Attinics

[donduncan]

Do I need Attinics with 2 250w mh lights on a 135

[Texreefer]

what color temp are your lights?
what are you keeping in your tank?
a lot depends on those two questions,, there is also a matter of preference, I like a crisp white with a little blue. some like a lot of blue,, some like no blue... more actinic generally means more color.. closer to 6500k will get you a bit more growth than color,, you have to find the balance you like

[donduncan]

What do you mean by color temp are my lights? I was not aware that there were color temps for MH. Right now there is not much in the tank. Just some polyps and Ric. I have some fish and want to keep an anemome. I want to keep some SPS, but not to much, I will keep mainly soft corals. What would you recommend?

[hobogato]

the bulbs will tell you the color temp - 6500k, 10000k, 12000k, 14000k, 15000k, 20000k would be in order from yellow-white-blue.

[wwarriner]

Is there such a thing as too much actinics?

[Texreefer]

no, but there is such a thing as not enough room!:wink_smile:

[sharkboy]

a lot of people generally use a lower kelvin metal halide for better growth and supplement with actinics in the bluer spectrum to find that balance that mike mentioned...

[prof]

No, you don't need actinics. You can add them if you want more blue color to your tank. You can also get more blue by changing your metal halide bulbs to a higher color temperature.