't worth losing sleep over not having a true one.

 

The problem with going the route of both actinic and daylight 13W bulbs is that you'll have a hard time getting a 10000K 13W bulb. I finally gave up and went with the 6500K. They're alright, but I, too, really prefer the crisp whiteness of the 10000K.

 

I don't really have a problem with 50/50 bulbs, other than that in this particular tank, I wanted to see the inhabitants fluoresce under the actinic lights. Can't do that if all your actinic comes with white light.

 

I've heard people claim that the lifespan of the 50/50 bulbs are shorter, but the MTBF stated by most manufacturers doesn't seem to support this.