will this support coral?

[shab]

Would two of these Coralife 20w 50/50 bulbs for my 10gal be enough to support coral? Tank dimensions are 20" (L) x 11 (H) x 9.5" (W). Corals I would like to keep are a frogspawn or torch, zoanthids, and assorted mushrooms.
Thanks!

 

[joy13]

It MIGHT let you have mushrooms but I really doubt it. A friend tried to use it for a tank but found out even the mushrooms didn't do very well. He now has a 70watt MH he kept upgrading it would have been cheaper if he would have gotten that light to begin with.

 

[iDream]

Yeah, trying to do it the cheap way just doesn't work. I say if you splurge on anything in your SW reef, let it be the lights. It's a priceless purchase IMO

 

[Flake]

+1 Cheap methods in this hobby don't always end well.

I ran one of these on a 10 with AMAZING success. Aquarium Lighting: Coralife Aqualight Quad Tube Compact Fluorescent Strip Lights

I skimped on lighting on a 210 and will continually regret it, I lost one of my favorite corals that way. My 90 had its lights planned first.

 

[shab]

Hmm well I was hoping I could find some suitable screw-in bulbs so I don't have to replace the hood that I already have. Is this possible? How about a couple of 26w 6500K cfl's from a hardware store? If not, does anyone have any other suggestions of similar bulbs? I probably sound like such a cheapo but I like the hood I have now! lol

 

[shab]

Just how many watts/kelvins do I need for a 10gal? Are those the only factors?

 

[iDream]

Not at all, kelvins is a factor though. 6500K is too low on the spectrum for reefs, those would be usable in a planted tank though.

W/G isn't a very good measure of how much light/what kind of corals you can keep, it's measured by PAR which isn't a very easy-to-obtain measurement. Just look at LEDs, very low wattage but when used correctly (And the right type of LEDs) they can be as strong or stronger than any T5HO or MH fixture.

What you're looking for is Kelvin ratings in the 100000K-200000K range for reefs, but being able to keep your hood probably won't be an option. I assume you have one of those generic hoods with 2 screw-in sockets?

Something like this one or this one would be perfect for you

 

[shab]

Not at all, kelvins is a factor though. 6500K is too low on the spectrum for reefs, those would be usable in a planted tank though.

W/G isn't a very good measure of how much light/what kind of corals you can keep, it's measured by PAR which isn't a very easy-to-obtain measurement. Just look at LEDs, very low wattage but when used correctly (And the right type of LEDs) they can be as strong or stronger than any T5HO or MH fixture.

What you're looking for is Kelvin ratings in the 100000K-200000K range for reefs, but being able to keep your hood probably won't be an option. I assume you have one of those generic hoods with 2 screw-in sockets?

Something like this one or this one would be perfect for you

Wow very informative answer, thank you! Ok I guess I'll just have to replace the hood then haha. I was looking for an easy/cheaper route but the fixtures you showed me actually aren't as expensive as I thought they'd be, and look simple enough. Thank you again

 

[iDream]

For most it's a lot pricier, but certainly worth it. You could possibly keep low-light SPS with this.

Unless you have some guaranteed jumpers just go open top, set the fixture on top and you're done!

And trust me, Jen (My GF) has the 18" version of the Nova Extreme, and all we had to do was place the bulbs in and put the legs then splash guard on and we were good to go! I'm jealous of her tank so much now since she has T5HOs

 

[joy13]

Open tanks are usually more stable but if you do have jumpers make sure to cover your tank. There are in expensive ways of doing it like getting plexi cut to fit the only thing you will have to flip it every day to keep it from bending to much. My friend got the fishneedit 70watt MH and for Christmas I got him a ushio bulb and it does an excellent job the only thing is the expense of the bulbs. Keep that in mind when you decide which light to get.

 

[shab]

I'm not going to have any jumpers so I'll go for the open top That way I won't have to worry about annoying salt creep so much either

 

[shab]

For most it's a lot pricier, but certainly worth it. You could possibly keep low-light SPS with this.

wait so does that mean fixtures in the links you posted wouldn't support a frogspawn or a torch?

 

[iDream]

They definitely will, those are LPS which are lower light than SPS. SPS are the highest light corals (usually) you can keep.

So you can keep the frogspawn and torch and even more! Definitely don't keep those two anywhere near each other though, that'll be some coral warfare right there

 

[shab]

OHHH ok great, thanks

 

[nhart608]

Just to let you know. While I have just started my first SW aquarium as of 3/10/11, I have the same kind of hood you do with two screw in incandescent light bulbs and modified it using two coralife 20w 50/50 bulbs as you asked about. I now have 2 small zoanthid frags on the bottom of the tank (6 and 7 polyps respectively) that have been resident for 3 weeks, and as of last week added an acan (LPS) and all are flourishing! Growing new polyps, the acan is eating (feed it mysis every other night). So just wanted you to know that this light is bright enough. Much brighter than the standard lighting I've seen in the 14 and 29 gal biocubes in the LFS. I'm doing it to save money until I can maybe modify the lighting to a slightly brighter setup later. But I'm here to tell you, after painting the interior of the hood white, and silicone sealing a piece of lexicon over the bulbs to seal out moisture, the light is quite bright and so far am extremely pleased with the result.

 

[shab]

wow thanks! great to know!
BUT I've actually decided not to do the 10, and instead convert my 29gal fowlr to a reef, in which case these bulbs are definately out of the question lol. I am now saving up for a current usa 36" t5 fixture.
thanks anyway though