lighting question

[dumfatnhappy]

I have a 36" hood with compact fl's (96w). my question is; Does the blue bulb provide anything benificial to plant growth? I prefer the look without it. also, should I be turning off my CO2 when the lights are off? I was told that doing so would raise the pH.

any help would be appreciated.

[pcsb23]

I moved it here, should get some more response that way :)

Persoanlly if you are talking about actinic, they add very little to the needs of plants. Swap it out for one rated at 6500K or 10000K.

[GrillMaster]

I moved it here, should get some more response that way :)

Persoanlly if you are talking about actinic, they add very little to the needs of plants. Swap it out for one rated at 6500K or 10000K.

To add to Pauls comments...

As he was saying the actinic (blue bulbs) do absolutely nothing for plants! His 6500K an 10000K are great plant growing lights. I personally use 4 10000K lights.

As far as turning the C02 off at night. If the fish are not effected by it runnin 24/7, I wouldn't worry about it. If they are gasping after lights off, I would turn it off. Easy to do with a regulator solenoid an a cheap timer. You can also add an airstone at lights out on a timer.

It ultimately depends on how much c02 saturation you are putting in the tank throughout the day. The more the saturation, the more the fish will be gasping at night.

I had a high saturation in my tank throughout the day, an my existing fish didn't mind it at all. I put 6 Angels in the tank, an the next morning they were gasping. I turned down the c02 a bit, an they were still gasping the next morning, so I turned it down a lil more. They are all set now. I dont have the c02 concentration in the tank I want, but the fish are my priority at the moment.

If I dont have algae issues, my plants are ok, an the fish are happy... I am happy!!:D