Coralife Colormax Bulbs

[Morgan'sMiracles]

Hello again!

i need better lighting for my aquarium and I don't have lots of money to spare. However, my current tank came with a coralife light for the 29g that can hold two bulbs. I was wondering if the 2x coralife colormax bulbs would be strong enough to give me enough light to sustain good plant life and growth?

If not, what are some other bulb suggestions? I also have a standard 29g light that I can get better bulbs for, and if necessary, I can probably have both lights on the tank at the same time.

Basically I'm asking about the power of colormax. Any experience? With these lights, about what level of aquarium plant could I have?

Thanks!

[Justin]

T5 or T8?

[Morgan'sMiracles]

T5 or T8?

T5 I believe?

http://www.petco.com/product/113082/Coralife-T5-High-Output-Colormax-Lamp.aspx#description-tab

http://www.petco.com/product/113081/Coralife-T5-High-Output-6700K-Aquarium-Lamp.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch

[Justin]

And what fixture do you have?

[Morgan'sMiracles]

And what fixture do you have?

Umm.... the coralife one. I'll check...

edit: t5 dual

Edited August 13, 2014 by Morgan'sMiracles

[Justin]

Two T5HO bulbs 18" from substrate (height of 29g) should definitely give you at least medium, if not high, light with a full power ballast. It depends on the bulbs, though. I did a little digging but couldn't find PAR ratings for Coralife Colormax bulbs. My two bulb 48" fixture gives me med-high light, around 50 par. I think any plant labeled as medium light should do pretty well with two T5HO. We'll see what others have to say, though

[Chai]

A Colormax and a Powerglo should be a nice combination of inexpensive bulbs.

[Morgan'sMiracles]

A Colormax and a Powerglo should be a nice combination of inexpensive bulbs.

Call me stupid, but... What's a powerglo?

[Morgan'sMiracles]

Two T5HO bulbs 18" from substrate (height of 29g) should definitely give you at least medium, if not high, light with a full power ballast. It depends on the bulbs, though. I did a little digging but couldn't find PAR ratings for Coralife Colormax bulbs. My two bulb 48" fixture gives me med-high light, around 50 par. I think any plant labeled as medium light should do pretty well with two T5HO. We'll see what others have to say, though

Thanks a bunch for the input! I think I read somewhere that Coralife hasn't put out PAR readings for their lights, or at least not these. Thanks for looking around. I really hope they are adequate!

[Moucho+Moncho]

I would say they are fine. I had them on my guppy tank once and all my med. to high light plants did well.

[Chai]

A Colormax and a Powerglo should be a nice combination of inexpensive bulbs.

Call me stupid, but... What's a powerglo?

http://smile.amazon.com/Power-Glo-Fluorescent-Bulb-24-Watt-24-Inch/dp/B0017JE6NU/ref=smi_ge_sr_btnr1_setch?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0&ie=UTF8&x=-859&y=-486&pldnNew=1

[Morgan'sMiracles]

A Colormax and a Powerglo should be a nice combination of inexpensive bulbs.

Call me stupid, but... What's a powerglo?

http://smile.amazon.com/Power-Glo-Fluorescent-Bulb-24-Watt-24-Inch/dp/B0017JE6NU/ref=smi_ge_sr_btnr1_setch?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0&ie=UTF8&x=-859&y=-486&pldnNew=1

Ah, okay. Thanks for the info!

I believe I'm going to get the colormax and the 6700k from coralife and hope for the best. Thanks for all the help!

[Daniel]

Two T5HO bulbs 18" from substrate (height of 29g) should definitely give you at least medium, if not high, light with a full power ballast. It depends on the bulbs, though. I did a little digging but couldn't find PAR ratings for Coralife Colormax bulbs. My two bulb 48" fixture gives me med-high light, around 50 par. I think any plant labeled as medium light should do pretty well with two T5HO. We'll see what others have to say, though

That's not a high output fixture, it's just a T5. There's a difference.

You cannot use a T5HO bulb in a T5 fixture, they're incompatible.

Edited August 14, 2014 by dan in aus

[Justin]

Two T5HO bulbs 18" from substrate (height of 29g) should definitely give you at least medium, if not high, light with a full power ballast. It depends on the bulbs, though. I did a little digging but couldn't find PAR ratings for Coralife Colormax bulbs. My two bulb 48" fixture gives me med-high light, around 50 par. I think any plant labeled as medium light should do pretty well with two T5HO. We'll see what others have to say, though

That's not a high output fixture, it's just a T5. There's a difference.

You cannot use a T5HO bulb in a T5 fixture, they're incompatible.

I assumed they were already in use. The bulbs he linked I were HO. I assumed the fixture was as well.

[Morgan'sMiracles]

Two T5HO bulbs 18" from substrate (height of 29g) should definitely give you at least medium, if not high, light with a full power ballast. It depends on the bulbs, though. I did a little digging but couldn't find PAR ratings for Coralife Colormax bulbs. My two bulb 48" fixture gives me med-high light, around 50 par. I think any plant labeled as medium light should do pretty well with two T5HO. We'll see what others have to say, though

That's not a high output fixture, it's just a T5. There's a difference.

You cannot use a T5HO bulb in a T5 fixture, they're incompatible.

I assumed they were already in use. The bulbs he linked I were HO. I assumed the fixture was as well.

I'm not sure that is the exact fixture. The fixture itself doesn't say anything but 'coralife', so I found one that looked very similar. However, the 2 bulbs I am planning on purchasing are also the same ones the previous owner used in the fixture, so I'm 97% sure that they will work fine. They are also the 2 bulbs recommended for use with this fixture on the website that made both the fixture and the bulbs.

[tithra]

Two T5HO bulbs 18" from substrate (height of 29g) should definitely give you at least medium, if not high, light with a full power ballast. It depends on the bulbs, though. I did a little digging but couldn't find PAR ratings for Coralife Colormax bulbs. My two bulb 48" fixture gives me med-high light, around 50 par. I think any plant labeled as medium light should do pretty well with two T5HO. We'll see what others have to say, though

That's not a high output fixture, it's just a T5. There's a difference.

You cannot use a T5HO bulb in a T5 fixture, they're incompatible.

This.

And changing bulbs from one t5 to a different t5 will give you minimal (if any) changes in par. If your bulbs are in the 5000k to 10000k range then they are fine for growing plants. With two t5 bulbs you should be able to grow some basic low, possibly medium light plants.

[Morgan'sMiracles]

Two T5HO bulbs 18" from substrate (height of 29g) should definitely give you at least medium, if not high, light with a full power ballast. It depends on the bulbs, though. I did a little digging but couldn't find PAR ratings for Coralife Colormax bulbs. My two bulb 48" fixture gives me med-high light, around 50 par. I think any plant labeled as medium light should do pretty well with two T5HO. We'll see what others have to say, though

That's not a high output fixture, it's just a T5. There's a difference.

You cannot use a T5HO bulb in a T5 fixture, they're incompatible.

This.

And changing bulbs from one t5 to a different t5 will give you minimal (if any) changes in par. If your bulbs are in the 5000k to 10000k range then they are fine for growing plants. With two t5 bulbs you should be able to grow some basic low, possibly medium light plants.

I haven't been using the previous bulbs. They were already used up when I was given the light set. I haven't used t5 bulbs before. And what would happen if a T5HO bulb went into a T5 fixture?

Sorry I got a bit... snippy... in the previous post, I just wish I'd known there was a difference earlier... Before I bought the lights... I guess I'll keep the bulbs, when they arrive, and just... Save and buy the dual t5ho filter.

[Daniel]

Best case scenario they don't work, worst case (which is probable) the ballast overheats and dies, the bulbs explode or you start a fire.

[Morgan'sMiracles]

Best case scenario they don't work, worst case (which is probable) the ballast overheats and dies, the bulbs explode or you start a fire.

Awesome. My parents would just love my fish keeping hobby to start a fire. Alright, I'll just return them when they arrive. Thanks for telling me this before I went ahead and blew stuff up.

[Daniel]

What is written on your current bulbs or the fixture itself? You can find out for sure what sort of fixture it is based on some of the code they use. Indeed, a T5 bulb will be lower wattage than a high output, and the wattage should be printed on the bulb.