enough lighting?

thederek

thederek

Member
I have a 5 gallon tank and the only light that I could get to fit in the hood is a 10watt 50/50 mini compact flourescent light...It seems like it puts out a good amount of light but I want to make sure its enough before I put any corals in the tank..
 
ams153

ams153

Active Member
im pretty shure thats good fer shrooms and zoos and that sorta stuff but other stuff im not real shure
Andrew
 
thederek

thederek

Member
yea, thats the max lighting i can get on it without completely replacing the hood, which i would rather not do. What kind of corals will be happy with this kind of lighting?
 
I

ivanfj

Guest
I think you should be fine with most softies (green star polyps, mushrooms, zoos, finger leather etc etc), and maybe a few lower light LPS being put near the top.
 
C

crm13

Guest
If you're interested, I have the name of a site that is a bulb supplier that sells 13watt power compacts (looks just like the power compact bulbs for a work light, or drop light) that should fit into your hood with a little modification. With the retro mod, you can keep your hood and improve the lighting. You should be able to fit two of them (26 watts of pc lighting on a 5 gallon should be pretty good for most soft coral that you may want.) They have 13 watt bulbs from 5500K to 10000k color temps. Oh, and also actinic bulbs (they are true actinics.) They sell a kit that comes with the bulbs of your choice and the ballasts to run them. They have the measurements for the equipment, so you can do a little research to make sure that it will fit. Worst case, you can always mount the ballasts in an external housing and just run the output side of the wires up to your hood. From what I remember, the price is very reasonable. Email me if you're interested.
crm13@comcast.net
 
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