Question about lighting

[PuffieUno]

I have the eclipse 3 hood setup. It has a double light fixture and the lights are T8's. I am trying to get the reef look out of the lights without upgrading fron the T8 style bulb. I currently have one of the stock bulbs and an actinic bulb as well. But the tank still is that pretty color. Any suggestions. They are also 24 inch bulbs. Also i am not keeping coral the tank is setup for one green spotted puffer.

[sevenyearnight]

Change the other stock bulb out for a 10000K.

[nzac]

agree

[PuffieUno]

will that not overpower the actinic bulb.It is a coralife bulb 17 watt.

[nzac]

my guess is you have a lower k rating bulb along with the actinic giving it a rather yellow color? the higher the K rating the more blueish it tends to emit. Typically if you buy a saltwater light fixture it will come with 1-10,000k and 1-actinic bulb in it if it is a 2 bulb, or equal amounts of 10,000k and actinic if more bulbs.

Wattage on bulbs is determined by length of bulb as well as size so a 24" T8 will be the same wattage as any other 24" T8.

[PuffieUno]

Here is what it looks like now. Dont mind the mollies lol

[sevenyearnight]

Mollies are actually sensitive fish, it's not very awesome that you are cycling the tank with them present, or any fish. You just need to add ammonia to the tank to finish the cycle.
Also, puffers are very intelligent and get bored easily, without little creatures on the liverock to hunt that would be available in full marine, you may find that a GSP may pace incessantly in that size/shape of tank. Adding more decor/broken lines of sure could help with that.

[PuffieUno]

okay i will add more decor for him to roam around and explore. As for the mollies for some reason they are absolutley loving the tank. The sailfins love to chase their reflection in the back of the tank. I have never tried the fishless cycle technique i just think i would have confused myself..

[sevenyearnight]

It's really not very confusing, and these are things you really should know/learn about the hobby anyway.
As far as them loving the tank, that's great, but it doesn't change the fact that you are subjecting them to the nitrogen cycle unnecessarily. I hope that you have at least been adding Prime to the water every 24 hours to protect them from the toxins.
I promise that it's not that complicated, and it's more humane. You have already seeded your tank with bacteria, you could technically just add fish food as if there are fish in the tank until your bacteria has established itself enough.