Lighting Question - 40W House Bulb

brandyrb · Mar 31, 2009

Someone asked me what corals they could keep under a 40W house bulb, my response was "none". Am I right in this or not? I've never heard of anyone trying to keep any coral under a house bulb. I guess that lighting is as cheap as you can get.

This question pertains to a green w/purple rim cap and green pocillapora. I know there are some lps corals that do not depend on light, but I'm not talking about those...

returnofsid · Mar 31, 2009

Hmm, it might be a good experiment. I would be concerned that that particular lighting would favor algae more than corals though, which could lead to the algae out-competing the corals. I've been reading Anthony Calfo's book, Coral Propagation. In it, he makes it very clear that he feels way too much emphasis is put on high intensity lighting.

Well, I just came up with something. Awhile back, I think a lot of you will remember, when we lost our beautiful "bi-colored" Pocillopora. When I fragged it up into survivable pieces, I tossed the dead skeleton in my sump/fuge. This is lit by a "household" 15 watt compact fluorescent "energy saving" bulb. A lotl of the tips of the skeleton have polyps growing on them. In fact, some of the "tips" have grown an inch or more, since I tossed the skeleton in there. Hmmmm. Maybe I oughta toss some other frags in there...lol. Keep in mind that the Pocillopora skeleton is also shaded by a ball of Chaeto.

estanoche · Mar 31, 2009

Haha FWIW I used to light my sump with a cheap desk lamp from walmart and a 40W bulb... Cheato did great - better than when I switched to a 24W PC fixture

My main concern would be corrosion around the base of the bulb, etc. Theyd want to be sure to get weatherproof light figures and keep close tabs on the wiring.

kgross · Mar 31, 2009

It will depend on how far away from the bulb it is, but many mushrooms and zoanthids will do fine under a 40 watt bulb. I have even seen quite a few soft corals do ok under 40 watt bulbs.

Garf used to tell people to start out with 3 40 watt bulbs on a 55 gallon tank, and they kept a lot of corals under that setup even on the bottom of the tank.

Kim

OCDreefer · Mar 31, 2009

I had a nice closed brain that survived and kept its color for about four months in my sump. Zero lighting there.

kevinpo · Mar 31, 2009

Hello,
I'm not sure what a "House Bulb" is but if you are referring to the spiral CFL's then they would do fine if placed close enough (6"-10").
If you mean incandescent lighting the two corals you mentioned would survive but the color would become a nice dark brown over time and growth would be very slow or not really noticeable even if placed within a few inches from the bulb.

Regards,
Kevin

returnofsid · Apr 1, 2009

Kevin, is this because of the Kelvin ratings? Or is it because the CFL bulbs, even being low wattage, are more intense than standard "house bulbs?" The Spiral CFL bulb is what is over my refugium.