Stupid discovery

I just made a powerfull and humbling discovery yesterday.

When I first was looking at my current Coralife (Lunarlight Delux) lighting system in the store, I found it so cool that it was fan cooled and that the fan only came on when both lights were on. But after purchasing the lamp and having them replace the blue with a 6700k, I noticed that the fan ran anytime the light was on, not just when both bulbs were running.

Well, yesterday I happened to be home when the lights kicked on and I heard a wierd noise comming from the fan and decided to investigate. It ended up that the fan was only dirty, but while playing with it, I made a discovery.

First, I'm sure everyone knows that this lighting system is really designed for salt water but I wanted the LEDs and the lfs was willing to put whatever bulbs I wanted in it. As far as I know, in a salt tank, the actinic lighting would come on first or would always run with the 10000k. Would there ever be a time when the 10000k ran without the blue? Is the actinic not the first on and last off?

Now imagine that I wanted to keep the 10000k bulb (24" tank) but wanted the blue replaced with 6700k. That puts the 6700 in the blue's slot. In simulating true daylight, I had the 10000 come on first and the 6700 come on midday which actually reverses the order that Coralife originaly intended. Come to find out, the fan is only attached to the 10000k's switch when both bulbs should be running. By simply reversing the placement of the bulbs and timers, the fan will only come on when BOTH bulbs are running as was intended.

I know, stupid discovery. But others might not have noticed yet.

Summery: If using a Coralife cf lighting system with muliple bulbs, ensure that the midday bulb goes in the slot that the original 10000k was in. It will save a small amount of electric, but more importantly, it will save wear and tear on the fan!

Raven