True actinic or actinic 03 ???

[Whoyah]

Can someone clarify the difference between true actinic and actinic 03. I am buying new bulbs soon and would like to make sure I get the one I want. I know some actinics are more purple than blue. Is this difference?

[Reptoreef]

IMO, pretty much... the 03 are far more purple and seem to pick up more of the fluoresence. I'm going woth act 03 on my next change for my pc's.

[Whoyah]

Excellent. I like the 03 as well. Thanks

[Reptoreef]

Here's some more info from hellolighting.com...
Q. What's the difference between a "Blue 7,100K" and "Actinic 03" bulb?
A. Excellent question! OK, a little background: The original "Actinic 03" bulb was made by Philips. They were not made for aquarium use, but were adopted once news spread about the beneficial aspects of using this bulb over reef tanks. Nowadays, "Actinic 03" has become the marketing term used to identify "blue" looking bulbs. Many bulbs are passed off as "actinic", when they are just a blue bulb.
So, to answer the question, Blue 7,100K bulbs are visually brighter than HelloLights Actinic bulbs. Blue bulbs will NOT fluoresce your animals as well as our Actinic bulbs. Many others sell "actinic", but they are really selling blue bulbs. The phosphors coating the interior of our Actinic bulbs are specially formulated to produce a narrow spike of concentrated violet/blue light. This is why they appear to be more faint than blue bulbs. If you have tons-o-corals, then we suggest going with Actinic 03. Remember, a visual measurement of a lights utility is a poor one.

Hope this all helps...Repto

[Whoyah]

Thanks for the info.