GreenMan13

So I have a few fresh water tanks currently but I want to do a reef tank come the middle to end of the year. I plan on doing a tank size of about 55 gallons or so. My question is on lighting.

It seems that most people would suggest about a 250 watt MH for a 55 gal. tank right? And it seems that luminous flux is more of what matters then watts since how much light the bulb gives off rather then the energy the bulb uses.

So I looked into how much lumens a 250 watt MH bulb gives off. I looked up the values for Ushio 250 watt and found that it gives off 11000 lumens.

So I went on a search to find out how many CFLs it would take to get 11000 lumens. The CFLs I'm talking about are not the long tubed ones but the short screw into a normal socket one. I came up with GE 26 watt Daylight CFLs. They give off a mean lumens of 1325 lumens. With 8, this would give a total of 10600 lumens.

The other thing I have seemed to notice is most people go with 10000K color temperature which the MH have. The next most common according to the poll on this site is 6500K. This is the color temperature of the GE Daylight bulbs.

IMO Pros: 8 26 watt bulbs will use only 208 watts compared to 250 watts
Will not need a ballast which will make it cheaper.
Bulbs said to last just as long as each other.
Bulbs will only cost $40 instead of $60+
Can turn off portions of total light to simulate sunrise and sunset?

Cons: 6500K will be a little less blue then 10000K
Others

In adition to the CFLs I would plan to use some actinic lighting also. What I want to know is what kinda problems might I have with this type of lighting?

agsansoo

OK where do I start ! First PC (power compact) fluorescent lighting is good for fish only but not good for corals. It has half the PAR as T5 fluorescent lighting. PAR (photosynthetically available radiation) and lumens are the important factor in a reef tank. Not to sure about hooking up 8 regular bulb over a tank, the light spread would be very bad IMO. As for color temp, 10K is yellow and 20K is to blue. That's why 14K bulbs are very popular around here. 6500 is very yellow ! Also back to watts/lumens/PAR. Most lights are designated to have a wattage rating, but this doesn't really mean much. Watts is only a measure of the energy put into the bulb/tube, not a measure of what comes out.

I really need to add a sticky on lighting ...! Here soon.

GreenMan13

SO...I'm guessing you did not read my whole thread...let me do some copy and paste.

Thanks for restating that.

So now you know that I just showed that the lumen output (not the energy use) of the CFLs (I don't like using PC cause PC lights make me think of the shorter but still lengthy tubes.) will equate a MH.

As for color...
That is part of the reason I am adding the actinic lights also to add a bit more blue. It also depends on the brand of bulbs too. I have seen a 12K look a lot more blue then a 14K. If the bulbs actually put out what color they stated, I believe about 5500K would be considered "white."

Why?

GreenMan13

Sorry if I was a little harsh. I just get a little peeved when people clearly don't read what was stated.

agsansoo

I did read the thread ... It's seems someone is always trying to cut corners on lighting.
I think if this was such a great idea, they would be selling fixtures with 10-20 screw in bulbs. I'm not an electrician ... If you want to try it. Go for it !

Rbacchiega

They make alot of hoods that have 3 separate switches and here's how I run mine:
First I turn on the 65 watt blueish lights, and leave just them on for about 45 minutes, then I'll turn on the metal halides, leaving them on for about 14 hours. Then off go the MHs. back on witht he blues for another 45 minutes and then I have the moon lights on at night....It seems to provide a good day/night cycle, while still allowing for a sunrise/sunset simulation as well.

It's interesting what you've brought up though, and it'd be just as interesting to see if it works. Best of luck, keep us updated