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counting watts (1 Viewer)

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Guest

I just read the following

With PC, the actinic wattage does not "count" towards the per gallon number as the actinic spectrum is not very useful for an anemone. Go with 10,000K for all but one bulb and then go with a 50/50 for appearance
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Is this true? Is it the same for coral, I was sure I had just read last night that it is the 420nm+ waves that were the most used for photosynthsis and that the daylight(10k?) bulbs were just to make them look pretty to us? Just when you think you have something figured out they throw you a curve.
 
OP
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G

Guest

Well, wattage and spectrum are two different things. The ocean filters out almost all of the light spectrum. Blue penetrates the deepest, that is why logically one would think a 420 -450nm is important. However, corals don't grow as fast under a 20k MH as they do under a 6500K :? Watts is another issue. PAR which is a measurement of intensity is much more important than watts. The facts are that bulbs lose thier intensity over time, while the wattage remain fairly constant. That is why MH do so well. They have a large watt/PAR ratio and they hold thier intensity longer.
 
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