I like the actinic because even in a freshwater tank it makes my cichlids
look REALLY bright...almost as if their dorsal fins are florescing sometimes


"Velvet" wrote in message
...

"Christopher" wrote in message
rthlink.net...
it gives the tank a more pleasing look, 40 of my 120W are actinic, even
with
all powerglo's the tank looks yellow, now its very pleasing, I also have
the
actinics and not the powerglo's turn on in the morning and evening for
sunrise/sunset

"LeighMo" wrote in message
...
Why do you want actinic lights? They are meant for reef tanks, and
aren't
generally recommended for freshwater plants. Some people even think
they
cause
algae.

You'd probably be better off posting this question to to a marine or
reef
newsgroup. They're the ones who have experience with actinics.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/



I have an actinic on my freshwater tank, and it offsets the warmth of the
other two tubes. Introduces some nice blues into the mix. I don't have
an
algae problem now the tank has settled down - the plants have found a
happier growth rate, I add co2 but not on a daily basis, and fertilize
every
few weeks with a slow-release liquid. Plants are in gravel, no fancy
substrate. Heavily stocked with fish, and a decent external cannister
filter.

Initially I saw problems with BGA, some green hair algae, and a crop of
black brush stuff. After a few months, I stopped getting the BGA (lights
off for a couple of days every weekend used to keep it in check), the hair
algae went of it's own accord, and the black brush stuff has all but
vanished now too.

I do very infrequent water changes (in fact, I think the last one was over
2
months ago, possibly longer) - all the fish are healthy, happy, no
diseases
in the time the tank's been set up (6 months to a yearish? can't remember
exactly).

So, I'm guessing the plants in there have enough light, but the algae
doesn't get enough to grow - regardless of the actinic in there - and that
the algae in there was either caused by excessive light initially (the
tubes
are well due for replacement by now, I'm sure) or by the tank settling
down
over several months, and/or the plant food I was using at the time.
Running
it more as a self-contained ecosystem, bar the filtration, definately
seems
to be working better at the moment - and I don't plan on another water
change for at least another couple of months.

The lights are all on at the same time, and off at the same time, so the
actinic is never there on it's own.

Velvet