New bulb - Good or Bad choice

[newsalt]

I just changed the bulb on my 15g high hood. This hood (as well as the tank) is a carry over from my freshwater days. The hood had a 15W 18 inch single Aqua-Rays flouresent bulb. Walking through PetSmart, I saw an 18 inch 15W 50/50 flouresent bulb. 50% Natural Daylight 6000K and 50% Actinic Blue. I installed it, and I have to be honest, I like the way it looks. It doesn't have that bright white look that the original bulb had. It has a slight blueish and subdued look. Do you think this was a good idea? With this type of lighting, could I look into Zoanthids?

 

[ReefLady]

To be honest, I don't know a lot about this bulb. It does sound as thought the color spectrum is more eye pleasing than the other bulb.

Does this tank have the standard 15g high dimensions -- 20 1/4L x 10 1/2W x 18 3/4 tall?

IMO, to keep zo's, you're probably going to need at least 40-60w of light. NO (normal output flourescent) light is not really good at penetrating the water, so if you're going to attempt anything at all with this light (I'd strongly suggest starting with some mushrooms), you should probably place it as close to the surface as possible.

Also - make sure you get a good test kit for both calcium & alkalinity. Even with hardy soft corals, you want to insure good ca/alk levels.

HTH,

 

[newsalt]

Yes, those are the dimensions of the tank.

 

[johnlewis]

I agree with RL a better bet for a wider variety of hard or soft corals would be power compact lights. You want a spike around 420nm and the deeper the tank the more power you are going to need.