My friend has a ten gallon reef tank. He has xenia, mushroom anenomes, feather dusters, and an oyster, but he has a basking light on it? He uses a Bi lite with two 20 watt compact bulbs. Is this ok for his fish and coral? Everything is living fine and thriving. It is a reptile light, with reptile bulbs. What should I tell him about that too?
Basking Light On REEF? What?
- Thread starter Mick411
- Start date
I think that the reptile bulbs put off quite a lot of heat and most likely will be a bulb with a kelvin of 3000 because they are quite yellow, really your friend should change lights to a clolour of 10 000k and about 150 watts PC will be fine for the corals he has, But if everything is living prehaps he should keep it as is.
I expect that the xenia will slowly shrink and die as they use up their nutrient stores, because they need significantly more light. Mushrooms seem pretty unselective about spectrum, and will be quite happy with that level of light. Reptile bulbs are designed to put out a lot of UV, and that may or may not be a problem. If all he wants to keep is mushrooms, then cheap plant buls will do the trick.
For the Xenia and other corals, he will need to upgrade to more intense light, such as PC, VHO or T5.
For the Xenia and other corals, he will need to upgrade to more intense light, such as PC, VHO or T5.
It's weird though, I went to his house today and saw his tank. His Xenia has grown a inch since the last time I saw it and the mushroom has gained an inch in diameter too. The only problem i noticed was redish brown slime on some of his live rock. Any explanation for that? He wants to know to know why exactly the lights are bad for the tank.
How long has the Xenia been in the tank? I have had anthelia, which has essentially the same lighting needs, grow well for a few months, then slowly shrink as it uses up its energy reserves. As noted above, I expect that mushrooms will be quite happy.
What is the brand of the bulb? I have hunted around for spectra of reptile bulbs, and found that most of the focus is on how much UV they put out. Otherwise, they are considered "full spectrum," which can mean 5000 K, 6500 K, or who knows what else. Because the photosynthetic zooxanthellae in corals don't tend to make use of UV, there's not much point in using a reptile bulb over a reef tank.
I can't think of any reason the lights would be particularly bad for the tank, I would just be surprised if they have enough intensity for anything more demanding than mushrooms.
What is the brand of the bulb? I have hunted around for spectra of reptile bulbs, and found that most of the focus is on how much UV they put out. Otherwise, they are considered "full spectrum," which can mean 5000 K, 6500 K, or who knows what else. Because the photosynthetic zooxanthellae in corals don't tend to make use of UV, there's not much point in using a reptile bulb over a reef tank.
I can't think of any reason the lights would be particularly bad for the tank, I would just be surprised if they have enough intensity for anything more demanding than mushrooms.