Are compact fluorescent bulbs strong enough for a reef or semi-reef at least

Hi folks,
My tank and extras was given to me. I dont know that much about the stuff I have. I have a CoralLife fixture. It houses two compact fluorescent bulbs. The compact fluorescent bulbs are the ones with two molded together. So its like two T8s maybe two T5s. One of the pair is 10,000k daylight and the other pair is Actinct, 36" 96watts. Can I house and kind of corals using that lighting? Open top tank, fixture is about 5inches from water and water is like 16" deep, 60gal tank.

 

Softies and some lower light LPS should be okay. How old are the bulbs?

 

i have a 28 gal bow with 2x65w PC and i keep lps,softies,and a 24" LTA...all very happy....ive never added any sps but i might put a frag in to test

 

Thanks for your reply....

Well, fairly old. The guy who gave me my stuff, used them for a while, year or so. They sat for little over a year, and now I'm setting them up, my tank has recently finnished cycling. I would think I should buy some new bulbs before I get some "things" that have light needs. They do seem pretty darn bright, even old, much brighter than any freshwater lighting I've ever had.

I would think just don't plan on getting anything with intense lighting needs

FYI, Im waiting to buy anything like that, just trying to figure out if I could possibly get by with this light fixture

 

you should be able to find bulbs on the cheap/sale...i got 3 years worth of bulbs for 6 dollars from PA

 

IMO I would replace the bulbs soon. If you were running a FOWLR tank you would be fine for a little while longer (I would still replace them after about a year), but since you're planning on getting corals, I would change them very soon.

HTH

 

Well, as of now it is a FOWLR. I recently finnished the cycle. There are some snails, 3 hermits(two are tiny, one bigger) royal gramma and two pajama cardnals. To be honest, I might keep it FOWLER for now and just work on building my live rock situation. The guy who gave me the set up I think was aiming for fish only/semi reef. The live rock only fills about a quarter of the height of the tank, Id guess 30lbs(60gal tank). I figure eventully will have added some more fish and I'll work on adding adding more rock. But, its good to know this ficture will at least get me going or work if I pay attention to light requiements.

Thanks for the input

 

No problem 8) I would definitely add more rock. Have you looked into dry rock? It's a lot cheaper than live rock. Reefcleaners and marcorocks sell it.

 

I had two sets of these exact bulbs on a 55 gal tank. I had a couple sps in the tank up high and they did ok. I think 4 to 5 watts a gallon is a good number for those bulbs. The two you have are a little short of those numbers, you might want to look at getting another set.

The bulbs should be replaced once a year to make sure you are pushing the best light possible.