Kind of confused
- Thread starter killafins
- Start date
justinx
Active Member
The watts per gallon rule is widely debated . . . and a lot of people including myself think that it is pretty much BS. Heres why:
light diffuses very quickly as it travels through water, and gets "weaker" the deeper the tank gets. So in comparioson, the water at the surface is FAR more brightly lit than the water at the bottom of the tank, right?
So throw into the mix the width as well. Light is not only diffusing downward, but out as well, adding to the "weakening" of the light.
In summary, the watt per gallon rule, while nice in theory is far from ideal as the amount of light is far from consistent within a reef tank.
Now, back to your original question, you could use a regular lightbulb over your tank, but you would have some serious problems with algae in your tank because the Kelvin rating of standard lighting is far less than that which is commonly used over a reef tank. Now if you can find a regular bulb that has a kelvin rating that is above 6500K, it just might work out.
HTH
Justin
light diffuses very quickly as it travels through water, and gets "weaker" the deeper the tank gets. So in comparioson, the water at the surface is FAR more brightly lit than the water at the bottom of the tank, right?
So throw into the mix the width as well. Light is not only diffusing downward, but out as well, adding to the "weakening" of the light.
In summary, the watt per gallon rule, while nice in theory is far from ideal as the amount of light is far from consistent within a reef tank.
Now, back to your original question, you could use a regular lightbulb over your tank, but you would have some serious problems with algae in your tank because the Kelvin rating of standard lighting is far less than that which is commonly used over a reef tank. Now if you can find a regular bulb that has a kelvin rating that is above 6500K, it just might work out.
HTH
Justin