# [Wet Thumb Forum]-GE 9325K bulbs: Two weeks of use...



## Justin Fournier (Jan 27, 2004)

Well after the whole 9325K CF bulb debate, on the word of a few people here I consider knowledgable, I plugged a pair of these bulbs in over my setup, replacing one pair of 6700K bulbs. Here is my review:

1.) They are 10W less a bulb, sacrificing 20W over my setup. Considering the amount of light I have, I consider this neglegable.

2.) They have not in any way shape or form negatively effected my plant growth over my full 6700K setup, and for this I am gratefull.

3.) I expected a whole bloom of algae. Of this, there was none. For this I am gratefull.

4.) They add back the warm pink tones, signifigantly bringing out the red tones of the plants like my old 8800K No's used to do, which I deeply missed. For this I am gratefull.

In conclusion, I was a hardline 6700K CF guy, and after switching to use a set of these bulbs, which in the past I had considered garbage, I am pleasantly suprised. They had none of the negative attributes I remembered them for in the past, and add the color back to my tank that I had been missing since I went CF. I do think a bit of thier influence will be lost to the extra set of 6700K's I will be adding this weekend, but overall I am sure they add variety and benefits well worth the 20W loss.

I will reccomend these bulbs to people in the future, but you won't catch me saying they are better then the 6700K. I think the loss of the green spectrum the 6700's give off is not worth the reds the 9325K adds. Green looks weird under straight 9325's. But if given the choice I would use both.







IMHO I have learnt a lesson, both these bulbs have thier plance and are worthy of use over any of our beautiful tanks. O, and I will reccomend to customers the use of both bulbs in the future. Maybe I will pick an extra set up form work, we have like 10 sets collecting dust! I think I should tell a bulb manufacturer to work on a 50/50 bulb based on 50/6700K and 50/9325K for people who can't use multiple bulbs.


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## Justin Fournier (Jan 27, 2004)

Well after the whole 9325K CF bulb debate, on the word of a few people here I consider knowledgable, I plugged a pair of these bulbs in over my setup, replacing one pair of 6700K bulbs. Here is my review:

1.) They are 10W less a bulb, sacrificing 20W over my setup. Considering the amount of light I have, I consider this neglegable.

2.) They have not in any way shape or form negatively effected my plant growth over my full 6700K setup, and for this I am gratefull.

3.) I expected a whole bloom of algae. Of this, there was none. For this I am gratefull.

4.) They add back the warm pink tones, signifigantly bringing out the red tones of the plants like my old 8800K No's used to do, which I deeply missed. For this I am gratefull.

In conclusion, I was a hardline 6700K CF guy, and after switching to use a set of these bulbs, which in the past I had considered garbage, I am pleasantly suprised. They had none of the negative attributes I remembered them for in the past, and add the color back to my tank that I had been missing since I went CF. I do think a bit of thier influence will be lost to the extra set of 6700K's I will be adding this weekend, but overall I am sure they add variety and benefits well worth the 20W loss.

I will reccomend these bulbs to people in the future, but you won't catch me saying they are better then the 6700K. I think the loss of the green spectrum the 6700's give off is not worth the reds the 9325K adds. Green looks weird under straight 9325's. But if given the choice I would use both.







IMHO I have learnt a lesson, both these bulbs have thier plance and are worthy of use over any of our beautiful tanks. O, and I will reccomend to customers the use of both bulbs in the future. Maybe I will pick an extra set up form work, we have like 10 sets collecting dust! I think I should tell a bulb manufacturer to work on a 50/50 bulb based on 50/6700K and 50/9325K for people who can't use multiple bulbs.


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## George Willms (Jul 28, 2004)

Your old bulbs were 65 watts and these are 55 watts, correct? If I remember correctly, 55 and 65w bulbs are the same, the ballast is what determines their output, or so I was told. Meaning that you could put a "55w" bulb in a 65w fixture and it would in effect be a 65w bulb. The reverse is also true, a 65w bulb in a 55w fixture in essence becomes a 55w bulb. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

George

Tank specs in profile


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## Justin Fournier (Jan 27, 2004)

Very interesting, because what I have is a 55W bulb in a 65W fixture...


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## George Willms (Jul 28, 2004)

yes, but the bulb is the same as a 65 watt bulb, what makes the difference is the ballast. A 65 watt ballast will run a 55 w bulb at 65w, no problem.

George

Tank specs in profile


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## Guest (Aug 5, 2003)

I am glad you are enjoying those bulbs. I have been preaching for couple of years now about those bulbs along with few on this board and glad to see another positive feedback. 

I'm in the process of ordering 2 for my 55G. Mix of 2-6500K/2-9325K


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## Justin Fournier (Jan 27, 2004)

Jay, that mix is perfect. I have 2 55W 9325K GE bulbs and 2 65W 6700K Coralife bulbs over my 75G and man does it look GOOD!!









I hope it looks better with 2 more 65W Coralife 6700K CF's!!


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## gFunk (Aug 19, 2003)

I just posted something today asking if you could use 9325Ks to grow plants...

what kind of plants are you all growing with these bulbs? do all plants grow equally well with the 9325Ks?

also, does the Coralife and GE All glass fixtures use the same bulbs?


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## Momotaro (Feb 17, 2004)

Justin,
Boy, am I glad to read your post. I am going to be mixing the same exact bulbs also on a 75G. The color mix is good?

Mike


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## Vicki (Jan 31, 2003)

I love the mix of 6700s and 9325s, I use them over my 120 gallon. The 9325 is a longtime favorite bulb of mine, both the NO and pc versions. Another very nice bulb that I've recently started using is the JBJ 6500K, which brings out reds almost as well as the 9325, but does a better job with varying shades of green and bronze. At least to my eye, the 6500K very nearly duplicates the effect of mixing 6700K and the 9325K.

Gfunk, I've grown more plants than I can list under the 9325, everything from java moss to rotala macranda; I haven't come across one that I can think of that didn't grow just as well under the 9325 as under a different color temperature. There ARE plants that LOOK a lot better under one or the other, though--red plants look sensational under 9325s, but light, bright green plants like hydrocotyle leucocephala, E. tennellus or hottonia palustris, just to name a few, look much better under a lower color temperature. That's why the mix of the two bulbs does such a nice job, you get the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, it's difficult to mix them to good effect unless you have two banks of lights--say, a 4x55 setup. With just two bulbs side by side, you wind up with one end of the tank a noticeably different color from the other end--it doesn't work too well--better to stick with one or the other.

P.S. I've never had a Coralife fixture, but I THINK they are square pin, somebody correct me if I'm wrong; All-Glass fixtures are straight pin.

http://www.wheelpost.com


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## Momotaro (Feb 17, 2004)

I was unable to get the JBJ 6500k bulbs in my area. i could not find them online either. I was told there was a problem with their import.
I am using Coral Life 6700Ks in my JBJ fixture.

Mike


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## Justin Fournier (Jan 27, 2004)

Sorry for the slow responce everyone.

Vicki, Coralife are straight pin in 65W. They do have squarepin in 96W.

Mike, I have 6x65W over my 75G and love it. I have the 9325k samwiched between the 6700K and will never go back to a straight 6700K.

gFunk, I have never had a plant that I could not grow.... name something you have trouble growing or want to grow and I bet someone here has grown it in 9325K. Myself not in pure 9325, but a mix, of course.


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## gFunk (Aug 19, 2003)

well i have a 40G long that I am going to setup with DIY CO2, using the Hagen system. However, this time I'd like to plan it out well so I'm also shpping for a cannister filter, probably a fluval 300 series, since they're cheap on eBay and I have one that works well. 

I plan on running 130 watts of PC over them, hopefully a mix of 10K and 6500K. 

As for plants that I want to grow, I want to grow a carpet plant of some sort. Probably Glosso or riccia. But I also am considering baby tears or tenellus...any suggestions out there with the setup I plan to run?


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## George Willms (Jul 28, 2004)

My suggestion would be to skip the fluval and get an eheim. I have both at home and believe me, the fluval does not compare to the eheim in terms of ease of use, noise level, or it's overall design.

George

Tank specs in profile


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## Tenor1 (Mar 3, 2003)

gFunk, I don't think one Hagen is enough for a 40 gallon tank, IMO. I use it on a 6 gallon and my brother has 2 on a 29 gallon. If you get the Mini Vortex from Robert it would work just fine because the reactor increases the volume of usable CO2. The down side is the cost of $50. I'm very happy with the unit.

Regards,
Carlos

==============================
I try to keep the tank plain and simple but it never stays that way!


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## Justin Fournier (Jan 27, 2004)

I should add PC lights are 6700K from Coralife, never seen a 6500K and your C02 may be an issue. I don't think one Hagen unit will be even half of what you need. Spend the bucks on a pressurized system. It's worth every penny.


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