# Coralife 20" 1x28watt for 10gal - enough?



## EggOkay (Feb 27, 2009)

Hi,
I'm new to this forum and to the planted tank hobby. I'm setting up a 10 gal tank and I bought a 20" Coralife for pretty cheap. However, the bulb it came with is the 50/50 actinic bulb. From what I've been reading here, the actinic bulb is completely useless for FW tanks for photosynthesis. 

I was wondering if I had any options in terms of upgrading or modifying my fixture. It's a 28watt bulb, but it looks like the Current USA fixture had around 40watts for the same length (probably should have gone with that one in the first place). Can I just buy a 40 watt bulb (square 4-pin) and call it a day?

Does anyone know the max wattage of the coralife ballast? Are they upgradable? When it comes to DIY, I don't mind getting my hands dirty as long as it is cheap and I can get a good bang for the buck. 

I also need recommendations for bulbs. I want to maximize growth potential and not break the bank; viewing is not as important to me. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!


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## ncy (May 18, 2008)

I also bought that fixture for my 1st setup (10 gallon) and was not satisfied. I ended up buying a 32 watt bulb to fit in it, but was then told that since the fixture is only rated for 28 watts, 28 watts of light is all that I would get out of it. This fixture might be ok if you want to grow low light plants, but I would get rid of the actinic bulb - it won't help at all. 

Recently I upgraded to the Current Dual Satellite 2x40w with lunar light and fan. It was a bit pricier but I am much more satisfied. There are two 40w lamps with separate on/off switches. This is what I would recommend: if you want to grow higher light plants, either upgrade to a better fixture or do a retrofit... I am not very good with electronics so maybe someone else can help you if you want to go that route.

nick


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## EggOkay (Feb 27, 2009)

It looks like I'm going to have to do a retrofit. What are my options then? It's a 10 gal, and I think there's only room for a single bulb (1connector, 2tubes) in there. any recommendations?


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## ncy (May 18, 2008)

I'm not really good with that stuff so I hesitate a bit when telling you what your options would be other than that I know some folks on APC have recommended this site for retrofits:http://www.ahsupply.com/.

It looks like they have some details/plans about building a DIY fixture to hold the lights... if you are thinking about doing a retrofit, and have some tools/materials/workspace, I would suggest returning the coralife fixture if possible. 
It seems like the only purpose in keeping it would be to house the lamps inside of it, and it looks like there are cheaper DIY options out there.

Or if you are lazy like me, you can return the coralife and use the $ you saved to upgrade to the 40w one


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