HD 65 Watt over a 2.5, waste of time?

[theclearblue]

I know absolutely nothing, so that's why this is in the beginners forum and not wasting space in lighting.

 

 

While I've been waiting for my 10 gallon to cycle I've been shopping around for lighting. I went out and bought the Fluorex 65 watt powercompact fixture at Home Depot for 30 bucks to take a look at it. Here are the specs:

65W Compact Fluorescent

6500 K

CRI 84

 

It mounts perfectly on top of my 2.5 gallon tank. It works out to be 26 watts per gallon (I know, I know... that really doesn't mean anything if its not the right type of light). So my question is, would I be able to keep some corals under this? Would it need to retrofit a Acitinic bulb into it to keep anything? If I can keep corals, what types would be in the ballpark for this lighting?

 

Thanks

[nanocat]

You won't need actinic for the corals, they're mostly for the aquarist...the 64w 65k is a pretty yellow light. It works well over refugiums and I read posts from several people who use it over growout prop tanks. I'm assuming it's the same as the Lights of America? I used one on a 10g. for a few weeks, and it gets fairly warm if it's right on the tank. Softies, zooz, shrooms, LPS should be OK.

[theclearblue]

Thanks for the response. Yes it' the same as the Lights of America. It fits perfectly over the 2.5, doesn't go any lower than a glass lid resting on the top would, as well as .5 inches of clearance on the sides.

 

I also have a few too many pieces of small LR in my 10 gallon that's cycling right now, so this'll be great.

[tinyreef]

Originally posted by nanocat

You won't need actinic for the corals, they're mostly for the aquarist...

the actinic supplies the violet/blue-420~460nm range and chlorophyll A & C are activated in that range of light spectrum as well as in the red-650nm spectrum (chlorophyll a-only).

 

the actinic does highlight the fluorescing effect often seen and that is more for the aquarist imo.

[nanocat]

Tiny is correct, but truth is there are alot of low light corals that will do fine under 65K spectrum. Maybe not optimum, but I don't think he plans to use it indefinitely?

 

You may need to drill a few holes in the side of the fixture. The ballast is in there and there have been posts of early failure due to heat build up. Keep an eye on your tank temp. My LOA was sitting on the glass lid, and it gets warm.