PC lights, help explain

[stupid_naso]

I bought this light and what I understand is that it's 50/50 18 W and 10,000 K. Here's exactly what it says on the base of the bulbs, FPL-18W COMBO 10000K TRANSWORLD AQUA.
Now I talked to some people in the reef forum and they convinced me that this light is not sufficient for corals, for example bubble tip anemones, and hard corals. The people in the forum said that this light is still 18 W and still follows the same watt/gallon rule for lighting.
Today I called my lfs and asked them about this light. They said that what I have is PC, though I cannot seem to see anywhere in the box that says PC lighting. They said a watt in this lighting is three times of the watt in regular fluorescent light, which means that this light is equivalent to about 54 W of fluorescent.
I don't get it, who's right and who misunderstood? Help, I'm confused.
sebae_the_clown

 

[stupid_naso]

Any help? I've posted this post for almost a day now. Can anyone help? Please, I really need to know.
sebae_the_clown

 

[whipple]

If it says 18 watts its 18 watts, the LFS is probably wanting to sell you anemones and corals, does it look like a flo-bulb or 2 smaller tubes in a one-sided connection?

 

[fshhub]

pc's IMO are much brighter than flos, to tell if it is a pc, i believe, you can easily check the shape, flos are one single constant tube and every pc i have found is eithr u shaped or something, but is more like 2 or more tubes, all attatched to the same base
i think that as far as lighting, you really need ot look more at the intensity, more than the wattage, the intenstity can be measured in lux, not watts, unfortunately a lux meter is over 100$
i myself do not understand how this wats per gallon rule works, since many reefs do not go wiht the watts per gallon, and the actual corals rely more on the intensity and color, especially at depthes below 25 to 20 feet
maybe someone else can shed more light on the rules, but i believe personally it more relies on the kelvin and intensity
i do know that my 55 watt pc's are many times brighter than any 40 watt flows that i have ever seen, many times
HTH some

 

[justinl]

I agree. I think it has to do with luminescence. Generally when you think of watts you automatically assume that a 100 watt bulb will be brighter than a 25 watt bulb, which is the case most of the time.
From what I understand, pc's have a brighter luminescence then vho's so that rule of the higher watts=brighter light doesn't quite apply. For instance, I have 2 tanks, 1 37 with 225+40w of vho and 1 30 with 110w pc. The pc's are just as bright as the vho's I have.
I also have a 5 gallon nano with a 13 watt pc bulb. This seems to work fine for my yellow polyps, caulerpa, and everything else in the tank.
I do however think that for more light needy corals, 13 watts wouldn't do.
I think your lfs misspoke when they said that 18 watts of pc light is 3 times greater than a vho bulb. Perhaps they were referring to the actual light output or lumens.
Maybe I'm wrong, but that's just what I have gathered.

 

[dpittman]

The lux(?) is more important than amount of wattage but it is difficult to measure. A magazine I have shows a 2000 gallon reef tank with only 1600 watts that was bueatiful. It sounds like you have a standard 18 watt bulb not power compacts. What did you pay for it? PC is quite a bit more than normal bulbs but less than VHO or MH.
My new 240 FOWLR had 3 light fixtures with regular fluorescent bulbs. A total of 60 watts!!!! I didn't realize how bad it was until I added power compacts this evening. Went from 60 watts to about 250 and the difference is unreal.

 

[broomer5]

Good advise from all above. Baron VonKlyff has a good suggestion with the mini-mights.
Sebae ... I don't know what they sold you - tell ya the truth. From what I could find - it appears that these bulbs are manufactured overseas - Taiwan I believe - and are used in all types of lighting applications, from indoor household lighting to reading lamps, and such. I could not find any info regarding reef tank applications. I read English and a little Spanish and that's it. I certainly do not wish to discourage you - but if I were you I would go back to the LFS and get your money back - or a better explanation of what it is you have there.
Here's what I found - I can't add anything else other than what everyone else mentioned.
<a href="http://www.north.cz/NARVABEL/katalog2e.htm" target="_blank">http://www.north.cz/NARVABEL/katalog2e.htm</a>
<a href="http://www.sidekick.co.kr/h_etc_lamp_fpl18w.html" target="_blank">http://www.sidekick.co.kr/h_etc_lamp_fpl18w.html</a>
<a href="http://web.iol.cz/NARVABEL/cz/cenik-kompaktni_zarivky.htm" target="_blank">http://web.iol.cz/NARVABEL/cz/cenik-kompaktni_zarivky.htm</a>
<a href="http://www.bye21.co.kr/bye21/lamp-el13.htm" target="_blank">http://www.bye21.co.kr/bye21/lamp-el13.htm</a>

 

[stupid_naso]

Yes it is two bulbs attached to one base. So it is the "Mini-Might" yeah? Yes Baron Vonkylf(sp?)? 4 W per gal? Yes?
broomer5, the light was produced either in China or Taiwan. I recognize the writings on the box. However I'm sure that it is for aquarium use, because on the box there are pics of SWF, other sizes of lighting, and also on the base of the bulbs it says TRANSWORLD AQUA or something like that.
SO no one was wrong, it's just me not good at explaining. Horrayyyy!!! I feel so bad now, I thought my LFS was lying to me.
Thanks guys, thanks for the quick responses .
sebae_the_clown

 

[stupid_naso]

Eh? <img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" /> <img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" /> <img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" />
OK mine is not "mini-might" but it's still PC?
Baron VonKlyff, you said the "mini-might" has two 18 W bulbs which will provide the total of 36 W, but then there's this, "Mini-Mights are available in single and double 9 watt models." So does that mean that the two bulbs add up to 18 W which is the same with what I have?
I'm sorry for keep asking question, but I'm confused.
Thanks,
sebae_the_clown