# just bought those bulbs, will they work?



## newguy (Mar 18, 2006)

the prices just cant be beat, the coralife bulbs cost 3 times as much. Just hope i didnt make a mistake? they are for the 2x96W coralife fixture i bought (the lamps that came with it are in hundreds of tiny pieces due to poor packaging).

1x 6500k
1x 10000k

eBay: (2) - 96 watt Power Compact bulbs  Square MIX (item 160030899072 end time Nov-13-06 11:51:07 PST)

ok for my plants right?


----------



## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

id doesnt state the brand name so I guess they are the cheaper house brand of some sort. I have heard stories of those burning out in a week or month or so. Others not. Who knows till you try them. Good luck!


----------



## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Yea, I had a set of no-name bulbs, the color spectrum shifted in 4-6 months...I guess they were worth it for how long they lasted. The shift just makes it a little yellower.


----------



## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Yellow tends to promote algae growth.

The old saying of :'You get what you pay for' is usually true,


----------



## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

Well,

The discount bulbs can't be much worse than the original Coralife bulbs...


----------



## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

ruki said:


> Well,
> 
> The discount bulbs can't be much worse than the original Coralife bulbs...


They color shift much sooner than name brands...but for about 1/2 the price, you'd have to work out the price to see if it's cheaper than buying Coralife bulbs.


----------



## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

I think Ruki was impling that Coralife bulbs are no better than el cheapo brand X. And I support that conclusion.


----------



## newguy (Mar 18, 2006)

what's so bad about color shift or turning slightly yellow? is it just look bad or does it actually affect the plant's ability to photosynthesis?

also if coralife is not any better, what's the best CF bulb you can buy then?

UPDATE: my bulbs just came in now. They were actually both made by Catalina. i heard that's an ok brand for bulbs? Each were inidvidually packaged in its own retail box and looks pretty nice actually.

will update when they blow out :attention


----------



## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Light from the yellow portion of the visible spectrum promotes algae growth.

Unfortunately, CF bulbs havent caught up with linear bulbs in the ability to offer light in the proper areas of the spectrum.You need a mix of blue and red for your plants, and green for you (brightness as perceived by humans). If your lighting looks extremely bright and your plants seem ultra-green, it means that you have lighting that outputs strongly in the green spectrum. Do not equate this with good lighting for your plants, because plants don't use light in the green spectrum for photosynthesis.

For green plants the lighting peaks that are most important:
chlorophyll-a: 430nm/662nm 
chlorophyll-b: 453nm/642nm 
carotenoids: 449nm/475nm 
Red pigmented plants use more light in the blue area of the spectrum.

Philips (PLL950) and Sylvania (Dulux54) make some good CF bulbs.

Does the manufacturer of your bulb offer a spectral output graph so that you can see if it has peaks that plants need to do really well?


----------



## newguy (Mar 18, 2006)

here's the graph for the 10000k, 6500k doesnt have a graph. Does it look ok? Also i cant find the Philips (PLL950) and Sylvania (Dulux54) anywhere, do they come in 96W versions? thanks


----------



## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

It should work.

The spectrum looks a bit like a Coralife tube with the green spike in there.


----------



## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Both the Philips PLL950 and the Sylvania Dulux54 are 55 watt.

The spectral graph on the image you posted has no emissions in the red. It has a hugh green spike which does nothing for photosynthesis and appears to have emissions in the ultraviolet range - below 400nm. This could be damaging to your fish. There is a current thread on UV emissions. It also has lots of yellow which will help plants some what and the algae will like it too.


----------



## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

I still think it will work. It won't be optimal, but plants should still grow. The actinic blue part is wasted on non-reef tanks, but I don't think it will hurt anything.

There is some red, but no major emission lines, so it shouldn't be labeled a plant bulb. I grow plants in the office with cruddy overhead bulbs. They would do much better with different tubes, but it works well enough.

Don't think the near UV will hurt the fish either. My fish have much better colors after bringing them in from outdoor tubs. I think part of it is UV exposure. It would be interesting to come up with an experimental test to prove this though


----------



## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Plants will grow with ordinary bulbs as they have good blue and red emissions. The problem is is that they also have wavelenghts between 500 and 600nm, which algae likes.


----------



## newguy (Mar 18, 2006)

i was checking out some of the graphs for the better bulbs like the Current USA SUNPAQ, the graphs are pretty similar to the catalina version for 10000k. Even their 6700k does not have much red(?) emission pass the 600 mark. So maybe we are over analyzing the situation a bit? hmm...

http://www.current-usa.com/productimages/1141843220SunPaq.pdf


----------



## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Nope.
For green plants the lighting peaks that are most important:
chlorophyll-a: 430nm/662nm 
chlorophyll-b: 453nm/642nm 
carotenoids: 449nm/475nm 
Red pigmented plants use more light in the blue area of the spectrum.
Here's another graph from an aquatic plant book:









and another:









You're buying into marketing hype.


----------



## newguy (Mar 18, 2006)

sorry i am just very confused. So you are saying a good CF bulb should have emssions in the ~662nm and ~642nm range as well? but all the brand name planted CF bulbs i was able to find online have almost ZERO emission pass 600nm. Can you find me one square pin 96W (~34" long) cf bulb that has those wave length and can be used for planted aquarium.


----------



## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

All of the CFs I know of do not have spikes above 625nm. Linear tubes still have the better emissions. CFs haven't caught up yet. The red phosphour used to get above 625nm is quite expensive and only a few bulbs use it. I have never looked into square pins as I have CFs with the 2G11 base - 4 pins in a row - sorry.

I use the Philips PL-L/950s, 5000K, 92CRI:









The GE 9325Ks are popular but only 67CRI:


----------



## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

For absolute optimum plant growth, you'll want to get a bulb with the mentioned wavelengths. Not as certain about the algae since that has other factors involved. With optimum nutrient dosing don't think algae will be a problem, but for borderline situations it could make things worse.

It's fun to over-analyze about tube spectrum -- if for nothing else to protect us from the incredible amount of hype out there. The Coralife literature for their tubes is laughable. From the spectrum, their 6500K tube should be better for growing plants than their plant tube.

For normal two-bulb fluorescent fixtures, think it is close to optimal to use one GrowLux tube and one 6500K. It looks OK with the 6500K and plants get their reds from the GrowLux.

Sylvania has some decent literature on this that doesn't seem to be all hype. http://www.sylvania.com/content/display.scfx?id=003680211
Query Result


----------



## mrbelvedere138 (Jan 18, 2006)

Worry not. I've been using Catalina bulbs and fixtures for over a year now. No problems whatsoever. Not to say it couldn't happen, they've just performed admirably for me and have excellent customer service.


----------

