Light Bulbs, Which Ones?

Lighting, filtration etc
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B Considine
Posts: 549
Joined: Thu Feb 22, 2007 2:13 pm
Location: HoCo

Post by B Considine »

Joe,
I'll throw in my 2 cents for the Coralife. I've been using a 36" on my 30 gallon for 2 years now, and it does just fine.

Blaise
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PaulS
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Real Name: Paul
Location: Laurel, MD

Post by PaulS »

I also have several of the NO T5 Coralife fixtures - five to be exact. The price is right and and they work great.
Paul
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jcali10
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Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2007 5:08 am
Location: Catonsville, MD

Post by jcali10 »

I ordered (2) 30 inch fixtures this morning from Big Al's. The 10% sale covered most of the shipping. As soon as they come in, I'll be ready to start setting it up.
Joe
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dSerk
Posts: 84
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2009 3:48 pm
Location: Annandale, VA

Post by dSerk »

Has anyone seen a T5HO version of the Coralife ColorMax bulb? I'm having trouble finding any T5HO's with a color temp around 5000K. Does anyone use anything "cooler" than 5000K? I've seen a couple 3500K and 4100K T5s....
Dan Please, spay/neuter your Platys.
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seiji64
Posts: 211
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2005 11:19 pm
Location: Takoma Park

Post by seiji64 »

I've heard folks touting certain brands of bulbs - Giesemann, for example.

I'm thinking of ordering the Solar T5 4x24W from Catalina Aquarium for my 29. Would it be worth my while to upgrade to a combo of Giessemann Middays (6K) & Aqua Floras (?K) , assuming they aren't Giesemanns already and CA can get those bulbs for me?

In general, are there brands of T5 bulbs that are worth seeking out? Or others we should definitely steer clear of?

Doug
Last edited by seiji64 on Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ingg
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Joined: Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:29 am

Post by ingg »

Geisemann bulbs are incredible, simply put. MidDay's, which are roughly a 6k bulb, aren't yellow in the least, and have awesome output.

5k would be horridly yellow. Might look okay in a mix, but....


It is probably coming up on the time for folks to be needing T5HO bulbs. Let me get with the board and see if there'd be the gumption to start a group order on them - they get a lot cheaper when you buy by the case from one place. We've bought from seedsetc.com before and gotten good group rates for TEK fixtures and Geisemann bulbs by the case.

CA bulbs are nothing to write home about. I'm pretty disappointed in them honestly.
Dave
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ddavila06
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Real Name: Damian Davila
Location: Burke, Va

Post by ddavila06 »

the T5 high output ones are reaaally nice, they have a display at work and i was impressed since it first came in. they are expensive though, quite a bit! so i might be in for a group order :)
Damian Davila
"Fishes-up, chill, Plants too"
"so many plants, so little space!"
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jcali10
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Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2007 5:08 am
Location: Catonsville, MD

Post by jcali10 »

It's about time for me get some replacement HO T5 bulbs too. I'll be waiting for the next group order as well.

T5s supposedly last longer than CF or regular fluorescents but all fluorescents degrade, and I've read
conflicting ideas on how long to use them. How long is too long?

Also, I was wondering if there is any particular algae that may become prevalent with older bulbs.
Joe
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