light question?

[badwhiskey]

I have a standard 15 watt flourescent single strip light for a ten gallon ...can this be used for softies?

thanks

[holdorf333]

I have a standard 15 watt flourescent single strip light for a ten gallon ...can this be used for softies?

thanks

No.

[holdorf333]

Here are some budget suggestions:

Current Nova T5HO, $59

 

70W MH retro, $148 with 14,000 K lamp

Both will work just fine for softies and some LPS.

[mmelnick]

Nope, that would be a T8 bulb. They do fine for adding a small ammount of light so that you can see your goldfish. That's about all they're good for.

[badwhiskey]

thank u

[ajmckay]

I disagree.

 

But I think some distinction would help. A 10 gallon isn't that tall...

 

There are some soft corals which I think would probably fare okay under these lights. Leather corals, some mushrooms, and possibly some GSP for example. There are other soft corals though which you wouldn't want in such low light.

 

Other possibilities are non-photosynthetic corals such as sun corals, chili corals, etc... Those types of corals you must feed directly.

 

Now that being said this is just my opinion. While the corals can live under this light, they probably won't fare very well. Don't expect to see much growth or coloration either. Another thing to consider is the algae. A light like this is typically lower in the color spectrum. Many algae species do well under this type of lighting. So if you're on a budget, I would check out a simple T5HO fixture like the one posted above.

 

Good luck!