Compact Fluorescents...

[nosoup4you]

Okay this is going to sound like a crazy question but here it goes...

I recently acquired a small tank with an incandescent hood and I was wondering if I changed out the inc. bulbs and replaced with compact fluorescent bulbs (the little coiled kind) if I would have enough light for maybe a few lower light plants. Would this work or should I just quit being cheap and shell out for a better hood?

[Edit] I forgot to mention that each of these bulbs are 13W, so there would be a total of 26 Watts in a little ten gallon tank.

 

[nosoup4you]

My post seems to have gotten several views, won't someone at least tell me it's a stupid question? LOL

 

[Mr Bliss]

I think the short answer is Yes.

But I have no idea how to estimate the effective wpg using compact fluorescents, or whether wpg is even relevant in this day and age. As I understand it they're basically T5 bulbs... but compact.

edit: my intuition would be that 26W of compact fluorescents on a 10 gallon would actually be a pretty decent light level.

 

[nosoup4you]

Well, they are installed...no going back now. LOL If nothing else, I suppose it will be an interesting experiment.

 

[aaronnorth]

just to answer your 2nd reply, it could be guest, or search engines (like google bot etc) that cant actually post.

 

[nosoup4you]

Can you blind a fish? LOL These lights are really bright...perhaps when I put my new piece of driftwood in the tannins in the water will block some of the light.

 

[aaronnorth]

maybe, but not with your light, i have 36w of PC T5 on my 13g and i know people who run 48 watts on the same size tank as mine.

 

[SuperColey1]

Are we not in a planted tank forum? Therefore there should be some cover within plants if a fish doesn't like light. You will find in the main that most fish that don't like light are nocturnal anyway. Fish that are not nocturnal will find the darker areas.

There are planted tanks with upward of 6WPG (for some strange reason) and they are using PCT5 or MH. They still have fish in them.

AC

 

[nosoup4you]

The tank is not planted yet nor are there any fish in it. I just installed the lights and turned them on and was shocked by their output. I'm sure that once the tank is well planted, that it won't seem nearly as bright.

 

[aaronnorth]

There are planted tanks with upward of 6WPG (for some strange reason) and they are using PCT5 or MH. They still have fish in them

it could be a small 3g nano

 

[SuperColey1]

Lol. You know what I mean.

AC