pc spiral flouresent 100 watt?

[randolph]

i have seen in the stores these 100 watt spiral flouresent blubs, for 2 of them they are 15 or 20 bucks. does anyone know the spectrum of light on these, or has anyone tried them. can anyone tell me why i should not try them, does anyone know what i am talking about. would be way to easy to add 200 watts to my reef tank, and when something is that easy i'm sure it is a no-no, but i would like some feed back on this. just wondering, no work and to much spare time
thanks
guess i could use this time to do some water changing

 

[hairtrigger]

I am not too sure, but I believe the kelvin rating may not be appropriate for reefs. I think it will only grow algae. And, the spectrum could possibly make the tank yellow instead of white. I believe not too long ago someone posted that you could use house lighting on a reef. Needless to say the mods and sharks ripped into that one. So, I am pretty sure it is safe to say they won't work. Sorry man. Good luck.

 

[fishkiller]

Those bulbs lie. They are not a REAL 100 watts, I think they are only 25 - 65 watts if that. And they are warm whites meaning it contains more of the red spectrum, and I also agree with Hairtrigger, the Kelvin rating is not right for your tank. Seriously, the only way to go is to spend the money for the right right equipment. Only complete IDIOTS would use regular home lighting for the SW tank. It may fly with FW but if you are going to do that, you should just use NO fluoresents. Otherwise, you will grow a lot of algae. Hey, I commend you, at least you asked instead of telling everybody that you had a great idea and that house lights do the trick. Yes, they are pc's but they are not much better than incandescents. Don't even entertain the thought of using those lights- that's just ghetto.