Coralife MINI 20 Watt 50/50 Compact Fluorescent - Thoughts?

[andsoitgoes]

Hi all - I've got a nice nano setup with an incandescent hood running some mini-CF bulbs... Right now I have a 27w Daylight and a 15w Daylight bulb (6500k) - but I've seen the Coralife 50/50 20w bulbs and I'm INTRIGUED!!

They're fairly inexpensive, although more than a standard 27w daylight - but it DOES include the actinic light, which is appealing for the colours it brings out in the corals.

I am borrowing an LED light from Mr. Seahorse himself, but seeing the difference between that and the true actinic, makes me really want to go that route, but these guys are always on - so it's not a separate color spectrum at night, is it?

Any thoughts? Yes, I'm green as it gets here - but very excited about making my tank PERDY ^_^

[marcingo]

Actually I started 2 months ago and I also have a nano 10 gal (already upgrading my cichlid 55 gal to salt lol) Anyway I also use the 50/50 20 watt bulbs. I have to say I am very impressed with them, I even find the light it gives off sometimes look better than some metal halide lights. Anyway all I would suggest is maybe look online and get the 50/50 tube on ebay. The reason for this is with the two screw in bulbs the very middle area of your tank doesnt get as bright of a light as the sides. Also I find that in my 10 gallon when I move the hood up to the front of the tank so the lights are on top there is a lot more light and things seem to like it better. Thats why im buying the tube light for the back of the 10 gal.

Anyway Ive had an assortment of zoo's mushrooms and gsp in this 10 gal and everything seems to be flourishing with the 40 watts of power compacts given off by these bulbs. Im also getting lots of coraline algae growth which is nice (its only been two months :) )

[andsoitgoes]

Hmm - sounds VERY intriguing!! It would be perfect for the hood I have, and then I wouldn't need to swap out, which is something I don't want to do - the hood I have on now *barely* fits, and going with a strip not be good :(

Although I do see the dead zone concern with the middle spot, hrm. shame they don't make these things differently! But at least this looks a little nicer than JUST desk lamps :) Bringing home my nice 27w desk lamp tonight to have and possibly mix the led light in... ugh, so many choices, so much money!!!

[Matt]

I started with those lights, too. They're affordable, and don't represent any investment except the bulbs for a beginner. It was almost 6 months before I put a coralife 96w on my 10g nano! ***Upgrades are inevitable in this hobby***


Matt

[marcingo]

Dont get me wrong I actually have a frag of zoos in that "dead zone" but they are also growing. Its not like there is no light at all there its just not as bright in other words you do see a difference in light between the sides and the middle. So dont let that keep you from getting them. But like I said I am very satisfied with the lights they do grow my corals so far.

[andsoitgoes]

Good to know, and at 18 bucks CDN each, that's GRAVY!! :)

Can't wait to get 'em going... now, there's no benefit to running pure actinic light w/o the 10k bulb, is there?

[Flusher]

I'm a fan of the Coralife CFLs. The 10W bulbs aren't of much use, but I've run two 20W over a 6 gallon, four 20W over a 13 gallon, and two 20W plus two 15W daylight and a 15W actinic over a 16 gallon.

I'll be putting two 20W over a 7 gallon 'fuge on my next tank, but the display will be large enough to warrant T5s.

FYI - Canadian Tire, Home Depot, etc, sell medium-base sockets for about $5 each. Adding a $5 electrical cord and figuring out a way to attach these to a DIY canopy is simple. :mrgreen:

Here are some old pics, before I swapped out the spiral bulbs for more Coralife 50/50s:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a266/Flusher/nano-lights1.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a266/Flusher/nano-lights2.jpg
________
FERRARI 312B HISTORY (http://www.ferrari-wiki.com/wiki/Ferrari_312B)

[Farrmanchu]

I use 2 20 watts over my frag tank (10 Gal. half full), and I am able to keep SPS frags, they don't grow upwards much, but they uncrust downwards quickly. I find many Zoo types prefer this type of lighting when well fed. Everything looks pretty good under them too, comparable to my T5 HOs, not quite as much blue. Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention my Pulsing Hand grows like wildfire under those bulbs too.

[gbeef]

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/IMG_0160.jpg
here's the setup i have under my hood im running one sunpaq 32 watt bulb they are only 12.5 " long i got mine from mops.ca you can get a 50/50 or a 10K/65000K i also have 2X 9 watt coralife lamps under that hood.

[dockrat]

Well just to throw in my opion the coralife bulbs 50/50 screw in bulbs never have worked very well for me the ballast always seems to fry after about 3 months... My solution for my 5.5 was just to mod the original abs hood, I used a 6500k cf buld form HD and stuck it in then and then guted the Coralife fixture 2X9W removed the bulbs and clips and marked and cut the plugs that plug onto the light bulbs, I then extended the wires with 5ft or so of 18g wire so that the balast could still sit in the Alum fixture on the floor and power the bulbs (no need to remove the balast but you can if you want)
then i mounted the bulbs in the abs hood right beside the 6500 bulb i used 2 antic bulbs for this... But having said all that it might be better to just build a new wood hood and use 2 x 28w bulbs with a small ballast from HD .... that was the original plan when i set up the 5.5 but i got side tracked and upgraded to a much larger tank... well i hope some one will find this useful...

[andsoitgoes]

guh - My only problem is that I'm about as much of a handyman as a dog with no arms and 4 tails!

That said, I'm willing to pay someone to do it FOR me ^_^

[dockrat]

well i never use it if I can find my old 5 galon hood that is moded ill trade you it for a new one... the hood is in good condition but there are 2 small rivets showing on the out side that are holding the lights in place. you will have to replace the bulbs as well after you get it.

[dockrat]

well if your going to pay some one... you could also buy a 16" ABS Power Compact Fixture - 2 x 28W from one of the LFS for under $200 but i like to make stuff... lol thats because i cant aford it :biggrin: