Coralife MH bulb quality

[b_james]

I have the Aqualite Pro with 2 150HQI 10000K lights that have only been running for a little over a month. I just had one of the bulbs replaced under warranty because one of the bulbs were causing the transformer that is connected to the socket give off a buzzing sound. Well I replaced the bulb on Sunday and noticed a huge difference between the existing bulb and the new one. The old bulb (with only about 150 hours of use) was noticeably yellower then the new bulb. Is it normal for a bulb to show a noticable spectrum change in as little as a month? Or do the Coralife bulbs just suck?

Also When running the MH alone - before I changed the buld, my tank always had a yellow tint. At first I thought I should increase my carbon.

[Bob I]

We might just be silly, but I have the Coralife Aqualight Pro with the single bulb. I noticed a similar drop in output, and yellowing after only a few months. I replaced the bulb with a Gieseman Megachrome 14500K bulb. I have found that bulb to be much more stable.:mrgreen:

[b_james]

I guess thats probably the reason why they are so inexpensive... Just before I replace the one light I thought my water was yellowing bad - once I put the new bulb in, the color difference was like night and day. As far as Im concerned a color change that drastic and in such a short term should NOT be sold in the aquarium trade. Maybe this is one of the contributors to my hair algae

[Bob I]

There have been complaints about this manufacturer's bulbs in the past. These complaints included all types of bulbs. I guess to get a great fixture we have to put up with a lousy bulb. That increases the price of an already pricey fixture.:sad:

[Reefhawk1]

When I installed my Coralife pendant over my tank it had a 10k bulb in it. The algae growth was insane so I purchased a 20k coralife bulb for it and haven't had any problems since:biggrin:

[b_james]

I gess I should look at upgrading my bulbs... Anyway I was looking for a way to justify changing to 14K or 20K:razz:

[Poopy]

I've been having trouble with mine as well, I have a 250w, after about a month of use the bulb burned out, I got a replacement, that lasted 2 weeks and it did the same thing. Now I have gotten a replacement ballast, as that was supposed to remedy the problem, but it didnt change anything. So I have been without MH for almost 3 weeks now. :(

[b_james]

It realy surprises me that companies can get away with selling IMO such inferior products

[Poopy]

I agree, the price sure wasnt inferior....but im not too impressed with coralifes service. Also the time its taking to figure out the problem, i waited 2weeks for this new ballast, and it didnt fix anything.

[b_james]

How did you or Coralife confirm the Ballast was defective? Just courious as I dont trust any of the components - also maybe it will give me a heads up on what to look for if I suspect a faulty ballast.

[Kryten]

I've also noticed that my Coralife 10000K pc bulb looks more yellow than my other one by Hamilton - both very close to the same age - and the Hamilton was cheaper!

[Noj]

i've only had my coralife 10,000K 150watt for a month now, and seems to be giving a strong yellow tint. could this be the reason for my recent boom in green algae growth?

[b_james]

i've only had my coralife 10,000K 150watt for a month now, and seems to be giving a strong yellow tint. could this be the reason for my recent boom in green algae growth?

Funny you mentioned that - I was think the same thing last night. Im on my second month of running these bulbs and I am getting a ton of green algae growth - Am I have NO fish just corals, clean up crew and an arrow crab and I am not even feeding my tank. Seeing the results reminds me of what happend when I tried using flourecent plant grow bulbs on my first reef :eek:

With my older 240 Gal setup that had about 150 Lbs of LR, softies and two horn sharks (huge bio load) I had NEVER experience ANY hair aglae blooms over the few years it was running, just the odd 'tuff" that I brushed off with a tooth brush. I was running 2 175W Hamilton 10000K lights at the time. NOW with just about no bio load and CORALIFE bulbs Im getting HUGE amounts of hair algae. BTW the rest of the system design is the same as my last setup.

WHATS UP WITH THESE BULBS:2gunfire:

Soory to go off the handle, but I am a little ****ed that in order for these lights to perform relative to the high price they command, you need to spend an additional $150-200 to get bulbs that at least put out what they are intended to.

[Noj]

yeah this really makes me wonder...
I have had my tank up and running for just over a year now, and have NEVER had any hair algae or any nusance algae until now. It grows quickly, I use my magfloat on the front of the tank, and I'll NEED to do it again in 3-4 days.

I am more than happy with the setup, and design, but it seems odd that the bulbs provided dont seem to be of the same quality.

Looks like I might swap my 10000k bulb. Any suggestions on which is best? I'm thinking either another 10000k, or 14000k.

[smellsfishy]

it has been suggested that there is a breakin period for full brightness and spec'd spectrum, however i haven't had to replace my coralife 150w 10k pendent DE style yet, still has a half a year left yet. no problems at all though.

[b_james]

it has been suggested that there is a breakin period for full brightness and spec'd spectrum, however i haven't had to replace my coralife 150w 10k pendent DE style yet, still has a half a year left yet. no problems at all though.

I find it funny that during or after the break-in period the buld has shifted to a yellow tint and is not as bright as a new one. Then again maybe there are a 'few' Coralife bulbs in existence that do work properly.

I think I might change mine to Geisemann 13K - I have heard nothing but good comments on these bulbs.

[Poopy]

Well, I still am no closer to having a MH that works on my AquaLight pro, I have talked to the Coralife rep in BC, he did fack all, I phoned Coralife direct, and they say that the problem is the "ignitor" and have shipped me the parts, but I dont have them yet....anyone know where an ignitor goes? ie. in the ballast or in the fixture?

I want to drive over this light and burn it.

[Poopy]

How did you or Coralife confirm the Ballast was defective? Just courious as I dont trust any of the components - also maybe it will give me a heads up on what to look for if I suspect a faulty ballast.

That was a guess by the store I bought it from. :cry:

[b_james]

Now Im really p*ssed... I am noticing some dark drown hair algae developing on my oolite substrate - you know the stuff where the sand starts to turn to a greyish hue then little dark hairs start to appear. I have NEVER had an algae problem like this except for when I was using 100% tap water with cheap salt and VERY POOR lighting in a smaller system many years ago. Also there looks like the beginnings of a small patch of red slime - kind of looks like red wine stain the size of a loonie. If I turn off my actinics, the light looks realy yellow - looking at the AWFULL spectrum irratates me - I actually looks like 2 halogens. :eek:

I dont get it.. My nitrates are inmeasurable, no amonia 100% RO/DI with 7-20PPM TDS reading on output water. As far as live stock, all I have are some leather Toadstools that have been closed for about a week, clean up crew, sea hair and a large Arrow crab - NO FISH.

I dont know what to do. Part of me wants to get new bulbs, but if its the ballasts then I might as well replace the entire fixture -which I dont want to do - too much $$$:sad: