actinic a must?

hey guys!
noob ques guys
is actinic lighting neccessity to grow a reef tank???
i have a 55 gallon with 4xt5 54watts all 14000k white
is this alright??
what are the actinic's role in corals?? because my LFS said its just for the look... is it true??
thanks guys!

 

I dont agree its just for the look fays88 - light at the blue end of the spectrum which Actinic is, penetrates deeper into water than light at the red end of the spectrum

thus for some deeper dwelling corals, blue light is the light that they are most accustomed to utilising

14k is a good choice as it does have a little blue light in it, but if it where me, I would have 3 x 14k and 1 x actinic or I may even go 2 x 14k and 2 actinic

if you have corals that would glow under actinic lighting like GSPs, some shrooms, some SPS etc then you are also depriving yourself of a real nice last hour of the day view under just actinics.

but having said all that, it depends what you are keeping to a degree.

Steve

 

You do not have to have actinics. I have a Sunpod with no actinics. I use Phoenix 14,000K bulbs. If my tank was wider i would use them. They give a nice Dawn/Dusk/Night Mode lighting for the tank. My MH come off then the Lunar lights come on until MH comes on again the next day.

 

Actinic is different than blue. The 'actinic' most of us are familiar with is a 'blue' lamp. Actinic is a violet lamp. There is few true actinics out there.
They put out little PAR but are good at brining out the green in corals or what some just call the 'pop' in corals.
Actinic is not necessity, blue some could argue is but not 'actinic'.
Yes while most corals are accustomed to a 'blue' light anything over 6500 will grow coral.
Actually 6000k lamps typically have the most PAR of all lamps out there. Many large scale frag farms use 6000k MH lamps to grow the frags quick then let them 'color' up under bluer lights before sale.
4 14000k lamps is just fine, there is alittle blue in there but plenty of PAR... the corals will love it, if you don't like it then add a blue lamp or two to offset it.

Good luck!

 

thanks guys!
im currently keeping several LPS and few softies...
i mean theyre all doing good... i just thought i can make them even healthier..
maybe ill try 3xwhite 1xactinic

 

I've seen plenty of tanks without them... though they look drab to me.

But, other than 'for the looks', is there any reason to have a coral reef for the look is a good enough reason for me to have them. ;D