mrlbem

I had a Wavepoint lighting fixture with 4 39W 6500 bulbs. It recently gave up the ghost and I picked up a Deep Blue fixture that has two 39W 10,000 bulbs and two actinic bulbs. My question is--am I better off swapping out the two actinic bulbs for two of the 6500 bulbs from my old fixture or run the new fixture as I purchased it. It's a 64 gallon tank with some crypts, swords and anubas and yes, I use CO2 and substrate fertilizer. Lot's of fish, too.

JeffyFunk

Unlike saltwater aquariums, actinic bulbs are not necessary; Although plants need light in the Blue spectrum, they do not need UV radiation like corals. As such, most people who have planted aquariums do not use actinic lights because they do not make the aquarium *look* attractive.

Many people use ~6700K bulbs because they make the plants *look* attractive. There are also bulbs in that kelvin rating that are, in fact, designed to promote plant growth by selecting phosphors that emit in the red and blue spectrum, areas of light that plants utilize.

Ultimately, it comes down to choosing lighting that makes the aquarium look attractive to you. (Personally, I like a combination of 6700K and 10000K bulbs - the 6700K bulbs make the plants look great and the 10000K bulbs make the aquarium look bright to me to me; 6700K bulbs by themselves are look too pink and look too dim for my tastes while 10000K bulbs look a little too blue to me - together, however, they look nice to me.)