Light question for 10 gallon nano build

[03civicdx]

I have seen where people are successfully running a nano reef with 2 20w Aqueon Coralife Mini Compact Fluorescent 50/50 Colormax Lamp. My question is will 2 10w work for just some soft corals? The reason I as is petsmart sells the 10w but not the 20w. Seems the only place I can find the 20w is online.

[03civicdx]

Anyone?

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[XanAvaloni]

03civ, your question is kinda vague. "Nano reef" can mean anything from a walmart special Tetra 5g to a 29 or even 40g, depending on the reader's views of necessary size for a reef tank. And from l looking around I don't find a Coralife fixture that uses these bulbs, just listings for the bulbs themselves. (I guess you are supposed to screw them into a regular screw-in sized base of whatever sort.)

if you could tell us the size and dimensions (primarily depth) that you are looking to illuminate with these bulbs, and how many you plan to use, perhaps we could be of more assistance. "we" in this case meaning people who have actually run reef tanks, not me who is just setting up my first one.

[XanAvaloni]

er, ok, I just reread the title of the post . sorry, iz late and was not looking closely. 10g it is. /blush

at any rate apparently what counts is "PAR value" rather than sheer wattage. It takes some sort of expensive instrument to measure this (I forget what the "par" stands for but in essence it's how much of the light that starts out at the bulb makes it all the way to the botom of the tank) so I don't know the answer to your question. Hopefully one of the Marine mods or experienced folk will have the information you need.

[03civicdx]

er, ok, I just reread the title of the post . sorry, iz late and was not looking closely. 10g it is. /blush

at any rate apparently what counts is "PAR value" rather than sheer wattage. It takes some sort of expensive instrument to measure this (I forget what the "par" stands for but in essence it's how much of the light that starts out at the bulb makes it all the way to the botom of the tank) so I don't know the answer to your question. Hopefully one of the Marine mods or experienced folk will have the information you need.

Lol I was reading your first post and had to double check to make sure the title was right. No biggie.

Yes the par is what matters more that Watts that why I asked if anyone may know. Basically what I did was got the 10 gallon starter kit from Walmart for 30 bucks. Paint the bottom of the good white the you screw the bulbs in and seal a piece of clear plastic to the bottom to keep all the salt water from getting in there. Seen many people doing this but using the 20w bulbs. But I can only buy those online. Would like to do the 10w in case one goes out I can just run to the store and get one.

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[greech]

PAR stands for photosynthetic active radiation which is essentially a measurement of the amount of light produced that can be used for photosynthesis (400-700nm range). To answer your question, you should be able to keep some softies alive with those bulbs but you may not see the growth and color that you want. The 20Ws would certainly be better seeing as you don't even have a true reflector. If you go with the 10Ws, just by a $5 mushroom or two to try out and if they do ok, maybe consider some zoas.

[03civicdx]

PAR stands for photosynthetic active radiation which is essentially a measurement of the amount of light produced that can be used for photosynthesis (400-700nm range). To answer your question, you should be able to keep some softies alive with those bulbs but you may not see the growth and color that you want. The 20Ws would certainly be better seeing as you don't even have a true reflector. If you go with the 10Ws, just by a $5 mushroom or two to try out and if they do ok, maybe consider some zoas.

Thanks, I think I'm just gonna buy 4 20w online so I will have 2 spare at any given time.