philt@ihlpa.UUCP (12/02/87)
I have a heard of a type of bulb called "atinnic" which is great for coral reef tanks. It produces the blue spectrum that you would get from sunlight filtering through the ocean. Is anyone familiar with this type of bulb? A pet dealer said they were hard to obtain and cost about $25 each. Would I need a special housing to run this type of bulb? Thanks Phil Tomaskovic ihlpa!philt
gringort@decwrl.UUCP (12/02/87)
In article <6385@ihlpa.ATT.COM> philt@ihlpa.ATT.COM (P. Tomaskovic) writes: >I have a heard of a type of bulb called "atinnic" which That would be the Actinic Blue bulb made by Philips. >is great for coral reef tanks. It produces the blue >spectrum that you would get from sunlight filtering through >the ocean. That's what I've heard also. >Is anyone familiar with this type of bulb? A pet dealer I use two of them in a hood with 4 other bulbs for my 100 gallon marine tank. I just finished this hood about 2 weeks ago. Aside from bringing out the blue in your blue fish, they are supposed to promote coral and invertabrate growth. My algae growth has sky-rocketed since I turned the system on. I'm still waiting for all my brown algae to be replaced by green. (the tank was underlighted for the several months it's been set up). They are supposed to be very powerful over a very narrow spectrum, which means they should be used in conjunction with other lighting. >said they were hard to obtain and cost about $25 each. I honestly forget what I paid for mine, as it was quite a while ago that I actually purchased them. They are widely available via mail order. Several advertisers in FAMA (Fresh And Marine Aquarium) magazine (available from most fish stores) advertise availabilty of these bulbs. One local fish vendor has them in stock. >Would I need a special housing to run this type of bulb? My two actinic blue bulbs are 24" and 40 watts a piece -- as such they are high output. I drive them with a standard dual 40 watt ballast, which is normally designed for 48 inch bulbs, but seems to work fine. Actinic blue's are available in most standard lengths and standard wattages as well as high output. Note that high-output bulbs won't work in standard housings unless you beef up the ballasts. -- -joel