I just upgraded the lighting on my 30 gallon FOWLR+Macro tank and wanted to share the results for anyone looking for a cheap way to add alot of light to smaller tanks.
I have been running a 75watt twist PC bulb on my RDP refugium for about three months and have had TREMENDOUS growth, so much so that I have to trim it up once a week instead of once a month now to avoid trimming too much at one time. When I saw that HD was selling the 60watt PC twists at 4 for about $8 (75 watt - 3 for a few dollars more) I thought they'd be worth trying on my 30. Now I know these are only 3000k but I'm not trying to grow any coral 'cept shrooms, just lots of Macros and some coralline. So I gutted an old 8 socket bathroom fixture and the 24" NO strip that came on the 30 hood and scabbed 3 of the sockets into the strip housing. I installed three of the bulbs in the hood, lit it up and was impressed right off. the color was a bit yellow, but bright enough to make out great detail in the rock and the small volitan lion currently occupying the space. About 6 watts per gallon for a total cost of $9 (with electrical tape). A few days later I was at HD, picking up some timers and things, and thought to look the PC bulbs over a bit. Up on the top shelf there was one pack of Commercial Electric Bulbs that said 75watt Daylight. It says on the back that it's 6500k at $7.50 per so I thought "what the hell". I installed the thing in the center socket, relit the tank and HOLY CRAP! the two bulbs on the sides seem to be barely putting out mood lighting compared to this thing! I can see details on rocks that I've had for over a year that I'd never seen before. The blue color is very nice and offset well enough by the yellow to be very pleasant. Since turning it on three days ago I've noticed the strands of caulerpa reaching from the clusters on the sides out to the cone of light in the middle have 1" long clusters of young white grapes bursting out all over. While the clusters themselves, though healthy looking, haven't shown much new growth at all other than searching strands. If I were to replace the other two bulbs I'd have 225 watts of 6500k lighting for 7.5 watts per gallon for a total cost of about $23. Of course I had the sockets but even these can be had for nearly nothing at any D.I. in the state.
Anyway, if at least one other person tries this and is happy with it then it's been worth the last 15min. of typing. In fact if anyone wants to see it in action and then try it just PM me, I have extra sockets and bulbs that I'd happily loan out (maybe even just trade for some frags or macro), you're welcome to come by and get 'em.
If anyone else has used these and likes the results (I'm pretty sure the daylight are new, but maybe I've just never noticed them before) Post Here.