# Coralife power compact retrofit kit



## dyckster (Nov 28, 2006)

Hi,

I currently have a Hagen Glo T5HO fixture over my 33 gallon aquarium. I'm really happy with it except that, since it's on legs, there is a considerable amount of light 'leaking' into the room between the fixture and the tank. It's really bright and distracting so I'm thinking about making some changes.

One thing I'm considering is retrofitting the hood that came with the tank with a power compact fixture. I've used the AH Supply kit before and it was great. I'm just wondering if anyone has used the Coralife Power Compact retrofit kit. Any advice?

I'm also thinking about building a canopy for the Hagen T5HO fixture but I'm not sure how this would work just yet. Anyone tried putting something like this before?


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

Why would you want to use the Coralife kit? It has a crappy reflector (compared to AHSupply's) and it includes a 50/50 65 watt Compact Fluorescent Lamp (half True Actinic and half Daylight lamp) which would make your aquarium look ugly. 

Instead of a canopy, couldn't you add some type of strip mounted lengthwise along the bottom side of your fixture to tone down the light spillage? Would removing its legs help?


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## freshyleif (Jan 9, 2008)

When I was using my light s on there legs I felt the same way. So I built a wood hood that the lights fit into. before that I went to a local glass shop and had 2 pieces of tinted glass cut and edged and would set them up in front of my lights on top of the tank rim. It looked pretty good and was easy to put on and off. That's my 2 cents worth of experience hope it give you some other ideas.
Also I agree with what Left C say about using AH Supply kit not Coralife. Not that I don't like Coralife they are a great company.


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## dyckster (Nov 28, 2006)

@LeftC Thanks for the tip about adding a strip at the bottom. The 2x39w T5HO fixture is pretty intense for my 33 gallon, especially without much CO2 addition. I'm afraid to see what would happen if I removed the legs completely but I could give it a try and see how it goes.

@freshyleif I like your idea about the tinted glass for a temporary solution. Can you tell me a little more about the wood hood that you built? I was thinking about building something that completely covered the fixture so you wouldn't see it at all. Then I starting thinking about excess heat buildup if the fixture is meant to breathe but cannot.


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