10,000K Screw CFL?

[zdes]

Check this out:
Coralife 50/50 Mini Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

In a 10 gallon nano reef, would 2 of these in an incandescent ballast rated for 25w bulbs work? They fit sizewise but I'm not sure of PAR. I will be using foil as reflectors behind the bulbs in the fixture. Each is 20w which would be 4w per gallon. If this would work, what kind of coral would you recommend for a 10g nano?

It seems like an extremely cost-effective method for coral lighting, which, in my experience, tells me it won't work, but the numbers indicate otherwise...

 

[Ted]

There is a entire series on making a inexpensive 10 gallon "nano lagoon" here is the light they use [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovwew1xZuHs[/ame]

 

[zdes]

Thanks a bunch for that! I never thought about painting the hood white, but that's the type of hood I was talking about. $23 at Petsmart with the 10 gal and hood together. Now I noticed that the bulb goes past the reflector / heat sink which is why I was going to put some aluminum foil on it to extend the sink / reflector - do you think that's a good idea or no? Instead of the plexiglass I was just going to do a glass versa flip top (which would cover just the part that the plexiglass did). Do you foresee any problems with using glass instead of plexiglass?

 

[Ted]

No if you have glass it should be fine. They kinda seal the thing up in the second video for the light. Just keep a eye out for salt creep getting into it. Should be fine. I watched the entire series a few years ago when we did a 10 gallon contest even modified the hood but then changed the light on my bigger tank. Took that tank from fowlr to reef and had the perfect sized pc light for a small reef tank. I have often though of doing a build just like the video series just to see how it turns out.

 

[zdes]

I got up to episode 15 and took a break... I'm taking everything he says with a grain of salt ever since he started using that really cheap filter and said that tap water (not dechlorinated, mind you) would work just fine since RODI isn't needed. His setup is really cool with the smaller amount of live rock near the middle to make it easier for cleaning, too.

I'll wait to see the rest of the series and see if it looks better than your tank :P

 

[Ted]

There are many ways to do a salt tank. In my experience its all a matter of how much time/effort you want to put into the tank. For some people using tap water works for others it doesnt. I wont use tap water ever again for me it was a night mare. Up until my latest tank my 10 gallon was the by far the most successful. Until it boiled that is. My corner fowlr tank was nice but was pretty much always a fowlr so I dont really compare it to the reef tanks. That only took me 15 years to figure out. When I started it the first time it was all undergravel filtration and crushed coral. Back in 92 that was state of the art. Protein skimmer was a intank air driven piece of :pooh:. The light was something I made in the garage. Was not uncommon to have total tank crashes every two to three years.

For the most part for the limited bio load what he shows it will work. I would still say no to tap water though. Tap water here is garbage. What I do is look at everything, take what I think will work based on my experience and what I see on here and make a go of it. Btw I have reefing books from the 90's that talk about bio balls being the greatest thing ever and canister filters as the best filtration you can do if you run if reverse through a undergravel filter...now days the reef police would hang you from a tree for doing that...but hey the LFS would love you because you would need a complete re build every two to three years...

Anyway, short of the tap water issue the light would work for low light corals. Shrooms, zoahs, polyps, basically soft stuff and could be a really nice looking fairly inexpensive tank. To be honest I cant even fault the cheap filter. It will do the basic function of providing flow and giving you a place to run carbon. Just toss the bio mat stuff. Your bio is in the rocks anyway.

 

[zdes]

Yeah that cheap filter is exactly what you pay for. Wet tested it for a day and it was the noisiest filter I've ever had. Definitely going AC 50 or 70 fuge since I only have a Koralia 240 powerhead and need the extra flow... I've always had really good luck with AC.

A word to the wise - if you haven't done any spraypainting in the past, follow the can's instructions and make sure you have ventilation! As a male, you have to set aside the urge to not follow any instructions. I felt fine but my fiancee had horrible headaches. The fumes clear after 2 days, though. Maybe being a smoker and having your lungs coated with tar helps nullify the fumes... Who knows.

The coralife 50/50 20w mini PC's fit perfectly in the hood. I will post a build thread once I get everything going.