# Coralife and T5 HO



## Savelle (Aug 17, 2010)

Coralife Aqualight High Output Freshwater T5 Aquarium Lighting fixture. This here

Does anyone have experience with coralife light fixtures; particularly the fixture mentioned above?

The idea seems sound. With this fixture the user would pick up an extra 14W between the two bulbs compared to ordinary 24" 2x24W bulbs. With the bulbs themselves fitting across all 30" inches of the hood you get complete surface coverage. But is it a good buy?

In a 29g it would give me a little over the 2W/gal and if the reflectors are any good then I would hope to see results with medium light and wishful thinking- high light plants. There's just not enough information on it for me to feel like buying it would be an 'informed decision'.

Thanks for your help.


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## Indignation (Mar 9, 2008)

I've heard good experiences about it, and as far as I know it's the only fixture to use the 30" HO bulbs. The fixture only has a single reflector, which isn't super high quality. Regardless, if you have good co2 and ferts, you can grow any plant you want in a 29 gallon.
Do yourself a favor, forget about WPG. its not accurate or applicable to modern lighting.


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## sampster5000 (Jul 24, 2010)

I agree with Indignation. I'm growing some medium and very high lighting plants in my 15 gallon and having no problems. I'm using 1.2wpg. (If it helps, this is a coralife T8 light) I am going to order me some T5HO lights for 2.4wpg just so I feel a lot better off about the high light plants.


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## couesfanatic (Aug 27, 2010)

I have that exact fixture. I had it over a 20 long with DIY Co2. It was too much light for the 20L and no pressurized co2. Its a well built and solid light. I was going to get a 29 gallon and pressurized to run this light. 

Remember this light is T5HO not T5NO. It is a bright light and needs consistant Co2. 

On another note, I might be selling the fixture in a week or so. I will be getting a 55 gallon for free, so I plan on selling this light to get one to fit the 55. If you are interested, let me know. I used it for 4 months and it has the legs that come with it and two 6700k rated bulbs.


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## ryan10517 (Apr 28, 2010)

i have heard from people that after a year or two the ballasts fail and they have bad customer service. And they don't come with good reflectors. Build quality seems ok though


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## couesfanatic (Aug 27, 2010)

I'm pretty sure these 30 inch coralife t5ho's have not even been out for two years. Not sure where you heard that.


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## Sidefunk (Apr 20, 2010)

I have that exact fixture over my 32G tank which is about 31" long. I love the fixture and as stated above I think you could probably grow pretty much any plant with it, but I could not tell you that from experience.

The thing I like about it is you can get full light coverage without having to lift it up further off the tank. My tank is a little deeper at about 18" so that might not be applicable to a shallower tank where you might want to pull it away to lessen algae.

Coues, please PM what you might be willing to part with your fixture for if you still want to let it go. I might be interested.


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## couesfanatic (Aug 27, 2010)

Will do. Give me a few days to solidify my other tank first. thanks


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## virgo888 (Jun 25, 2009)

i would get this over my current usa 2x24. 30inches is better.


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## popomon (Oct 12, 2010)

i know this is an old forum, but i would like to solidify your thoughts on the fixture if your still having trouble deciding. I have a 48" model, and one of the bulbs still are the same, stock actinic bulbs, which means im getting a little under a watt per gallon, yet my anacharis is growing a few inches a week, so i would say that this is a pretty good lighting system. I would reccomend swapping out the actinic if you can though


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## ryan10517 (Apr 28, 2010)

couesfanatic said:


> I'm pretty sure these 30 inch coralife t5ho's have not even been out for two years. Not sure where you heard that.


I'm just talking about the t5ho aqualights in general. We have been selling these fixtures at my work for quite a while, and all the models seem to be built in the same fashion. I have heard from a few customers about the ballasts going bad, as well as reading a few negative online reviews about these lights. We do use these fixtures on the plant tanks at work, and they seem to grow plants alright, and i have not seen any problems firsthand. I would just be careful about buying one. I build all my own lights anyways so i know how to fix them if something goes wrong haha


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