# 18 watt CF bulbs



## tundrafour (Jun 8, 2006)

I recently bought a 12" Coralife fixture from another forum member. It came with two 50/50 compact fluorescent bulbs; obviously I don't need the actinic half of the bulbs so I've been searching for some new bulbs to replace these with.

I've been surprised, however, at how difficult it is to find 18 watt CF bulbs of a decent color temperature (most seem to stop at 4100k)! Coralife makes a 10,000k one, which would be okay, but I don't know how nice it'd look if both bulbs were 10,000k.

Current USA makes a 6700K/10,000k 50/50 bulb but, unfortunately, it only comes with a square/Japanese pin configuration. The Coralife fixture takes bulbs with straight/German pin configurations.

Is there some sort of converter I could buy to use the Current USA bulbs? Does anybody know of a straight-pin 6700k PC bulb? Or, if anyone has any other suggestions, that'd be great, too. Thanks!


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi tundrafour,

They make an adapter for straight pin to square pin, but I am unable to find a square pin to straight pin adapter. Sorry!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Aquarium-power-compact-bulb-square-pin-adapter-x4_W0QQitemZ380006816363QQihZ025QQcategoryZ46314QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQ_trksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQcmdZViewItem
You may have to change the end caps to use the bulbs that you like.


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## tundrafour (Jun 8, 2006)

Seattle_Aquarist, thanks for the link! I didn't even know if an adapter existed to begin with. Even though that one's the opposite of what I need, since somebody makes that one, I'm sure the one I'm looking for must be out there somewhere, too. Hope you're enjoying the weather! (I definitely am. )


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## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

go to home depot, they sell 18w 6700k bulbs cheap. they are used in those table lamps. and yes they are straight pin.


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## tundrafour (Jun 8, 2006)

dhavoc said:


> go to home depot, they sell 18w 6700k bulbs cheap. they are used in those table lamps. and yes they are straight pin.


Thanks for the tip. Home Depot was actually the first place I tried (followed by Lowe's), but neither place had the bulb I was looking for. I don't know if they might have been out of stock, if I was looking in the wrong place (although I was wandering around pretty much every aisle of the lighting section for about 30 minutes), or if the locations near me just don't stock them to begin with.

Either way, I managed to find a couple of places online that stock something closer to the bulb I'm looking for. I'll post the links here for future reference. I'll also edit the post and update the list if I happen to find anything better or cheaper (or both, hopefully). 

- 5500k 18 watt CF at naturallighting.com
- 6500k 18 watt CF at fullspectrumsolutions.com

I think one of the second bulb and one of the Coralife 10,000k ones will probably do pretty nicely.

Thanks again for your help!


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## Indignation (Mar 9, 2008)

If you are still looking, this site sells an 18w straight or sqaure pin bulb, with lots of color options. I'd like to try the 8000K True Grow model myself. 
Danielle had a great thread
talking about this bulb, seems like it looks very nice. I'm sure if you combined it with a 10000k you'd get a nice balanced look.

Good luck!


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## jgilvey (Jul 5, 2008)

I found those 6500k 18W bulbs at HD, but can't figure out what to put them in. I'd like a pair of something like the TOM deco light, but can't find them separately. Ideally I'd like some sort of retro I could install in a canopy with a really good reflector like those from AH.


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