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i have a question regarding watts? I recently purchased a small 3 gallon aquarium with a 15 watt incandecent light bulb. Should i convert that bulb into a 50/50 compact florecent with a screw in fixture? the 50/50 is only 10 watts while the incandecent is 15 watts. Should i swap the bulbs. I plan on finding some low light corals to put in the aquarium and posibley a few glass anenomies. Any comments would be great. thank you

First as reguards watts and aquariums. When you see watts per gallon (wpg) that's refering to florescent watts, not incandescent watts.

Second, it's been my experience that incandescent bulbs are troublesome in tanks, especially with a small tank. They produce a great deal of heat for how little light they give which will cause massive temperature swings as well as hot and cold spots in a tank. Temperature fluctuations are one of the key causes of stress, and anytime a fish is stressed illness is often to follow. Additionally incandescent bulbs are considerd to have too low of a kelvin rating to be benificial for plant growth.

My suggestion is to just swap the bulb with a screw in florescent. If it's to be a planted tank get a Daylight bulb with a 6500-6700Kelvin rating. You should be able to find them in most any Home depot, havent had as much luck finding them in lowes.

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