Can we use energy saving bulb

[qwertman123]

Anyone one tried before?

[fishiee]

Oh well, you can use energy saving bulbs for a fish only tank as light intensity does not matter too much; you just need to be able to see your fish

However, for coral tanks, you may as well just stick to the normal T5 flourscent or metal halide.

Energy saving bulbs are mostly compact floursecnt bulbs that can be used to replace the traditional incandescent bulbs. There are marketed as 'energy saving' in this way as they are really much more efficient than incandescent bulbs (more light output per watt). However, these energy saving bulbs are no more efficient than T5 lights (as they use roughly the same technology) or metal halides in that sense.

It is thus more cost-effective to use T5s or metal halides as the aquarist actually WANTS the light. You will have to buy many 'energy saving' bulbs to compete with the power output of a single metal halide!

If you idea was to save energy, go for LEDs, but they are a little expensive now, so you might as well wait another few years until their price drops

[qwertman123]

So is energy saving bulb unhealthy for coral?

[nakazoru]

Nothing wrong with energy saving bulb as in phillip tornado or Osram etc.

I have used it before for my sump tank for cheato and coral frag. I used the 21W phillip cool white which is 6500K. That is the best one can use. Any bulb will be yellowish.

Problem I found is that it is difficult get reflector, which losses >60% of the 21W if not used.