# Coralife Aqualight T5NO - PAR meter results



## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Tonight I broke out the PAR meter and tried to get some readings on a 30 inch Coralife Freshwater Aqualight T5 Series Double Linear Strip Light. I decided not to test in the tank, instead I did a dry test in a dim room.

First I removed the light and placed it over 2 chairs that were back to back about 3 feet apart. The light shined directly onto the hardwood floor. 

I placed miscellaneous things under the sensor to get the right distance. At each distance I put the sensor under the light and moved it around very slowly, trying to find the highest PAR and noting how it drops off as you move the sensor away. 

Here are the results:

At 3.5 inches I measured 125 mms of PAR directly under the light, with a 50 percent reduction in PAR 2.5 inches from the light. 

At 18 inches I measured 16 mms of PAR directly under the light, with a 50 percent reduction in PAR 8 iches away from the light.

At 24 inches I measured 9 mms of PAR directly under the light, with a 50 percent reduction in PAR 14 inches from the light.

At 30 inches I measured 6 mms of PAR directly under the light, with a 50 percent reduction oin PAR 15 inches from the light.

I have never used a PAR meter so I wasn't really sure how to conduct the test - hopefully this will be useful information!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

That is unbelievably low on PAR! Low by a factor of at least 4 from what I expected. But the last three readings follow the inverse square rule exactly, suggesting that the meter is reading correctly. PANIC!!!

People use that light successfully on 55 gallon tanks, where the light is about 20 inches from the substrate. I don't see how that could be possible with such a low PAR. Your results are just barely above the results I got with a T8, no reflector light.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Yea, not so good! And the HC is looking pretty crappy


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## Loop (Jan 8, 2011)

Are the bulbs new or old? Just throwing out guesses here.


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## jasonh (Oct 26, 2003)

And I assume that's with both bulbs in use? A little lower than I expected.... Though, I may be ok with 2 of these units (have them laying around - just need bulbs) on a 20g, I hope. (I wonder if I'd just be better off with a 2x18w t5ho I have laying around though)


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## shawnhu (Jan 23, 2009)

With water, the light will be reflected nicely. I would think that those readings would double if there was water filled 1-2 inches from the light.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

The lights were purchased brand new around October of last year, and have been on approximately 9-10 hours per day since. I think that makes them still fairly new, and certainly not near the end of their life.


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## Loligo (Jan 25, 2011)

Ahhh, thank you for doing this! I have this fixture.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Is there any chance I screwed up the readings? My technique was pretty simple, but crude. I can't see how my testing approach could have reduced the PAR but I'm really not sure.

This afternoon I'm going to do some measurements inside the tank. My tank is a bowfront so it's incredibly hard to take photos, but I'll give it a shot!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

These results look accurate to me. My LFS has 2 of these fixtures on a 55gallon (their only planted tank with plants for sale) with no co2 or ferts but leafzone and the plants look great, no algae either. I asked them about it and they said 'we tried co2 but the plants grew fine without it' and they're right..


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Soon I'll have some data on how much the PAR is increased when you measure inside the tank. Unfortuantely this going to be a bit tough -my tank has a very curved front and tons of large craggy driftwood and big leaves all around - so it's actually kind of tricky to find spots where I can put the meter right under the light without any obstruction. I will do my best, though!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Sometimes we can overlook the obvious - maybe this test is telling us that the low light range extends down near 10 mms of PAR? If that were the case, the results people get with that light on a 55 gallon tank would make sense. But, it still doesn't explain how:
T5NO bulbs give more lumens per watt than T5HO bulbs,
Very good reflectors can increase the PAR by about 3 to one,
T5NO bulbs run at about half the wattage as T5HO bulbs, 
But, T5NO lights only give less than 1/5 the PAR of T5HO lights.


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## fast93accord (Nov 14, 2010)

The reflector in that light is a joke. Hence I'm running 2 of those fixtures on my 36 bow 21" deep.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Well I think it also had to due with this particular fixture hoppy, the bulbs are less than 2" apart in the fixture and it's a single 'reflector' for the both of them. I would bet with wider bulb spacing and individual reflectors, the par from a t5no would be quite a bit closer to the HO


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## jasonh (Oct 26, 2003)

Yeah I agree, the 'reflector' is pretty worthless on these things.


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## Loligo (Jan 25, 2011)

This really makes me wish I had a PAR meter.


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## Rainer (Jan 30, 2011)

So this may actually be a low light application rather than high from the PAR chart or medium from LSI?


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Rainer said:


> So this may actually be a low light application rather than high from the PAR chart or medium from LSI?


Definitely low light If your 18" or more from the substrate.. Probably the same even at 16" away.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Rainer said:


> So this may actually be a low light application rather than high from the PAR chart or medium from LSI?


If you mean the below chart, then it certainly didn't correspond with my light/meter reading!










What did you mean by LSI?


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## jasonh (Oct 26, 2003)

That chart is based on proper reflectors used with each type of light. The reflectors on these fixtures are far from proper. So really the chart doesn't come into play when using these fixtures. 

If you took the guts of this fixture and retrofitted it using proper t5ho reflectors, I'm sure the results would be much better.


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## Loligo (Jan 25, 2011)

Are there even any other T5NO fixtures around? I haven't seen any others while browsing around online. I wish we could get more data to help with Hoppy's chart. I also wish there was a sticky or something where we could list known PAR values for specific fixtures.


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## jasonh (Oct 26, 2003)

Loligo said:


> Are there even any other T5NO fixtures around? I haven't seen any others while browsing around online. I wish we could get more data to help with Hoppy's chart. I also wish there was a sticky or something where we could list known PAR values for specific fixtures.


I think the best that could be done is general estimates like we have with the chart, but include fixtures with crappy reflectors. Most low-cost fixtures don't have good reflectors and so they can't be correlated to the chart currently.

At least, that is what I understand from reading the chart thread.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

jasonh said:


> That chart is based on proper reflectors used with each type of light. The reflectors on these fixtures are far from proper. So really the chart doesn't come into play when using these fixtures.
> 
> If you took the guts of this fixture and retrofitted it using proper t5ho reflectors, I'm sure the results would be much better.


Fair enough!



Loligo said:


> Are there even any other T5NO fixtures around? I haven't seen any others while browsing around online. I wish we could get more data to help with Hoppy's chart. I also wish there was a sticky or something where we could list known PAR values for specific fixtures.


I have never seen another T5NO fixture for aquariums, but I'm sure they are out there. One thing is for sure, my particular fixture ain't so great 

I'm really looking forward to testing the Powerbrite LED strips tonight.

hoppy/all -Is there any feedback on my testing technique or the data I collected? I am trying to make a useful contribution of information so if there is something I can do differently please let me know!


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## Rainer (Jan 30, 2011)

LSI = Lumens per square inch. Before I found this site, I read others which rated fixtures by LSI. One had a downloadable excel spreadsheet for calculating the values of your lights. I can't recall the site name atm, but maybe someone here can help. It was by a guy named Jay, IIRC.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Not only are the reflectors poor, but the bulbs are right on top of each other so quite a bit is lost to restrike.

Makes em perfect for low tech tanks.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

I still like these lights 
They run cool, sit right on the glass, and produce a nice pleasing light.

That said, mine will be for sale in a few weeks


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

HolyAngel said:


> Well I think it also had to due with this particular fixture hoppy, the bulbs are less than 2" apart in the fixture and it's a single 'reflector' for the both of them. I would bet with wider bulb spacing and individual reflectors, the par from a t5no would be quite a bit closer to the HO


But even the makers who really want to emphasize how great their reflector is, only claim something less than a 3X improvement using their reflector. And, I know from my experimenting that even a lousy reflector does some good, so the poor Coralife reflector might account for 1.5 to 2X of the difference, but surely not all of it.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Dave-H said:


> I have never seen another T5NO fixture for aquariums, but I'm sure they are out there. One thing is for sure, my particular fixture ain't so great


There is at least one other that I have seen advertised, but I can't remember it's maker, yet.


> I'm really looking forward to testing the Powerbrite LED strips tonight.
> 
> hoppy/all -Is there any feedback on my testing technique or the data I collected? I am trying to make a useful contribution of information so if there is something I can do differently please let me know!


You tested very much like I did, so I have no suggestions for improving your technique. (You could fudge the numbers a bit to make me look better )


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Oh one more thing I just remembered! The colormax bulbs don't put out any useable light, it's literally just for color. Would that make up the difference in par?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Reading in another forum about T5NO, I found an interesting observation: T5NO is the same technology as PC lights, except without the bulb being folded. If that were true you might expect a T5NO light to give about the same light as a non-AH Supply PC light, and your data does fall right on the same line as the non-AH Supply PC's. Intuitively I would expect the PC to be better, because there are two lengths of that light over the same spot in the aquarium. But, that two tube arrangement is much worse for even a bad reflector to do any reflecting. The Coralife light does allow some light to reflect between the two bulbs, just not much.

If I get any more PAR measurements from the Coralife T5NO fixture, of any length, and it is reasonably in agreement with Dave's data I will change my charts to reflect that. I may do it later, even without more data.

I can't find the other T5NO light I though I recalled seeing advertised, so it may be that Coralife has the only ones, other than perhaps terrestrial gardening lights, which seem to mostly be T5HO.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to extend the acceptable low light range down to about 15 mms of PAR too. We do know that they work as low light on 20 inch high tanks.


HolyAngel said:


> Oh one more thing I just remembered! The colormax bulbs don't put out any useable light, it's literally just for color. Would that make up the difference in par?


I think the colormax bulbs do produce some PAR, but you could be right that they produce a lot less than the other bulb in the Coralife fixture. We need a PAR reading with two of the "other" bulbs in the fixture, to settle that. And, of course one with two colormax bulbs would put the final nail in the coffin.


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## Erica (Dec 16, 2010)

Thanks for testing this out Dave-H! I've been researching this light a lot and finding a lot of conflicting information, so its nice to see some actual numbers.

Oh, and I think the other T5NO is made by SolarMax.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Erica said:


> Thanks for testing this out Dave-H! I've been researching this light a lot and finding a lot of conflicting information, so its nice to see some actual numbers.
> 
> Oh, and I think the other T5NO is made by SolarMax.


Oh you're right, it's the SolarMax T5HE fixture (they use HE to mean NO) high efficiency 

--

+1 hoppy
Getting par results from 2 6500k in the coralife fixture, and 2 of the colormax bulbs in the fixture will definitely put the 'nail in the coffin' and let us know what we're working with ^^


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

HolyAngel said:


> Getting par results from 2 6500k in the coralife fixture, and 2 of the colormax bulbs in the fixture will definitely put the 'nail in the coffin' and let us know what we're working with ^^


Would it be interested to repeat the test with just one bulb in the fixture at a time? i.e. 1 of the 6500k and 1 of the Colormax? Maybe the data is getting a bit abstracted, but if anyone is interested I'll go for it! But first, the Powerbrite LED!

After all, this is my first 'useful' contribution to this forum after months of asking questions


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## jhwku (Feb 25, 2011)

I have this fixture over my 29gal tank. I have the saltwater model with 10k and actinic bulbs. I am currently getting a lot of algae growth with these lights on.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I'm not sure the Coralife light will operate with only one bulb in it, but you could put a strip of cardboard in the way of the light from the second bulb, for example half a cardboard tube for paper towels, etc. Hold it in place with a couple of pieces of masking tape. That would be a very interesting test to run. Should I beg?:help:


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## djscotty (Sep 14, 2010)

subscribed. This was going to be might light of choice, but it's not looking so great now.:icon_cry:


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

djscotty said:


> subscribed. This was going to be might light of choice, but it's not looking so great now.:icon_cry:


Don't give up now! That light is successfully used by a lot of people on 55 gallon and other tanks, for low light, non CO2 planted tanks. That doesn't change just because the estimates I made for that light were wrong. It will still do everything it has been doing, but I will need to change some things on my charts.


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## Rainer (Jan 30, 2011)

djscotty said:


> This was going to be might light of choice, but it's not looking so great now.:icon_cry:


At least you don't have several shipments of medium-light plants en route to your newly downgraded aquarium.


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## scubasmac (Jan 28, 2011)

Im hoping they will still work. I just picked up 2 of the Solarmax HE fixtures to put over my 90gal. They have a lot better reflector than the Coralife and are spaced a little further apart. Wish I had a par meter


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

im about to buy a solarmaxHE. for lowish0medium light i was planning on having it 18" from the substrate. but if the PAR readings on the coralife would be relevant to that of the solarmaxHE, should i rethink the height, or go with a 2-bulb fixture?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Rainer said:


> At least you don't have several shipments of medium-light plants en route to your newly downgraded aquarium.


As long as you've got CO2 on your tank my prediction is they'll do just fine. :thumbsup:


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## Kojack (Feb 9, 2010)

djscotty said:


> subscribed. This was going to be might light of choice, but it's not looking so great now.:icon_cry:


You're fine I have two of these fixtures over my 55 and I get great growth. Even better growth and color with co2. I've always considered my setup medium/medium-low tech. But considering the results I may be incorrect 

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk


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## shawnhu (Jan 23, 2009)

HolyAngel said:


> Oh one more thing I just remembered! The colormax bulbs don't put out any useable light, it's literally just for color. Would that make up the difference in par?


What's wrong with the Colormax bulbs? I thought the red in them is readily accepted by plants?


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## shane3fan (Nov 2, 2009)

Ive been running one of these strips on my 29g for a long time--I just added a second one last night ( I already had it for another tank ) Looking forward to seeing if I grow plants or algae. I does EI and have pressurized CO2, I had always thought that I had higher light than what the PAR results in this thread suggest. Might explain why my plants dont grow as fast or as red as I think they should. We shall see in the next couple of weeks I suppose.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Dave-H said:


> I have never seen another T5NO fixture for aquariums


SolarMax is another T5NO light fixture. It has a better reflector than the Coralife. JacobL has it over his tank.


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## PUMPKINHEAD (Nov 5, 2010)

I've seen a light made by Ecko that's HE and haz the same wattage as NO. Pretty cheap pricetag and has builtin led moonlights. I'm pondering getting one.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

PUMPKINHEAD said:


> I've seen a light made by Ecko that's HE and haz the same wattage as NO. Pretty cheap pricetag and has builtin led moonlights. I'm pondering getting one.


Do you have a link to that light? I can't find it with Google.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Hoppy said:


> I'm not sure the Coralife light will operate with only one bulb in it, but you could put a strip of cardboard in the way of the light from the second bulb, for example half a cardboard tube for paper towels, etc. Hold it in place with a couple of pieces of masking tape. That would be a very interesting test to run. Should I beg?:help:


I'll give this a try soon!


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## PUMPKINHEAD (Nov 5, 2010)

Hoppy said:


> Do you have a link to that light? I can't find it with Google.


Idk how to do all that... I've only seen the light at one store,Randys fish palace in stockton. Maybe its spelled differnt but its echo,ehco,ecko,something like that.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Hoppy said:


> Do you have a link to that light? I can't find it with Google.


Are you talking about SolarMaxHE2?


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Hoppy said:


> You could put a strip of cardboard in the way of the light from the second bulb. That would be a very interesting test to run.


I think using metal strip that is painted white would work better.


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## djscotty (Sep 14, 2010)

Hoppy said:


> Do you have a link to that light? I can't find it with Google.


I called Randys and he said they are Eco T5's with a $89.99 for a 30" dual bulb setup. I still have not found anything on the internet.


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## Hadouken441 (Mar 19, 2010)

I have the coralife light over my 20 long. About 4 inches above my tank too. I get excellent growth.

I do have 2 of the fixture tho. 4 bulbs is a little much but 3 bulbs is just fantastic. I grew everything in my Sig tank.


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## PUMPKINHEAD (Nov 5, 2010)

djscotty said:


> I called Randys and he said they are Eco T5's with a $89.99 for a 30" dual bulb setup. I still have not found anything on the internet.


That's the one. I got a much lower price,but I do with anything I buy from there. Helps when your there everyday pretty much,lol.


Ialso used 2 of the coralife NO fixturez on my 20L and grew anything,including a lot of algae. This was my learning tank. I use 3 6500k daylights and one colormax.

These are on my 29 now,tanks cycling still,we'll see how they do now.


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## fish h20 (May 5, 2009)

I think someone else needs to test the coralife fixture. I have tested mine before (1 48"X2 over a 75g with glass tops) and I had 30 or 40 mm at the substrate. I can't remember exactly what it was. You might try it in the tank for better results. I think instead of the light going through the glass sides it is reflected back into the tank (amplification). I do agree that fixture has crappy reflectors and the bulbs are too close together but in your test it sounds like you forgot to turn it on.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

I'll test it in the water soon, don't worry. But no I didn't forget to turn it in


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

shawnhu said:


> What's wrong with the Colormax bulbs? I thought the red in them is readily accepted by plants?


When i was searching for plant grow bulbs some months ago and suggested this one to my lfs and others both online and in-person, I was told they don't offer hardly any useable light by any plants and are literally just for color and that I should avoid them if i want to grow plants.

Thats all i got tho, no hard evidence. I know it was damn near impossible to find a spectrum chart for them but i did http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/lighting/76552-colormax-bulbs.html

Will definitely need to see about trying 1 bulb at a time to get the par, put this to rest once and for all.


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## Rainer (Jan 30, 2011)

Dave-H said:


> But no I didn't forget to turn it in


Of course you didn't...

but were there any reports of a brownout that day?

Seriously though, I'm looking forward to the in-water data. Currently I have no idea what my photo period should be.


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## IWANNAGOFAST (Jan 14, 2008)

very very interesting..................

I've seen tanks with that same t5no with moss and bolbitus and it looks amazing, not a spec of algae.

Since you have the PAR meter, how about... measuring the sunlight? These "highlight" plants grow in the sun, lets see how much light they're getting.


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## djscotty (Sep 14, 2010)

So, I just bought two of these from the Big Als special. Can you switch out the colormax bulb with another 6500k for more light or is it not designed like that?


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## PUMPKINHEAD (Nov 5, 2010)

I switched mine out. I'm running 3 6500k and 1 colormax


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## djscotty (Sep 14, 2010)

Is there a reason why you are running one colormax? Does it make that much difference in tank color?


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

djscotty said:


> Can you switch out the colormax bulb with another 6500k for more light?


Better yet you could get a 10,000 k here. This would give you a brighter look. 

To counteract the pink I have a Zoo Med super daylight on top. Then a Life-glo on the bottom.


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## PUMPKINHEAD (Nov 5, 2010)

Actually only ran/running the colormax to diffuse some light when they were on the 20L,just haven't replaced it yet. Actually don't think I will replace it,think I'm switchin to HO next week.


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## Paragon (Jan 16, 2011)

Just got one of these fixtures. If I want to not kill my newly-acquired Blyxa japonica, what is the best thing to replace the Colormax with? I'd like to increase the light but a CO2 setup will not fly in my house. 

A pinkish color isn't a problem because there is natural sunlight for some number of hours a day, plus I've had aquariums for so long that I'm used to it.


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

So for a solarmaxHE 2-bulb( I hear they have better reflectors) would it be good say 16" above the substrate to be at a good light level that diy co2 would be efficient? 


You can call me Bob


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

lauraleellbp said:


> As long as you've got CO2 on your tank my prediction is they'll do just fine. :thumbsup:


haha, crap. i should have read this thread b4 I ordered 2x of these for my 56G column (24")...

and I too have some medium light plants coming in, and i don't do CO2. :frown:


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## PUMPKINHEAD (Nov 5, 2010)

Is anyone ever going to actually do a real test onthis light? From what I undersgand these readings are just the light in an open space not in an aquarium. Id like to know what light level I'm at. I've carpeted hc with these lights,can't be that bad....


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

PUMPKINHEAD said:


> Is anyone ever going to actually do a real test onthis light? From what I undersgand these readings are just the light in an open space not in an aquarium. Id like to know what light level I'm at. I've carpeted hc with these lights,can't be that bad....


I am planning on doing an in-tank test today, but I think that the out-of-tank test is still a 'real' test - it is actually a better way to control for misc. factors like the size/shape of the tank and get a baseline comparison of different lights.

Whether you can grow HC with these lights just depends on the distance between the light and the substrate, so without knowing the depth of your tank it's hard to say what that means.


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## IWANNAGOFAST (Jan 14, 2008)

Hey Dave, think you can do a sunlight test? I have my club's PAR meter still but it's been raining and cloudy for like a week now.

Would be interesting to see how much par there is in nature


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Sure, but this is a rare week for Denver - it's been cloudy for 3 days!


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Ok, here are the in tank results. I didn't have much time to do this, so it's a bit crude.

I am measuing PAR in a 54 gallon bowfront corner tank - a quarter cylinder.

The light is exactly 20.5 inches above the substrate when it's sitting atop the glass. Through that glass (which was cleaned before the test) the PAR at substrate was exactly 12 mms. Interestingly, that jumped a bit to 14 when I placed the sensor within 2 inches of the front glass. 

The light was exactly 19.5 inches above the substrate when the light was on the rim rather than on the glass. At that depth, the PAR at substrate was 14 mms, which went up to 16.5 when I placed the sensor within 2 inches of the front glass.

hoppy, your requested test with one of the bulbs covered is next, but that will have to wait until tomorrow


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## Loligo (Jan 25, 2011)

I can certainly believe these results. My HC is barely hanging on, and even stem plants like Ludwigia repens are leggy and have a lot of distance between nodes.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Yea it seems to me like these T5NO lights are mediocre, and not powerful enough to push through more than 14 inches or so of water.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Wouldn't it be great if the makers of these lights would put a simple PAR vs distance chart on the package with each fixture or each bulb, and in their advertisements? They could do it so easily too. Maybe Catalina Aquarium will be the first to do this - they are doing some testing with a PAR meter now, I believe.

Considering how many different light fixtures and bulbs and combinations of lights and bulbs that are available, it is overwhelming to even think about trying to do this as a hobbyist. Of course, when manufacturers do testing they almost always cheat on the results, to increase their sales.

We also need to shift our focus more towards CO2 instead of lighting. With low light and good CO2 you can grow just about any plant in good health. And, if you try to use high light in the mistaken belief that it is light that you need more than anything else, you need the CO2 to avoid lots of algae headaches anyway. So, why not start with CO2, no matter what light you have?


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

I am dying to test one of these Truelumen Pro Stiplights.


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## zenche (Feb 9, 2011)

ps. from what the big al's rep told me, this product line is being discontinued by coralife, hence the 40% sale.


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## Rainer (Jan 30, 2011)

Hmm. Has Coralife been reading this thread?


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Dave-H said:


> I am dying to test one of these Truelumen Pro Stiplights.


Wow!! What is the price?


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## Landau (Mar 24, 2010)

I found these tables on Hagen's site for thie t8 and t5ho bulbs. They at least let you compare their bulbs to each other. Notice the Difference in output between the Life-GLo and Flora-Glo.

T8 Specs

and here are the T5HO Specs

T5 HO Fluorescent Bulbs 

- All diameters are 16 mm (5/8") 

Power Glo 
Item# Size Watts Kelvins Lumens Hours Lux 
A-1656 22” (55cm) 24W 18,000 900 9000 122 
A-1658 34” (85cm) 39W 18,000 1500 12,000 181 
A-1660 46” (115cm) 54W 18,000 2150 12,000 233 

Life-Glo 
Item# Size Watts Kelvins Lumens Hours Lux 
A-1666 22” (55cm) 24W 6700 1700 9000 187 
A-1668 34” (85cm) 39W 6700 3000 12,000 314 
A-1670 46” (115cm) 54W 6700 4300 12,000 422 

Marine-Glo 
Item# Size Watts Kelvins Lumens Hours Lux 
A-1672 22” (55cm) 24W Actinic Spectrum 670 9000 79 
A-1674 34” (85cm) 39W Actinic Spectrum 1130 12,000 133 
A-1676 46” (115cm) 54W Actinic Spectrum 1600 12,000 177


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## djscotty (Sep 14, 2010)

Hoppy said:


> Wouldn't it be great if the makers of these lights would put a simple PAR vs distance chart on the package with each fixture or each bulb, and in their advertisements? They could do it so easily too. Maybe Catalina Aquarium will be the first to do this - they are doing some testing with a PAR meter now, I believe.
> 
> Considering how many different light fixtures and bulbs and combinations of lights and bulbs that are available, it is overwhelming to even think about trying to do this as a hobbyist. Of course, when manufacturers do testing they almost always cheat on the results, to increase their sales.
> 
> We also need to shift our focus more towards CO2 instead of lighting. With low light and good CO2 you can grow just about any plant in good health. And, if you try to use high light in the mistaken belief that it is light that you need more than anything else, you need the CO2 to avoid lots of algae headaches anyway. So, why not start with CO2, no matter what light you have?



This is the best thing I have heard in a long time! So basically you can match your Co2 to whatever light you would like. Thanks Hoppy, you dont know how much this actually helped me understand.


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## Capsaicin_MFK (Nov 15, 2009)

djscotty said:


> This is the best thing I have heard in a long time! So basically you can match your Co2 to whatever light you would like. Thanks Hoppy, you dont know how much this actually helped me understand.


Running 3 bps of co2 on my 55g tank with the 48" version of this Coralife light (2x28w 6700k and Colormax) and my plants have no issue growing.


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## Rainer (Jan 30, 2011)

What's an appropriate photo period for this light? Fourteen hours?


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## darkcrisis (Jan 21, 2009)

I also have the 48" version of this light on a 55g. I just setup CO2 on the tank this week. I just stumbled across this thread and it makes me worry I may be lacking in the lighting department.

My current fixture is OLD!!! I have a brand new one (same fixture) I got for Christmas and am thinking about adding it to the tank in addition to the old one instead of replacing it. Maybe my next purchase will be a new light... I have some research to do!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Rainer said:


> What's an appropriate photo period for this light? Fourteen hours?


The most widely accepted photo period for any lighting is 6-10 hours, with most seeming to use 8 hours. Longer photoperiods aren't of much benefit to most plants, in my opinion. Some plants even close up their leaves after about 8 hours of light.


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## WeedCali (Jun 21, 2010)

I have this 30" light on my 36g bowfront with CSM+B, NPK, and Fe. Im using the 6700k bulb and colormax. should i switch the colormax out with a 6700k or 10,000k? i really like how the 10,000k looks but is it more useable to the plants compared to the colormax?


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## xmas_one (Feb 5, 2010)

WeedCali said:


> I have this 30" light on my 36g bowfront with CSM+B, NPK, and Fe. Im using the 6700k bulb and colormax. should i switch the colormax out with a 6700k or 10,000k? i really like how the 10,000k looks but is it more useable to the plants compared to the colormax?


Typically a 6700K will show more PAR than a 10000K. 

Google the bulbs and you might find the actual numbers..


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## WeedCali (Jun 21, 2010)

wish there was a 30" 8000k T5NO bulb out there...


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Here read that the PUR-efficiency tends to be higher for 10K. Here is a PUR-efficiency list by defdac at the BarrReport.

T5NO Coralife light gives about the same PAR as a single PC bulb.

Plants can still use the 10K but it's a MUCH lower usage rate. 1 6700 and 1 10,000K bulb is the way to go fro what i can see

Someone please verify this info I found.


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

So I might get an aqueon live plant kit that's onsale. It is 19" high. It comes with the coralife dual t5 light. Would this me low light?


You can call me Bob


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## NJAquaBarren (Sep 16, 2009)

If someone would be willing to lend me a PAR meter I could measure a 2x t5jo fixture with one reflector (Hagen glo), 2x t5ho with quality individual reflectors, 4x t5ho with indiv reflectors (aquatic life), and a marine land double bright LED fixture to add to the PAR database here.

A fixture database is a project worth starting I think.

AB


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

If you're close to the city I can bring mine on my next trip to NYC - I do tons of business there.


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## WeedCali (Jun 21, 2010)

So i tend to be getting some mixed opinions on Kelvin ratings here. Earlier in this thread, someone said that the Colormax bulb that this fixture comes with is useless to plants but others say that color temperature has nothing to do with the plants really.


So what I basically want to know is, will adding a 6700k (or 10,000k) bulb to this fixture increase the usable light output for my plants?

and to my understanding, theres no difference on what the plants use in terms of 6700k and 10,000k bulbs?


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## fast93accord (Nov 14, 2010)

I would say running 1 6700, is the same as running 1 6700 and 1 colormax. The colormax is useless. I think they put it in there so you spend more$$ on another bulb. It has no intensity at all. Running another 6700 or 10000k will double the brightness of the fixture and provide much more usable light for plants... I'm not saying the colormax is useless to plants. Green plants do use the red spectrum, I'm saying the lumenin output of it is not strong... I'm sure the par output is also very low. Not sure if its been done yet, but a par test should be done with 2 6700, or a 10000k to prove my feelings of the colormax being useless for a planted tank.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk


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## fast93accord (Nov 14, 2010)

Oh, I would not say the 6700 and 10000k are the same. Ideally, the 6700 should have a more usable spectrum for plant growth, however I do feel the 10000k probably has a higher lumenin output. The 10000 should have less red then the 6700, but have more blue, which green plants also use. I'm sure most people know the green spectrum is unusable to green plants. However I do believe red plants do use the green spectrum, correct me if I'm wrong.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

fast93accord said:


> I would say running 1 6700, is the same as running 1 6700 and 1 colormax. The colormax is useless. I think they put it in there so you spend more$$ on another bulb. It has no intensity at all. Running another 6700 or 10000k will double the brightness of the fixture and provide much more usable light for plants... I'm not saying the colormax is useless to plants. Green plants do use the red spectrum, I'm saying the lumenin output of it is not strong... I'm sure the par output is also very low. Not sure if its been done yet, but a par test should be done with 2 6700, or a 10000k to prove my feelings of the colormax being useless for a planted tank.
> Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk


We don't know if the colormax bulb is as good as a 6700K bulb or better or worse, until someone measures the PAR it produces. You can't judge it by how bright the light looks because our eyes are not very sensitive to red light, even though plants are sensitive to it. I'm guessing that it produces about the same PAR as the 6700K bulb.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Hoppy said:


> We don't know if the colormax bulb is as good as a 6700K bulb or better or worse, until someone measures the PAR it produces. You can't judge it by how bright the light looks because our eyes are not very sensitive to red light, even though plants are sensitive to it. I'm guessing that it produces about the same PAR as the 6700K bulb.


Ok, I think I can do it tonight!

What would be the best way to block one of the lamps? The paper towel cardboard sounds like it would work, if I can find a few. Should I be concerned about heat/burning? It would literally be a few minutes with the light on so it should be fine!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Either that or get another 6700k bulb and replace the colormax and see what the par values are.. You already know what a 67k/color combo gives, so should be able to extrapolate the difference of the extra 6700k and be able to tell roughly the par from each bulb, both the 67's and the colormax


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

HolyAngel said:


> Either that or get another 6700k bulb and replace the colormax and see what the par values are.. You already know what a 67k/color combo gives, so should be able to extrapolate the difference of the extra 6700k and be able to tell roughly the par from each bulb, both the 67's and the colormax


True, but I'm in the process of retiring this fixture 'cause it just isn't cutting it in my tank. So, I don't want to invest in another bulb


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I don't think there is the slightest chance of harming anything with the cardboard tube idea, since it won't be on long enough to get very hot. A piece of cardboard bent into an L shape and masking taped to the light would also work.


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## PRSRocker3390 (Apr 20, 2009)

Okay, I have a question for you lighting folks. I use this fixture, the 36" coralife T5NO with 6700k/colormax bulbs, the stock bulbs. I run this fixture over my 46 gallon bowfront. I have great plant growth I feel. I have various cypyts, Amazon sword, bacopa caroliniana, rotala rotundifolia, java fern, and a few others. Even some cool chain swords growing in nice in the foreground. I set it up with low tech with lowish light in mind. Well this light fixture is working well. But my thing is I feel it may be too high. I have a BBA issue with it. My tank gets some ferts once a week only, has a Rena XP2 plus Koralia Evo 550 running, and everything is great besides the BBA. My knowledge says that BBA comes from too high of light increasing the demand for CO2 which in turn causes BBA if not supplied. If this light is as low as its testing, then why would I have BBA as if my lighting is way too strong? Just a thing that has been bugging me and I would figure I'd ask since we are discussing this fixture.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

PRSRocker3390 said:


> My knowledge says that BBA comes from too high of light increasing the demand for CO2 which in turn causes BBA if not supplied.


Explanations for algae are consistently inconsistent, so it may not be that simple.


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## PRSRocker3390 (Apr 20, 2009)

Well I know that too but it just seems like everyone quickly says too high of light and need co2, but according to these par readings, it seems to be proven false in this scenario.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Yea I don't have any algae problems at all, just crap growth.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Tonight I removed one of the bulbs and to my surprise, the light still worked fine with just one bulb. I don't know much about electricity/lighting but I don't think that it will effect the intensity of the light - I hope someone will confirm this.

Here are the results:

With the 18 Watt T5 - MP 8700k bulb running 


At 3.5 inches I measured 64 mms of PAR directly under the light, with a 50 percent reduction in PAR 2.5 inches from the light.

At 18 inches I measured 10 mms of PAR directly under the light, with a 50 percent reduction in PAR 10 inches away from the light.

At 24 inches I measured 7 mms of PAR directly under the light, with a 50 percent reduction in PAR 13 inches from the light.

At 30 inches I measured 3 mms of PAR directly under the light, with a 50 percent reduction in PAR 24 inches from the light.

In the tank, on the glass cover the light is 21.5 inches off the substrate and the PAR meter read 7 directly under the light and dropping off quickly. PAR was about 10 right up against the glass.

And here are the results with just the colormax bulb running:



I put the lights up on the chair, and this bulb plummeted out and shattered all over my living room floor. Not good but at least it was a hardwood floor.


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## WeedCali (Jun 21, 2010)

Where did you find a 30" 8700k bulb? i would like to use one of those if it has good results for plants.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

It came with the fixture. I bought from lfs. I can't say I have good results trying to grow HC at 22 inches, but others report success.


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## Erica (Dec 16, 2010)

To me it looks like a scratched up 6. I think it's the standard 6700k bulb.


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## WeedCali (Jun 21, 2010)

Hmm. so then what would be most beneficial to plant growth, adding another 6700k bulb or adding a 10,000k bulb?


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

WeedCali said:


> Hmm. so then what would be most beneficial to plant growth, adding another 6700k bulb or adding a 10,000k bulb?


6700k would be more beneficial as it has blue and red, the 10k sacrifices red(which green plant also use) for more blue.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

So at 3" both bulbs put out 125mm and a single 67k runs 65mm

At 18" both bulbs give 16mm and the single 67k runs 10mm.

so the colormax looks to be about 2/3rd's the par of a 67k? That look right to you guys? I just checked on my phone so couldn't double check as I write...


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

WeedCali said:


> Hmm. so then what would be most beneficial to plant growth, adding another 6700k bulb or adding a 10,000k bulb?


It really depends on the plants you are growing. 
I found that these plants, which I have, do better with the colormax bulb:
Marsilea drummondii
Myriophyllum pinnatum
Eleocharis parvula
Hygrophila polysperma 'Ceylon'
Ludwigia repens
Rotala rotundifolia

I am using the Coralife light fixture with Colormax bulb and 6500k bulb. Also have Life-glo bulb which is a 6700k. I have a diy reflector over the 3 bulbs. Kelvins I believe relate to the color spectrums that the bulbs provide. The kelvin ratings are not consistent.Two bulbs of the same kelvin rating can have different spectral outputs. You'd think that a GE 9325K bulb would be sorta bluish almost like a 10000K bulb, but theya re really pinkish.

More info on spectrums here. Here read to maximise the photobiological process in plants, add more red AND blue spectrum, as plants require both red and blue enhancements. The use of a floral bulb with a daylight bulb will give good visuals AND healthy plants.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

In evaluating the PAR meter results you have to consider the accuracies of the readings. The PAR meter reads only whole numbers, no decimals. So, a reading of 3, for example means 2.5 to 3.5, and a reading of 16 means 15.5 to 16.5.

Based on that, at 30 inches, the single bulb gave 38 to 48% of the PAR of two bulbs.
At 24 inches, the single bulb gave 68 to 88% of the PAR of two bulbs.
At 18 inches, the single bulb gave 58 to 68% of the PAR of two bulbs.

Those are inconsistent results. The 30 inch readings indicate that the colormax bulb gave substantially more PAR than the other bulb, which looks to me like a 3700K bulb. The 24 and 18 inch readings indicate that the colormax bulb gave substantially less light than the 3700K bulb. The 3 inch readings are immaterial - that close to the bulbs a slight tilt of the sensor towards one bulb would drastically change the readings.

We also don't know if the ballast drives the single bulb at the same power as it drives that bulb when there are two bulbs installed. It may drive it at a higher power.

I think, for now, it is best to assume that the colormax bulb gives the same PAR as the 3700K bulb, but we don't know for sure if that 3700K bulb is really a 6700K or 8700K or 3700K bulb.

I think we can all agree that that particular colormax bulb doesn't give any useful light right now :icon_mrgr


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

hoppy - 

First let me say that I agree with your comments regarding the accuracy of the meter readings. I may have an idea about why, though, and it relates to the reflector/spread/evenness of the light.

When I was doing the readings, I noticed a dramatic increase in artifact, dead spots, and other irregularities in the meter readings. I was in a dim room in open air so I don't think any outside factors were involved - my suspicion is that the reflector was behaving strangely with only one bulb in it. 

When I measured this same light previously, it was very easy to find a mid-point where the light was highest, and I could simply slide the meter in any direction and see a gradual and consistent decrease in light. This time was different - moving the meter any direction caused odd and unexpected results, with swings up to 50% in just an inch or so of movement.

I have no idea why the results didn't make as much sense or seem as accurate as before, but it seemed to me like the meter WAS reading correctly and the light was just all over the place! Possible?

Well, sorry I didn't get great results on this one 
If anyone else in the Denver area wants to have a go, let me know!


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## WeedCali (Jun 21, 2010)

Anyone ever modify this light for Single Light Reflectors?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Dave-H said:


> hoppy -
> 
> First let me say that I agree with your comments regarding the accuracy of the meter readings. I may have an idea about why, though, and it relates to the reflector/spread/evenness of the light.
> 
> ...


I've been thinking more about this. With two bulbs in the fixture, little light from the backs of the bulbs can make it out to the PAR meter. But, with one bulb out, the light from the back of the remaining bulb is partly reflected down to the PAR meter, but that would likely be very non-uniform, as you noted. That, too, leads me to think both bulbs were giving similar PAR amounts. I know I am biased because I'm so sure the bulbs are designed to give the same amount of light, and I could be wrong on that.

Don't feel you didn't get good results. You did, but the results just didn't follow the path we expected. I think we can interpret them well enough to use them. This helps prove to me that measuring PAR may seem simple, but isn't nearly as simple as it appears to be. If human eyes were designed better, so they could "read" PAR it would be a lot easier to do. I don't think I'm ready to tackle that though.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Ok, well thanks for that 

And you know, if I didn't know that one of the bulbs was missing from the fixture I wouldn't notice anything different at all. Except, however, that the tank appears to be a bit BRIGHTER. Yes, brighter.

I know, it makes no sense. But here it is: the light spreads a bit better towards the rear of the tank and the appearance of the fish is a little bit sharper and the colors brighter. 

Maybe that bulb that broke had 'reverse PAR' and was sucking up all the good stuff!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Dave-H said:


> Ok, well thanks for that
> 
> And you know, if I didn't know that one of the bulbs was missing from the fixture I wouldn't notice anything different at all. Except, however, that the tank appears to be a bit BRIGHTER. Yes, brighter.
> 
> ...


well.. I bet it "looked" darker before, but that was probably from all the red/blue light from the colormax, our eyes percieve those as darker colors and not as bright as green, which the colormax doesn't have.. I still think it puts out less par than the 65k, but either way you have less light with just a single bulb.. maybe a tad better spread, but there's no way you have more par there. 

Just saying


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## djscotty (Sep 14, 2010)

I just received these lights last night from the Big Als Sale. I was actually impressed with the lighting. I did not see on the colormax bulb any 3700 or 6700k numbers, but I will check again tonight. I didnt realize how narrow they were though, wondering if i should add another row?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

djscotty said:


> I just received these lights last night from the Big Als Sale. I was actually impressed with the lighting. I did not see on the colormax bulb any 3700 or 6700k numbers, but I will check again tonight. I didnt realize how narrow they were though, wondering if i should add another row?


The 3700/6700/8700K marking is on the other bulb.

Whether or not you need another row depends on the tank size and how much light you want. I suspect it will very soon be impossible to find any more to buy, except used.


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## Doc7 (Apr 7, 2011)

Argh these PAR results aren't looking very good - i just got my 2 sets of 2 bulb Coralife T5NO fixtures for my 40B. I got an additional 10K bulb and might play around with swapping it in for the colormax on one of the fixtures.

I guess the plants will tell the story...i will be running pressurized CO2...


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

couple things 
What is a PC light? nvm....power compact

Hoppy any chance you will add common wattage spiral CFLs in the 5 and 8 inch metal reflector worklights to your chart?


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## demonr6 (Mar 14, 2011)

Sorry to drag this back from the dead but any new developments on this? I picked up the Solarmax T5HE for the 20L and the lighting is nice but not convinced it is doing anything for the plants. I am not running CO2 in this tank and the lights are on the tank.. was thinking of suspending them above some but with sub-par growth that may be under review now. I was considering a second set since they are pretty cheap and hoping that helps?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

What bulbs does that Solarmax light use - what length and wattage? As I recall "HE" is the same as NO, not HO.


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## demonr6 (Mar 14, 2011)

Of course it has to be their own private labeled bulbs.. there is a 10k daylight bulb and an actinic-03 lamp.. whatever that means. And yes, memory serves me correctly that what I have read the HE is similar to the NO.


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## gus6464 (Dec 19, 2011)

I have had 1 of these 36" fixtures with 2 6700K bulbs for about two weeks now with the lights sitting right above the tank 15" from the substrate and my glosso just started to explode in growth. I find new runners every day. I am getting another fixture delivered today so I will report back how the glosso behaves once I add the other fixture. But then again this might be a moot point since I will be adding CO2 to the tank by the end of next week.

Tank is a 30 long with no top.


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## demonr6 (Mar 14, 2011)

Hmm.. maybe it's just that the plants are still establishing in the new tank. I was not able to find the 30" which they do sell and got a 24". I will probably sell it though and try to find the 30".


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## gus6464 (Dec 19, 2011)

I just got the new fixture and comparing the colormax/6700 combo to 6700/6700 that was already in the tank the colormax bulb is pretty crappy. I will be getting another 6700 ASAP. Also if anyone in Austin with a par meter wants to compare the fixture with all colormax and all 6700 you can use mine


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## Doc7 (Apr 7, 2011)

Still loving the manageable growth rates (HC lush carpet, rotala sp, ludwigia sp, DHG, pygmy chain swords, and hygro difformis) I am getting with two of these fixtures 1.5" above rim of 40B, with pressurized CO2.

All plants grow and grow well, but don't need a "severe" trim but every 3-4 weeks, and 0 to minimal algae. Perfect combo for my lifestyle and tank-desires.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9650 using Tapatalk


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## gus6464 (Dec 19, 2011)

Doc7 said:


> Still loving the manageable growth rates (HC lush carpet, rotala sp, ludwigia sp, DHG, pygmy chain swords, and hygro difformis) I am getting with two of these fixtures 1.5" above rim of 40B, with pressurized CO2.
> 
> All plants grow and grow well, but don't need a "severe" trim but every 3-4 weeks, and 0 to minimal algae. Perfect combo for my lifestyle and tank-desires.
> 
> Sent from my BlackBerry 9650 using Tapatalk


How far from the substrate would you say are the lights?


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## Doc7 (Apr 7, 2011)

gus6464 said:


> How far from the substrate would you say are the lights?



Think the 40B is 16 15/16 " high. That means approximately 13 15/16" from substrate in the back to 14 15/16" in the front, with 3-4" substrate depth and 1" suspension of lights.

My HC carpet is due for a trim due to overgrowing bushiness, 4 weeks after the previous trim.

CO2 and dose EI. If I don't dose for 3-4 days (vacation or something) I get a few strings of green algae.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9650 using Tapatalk


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## Damian (Jun 17, 2009)

Hi, I have this fixture http://www.amazon.com/Aqueon-Coralife-05618-Aqualight-Freshwater/dp/B0009YHU2I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326332712&sr=8-1 over a 20 gallon long and to be honest it looks as though the lighting is not sufficient enough to support medium to high light plants. The fixture is sitting directly on the tank. It just seems too dark compared to the dual power compact fixtures I was running on before the switch.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Damian said:


> Hi, I have this fixture http://www.amazon.com/Aqueon-Corali...HU2I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326332712&sr=8-1 over a 20 gallon long and to be honest it looks as though the lighting is not sufficient enough to support medium to high light plants. The fixture is sitting directly on the tank.


http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/t.../95617-29gal-low-tech-tetra-tank-trim-11.htmllauraleellbp has it over her 29gallon tank.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

demonr6 said:


> I was not able to find the 30" which they do sell and got a 24".


That is a shame. That 6 in makes a big difference. Perhaps you could make a mountain on 1 side and put ferns on it. Then pull the light strip to end on the other side.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Damian said:


> Hi, I have this fixture http://www.amazon.com/Aqueon-Coralife-05618-Aqualight-Freshwater/dp/B0009YHU2I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326332712&sr=8-1 over a 20 gallon long and to be honest it looks as though the lighting is not sufficient enough to support medium to high light plants. The fixture is sitting directly on the tank. It just seems too dark compared to the dual power compact fixtures I was running on before the switch.


You are getting around 50 micromols of PAR which is as much light as you ever need for any plants, if you use CO2. And, you do need to at least use Excel with that much light, preferably CO2. Without a good source of carbon the plants won't do well.


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## Damian (Jun 17, 2009)

Hoppy said:


> You are getting around 50 micromols of PAR which is as much light as you ever need for any plants, if you use CO2. And, you do need to at least use Excel with that much light, preferably CO2. Without a good source of carbon the plants won't do well.


Appreciate the response hoppy. My concern wasn't so much the other variables as it was the overall coverage of the fixture of the tank. I have a lot of "dark corners" due to the lack of spread this fixture gives over the tank. I assume I could raise it a couple of inches to help increase the coverage at some expense. I am running pressurized co2 with ei dosing. Just speaking at a glance.


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## pandacory (Apr 18, 2011)

Hey doc7, are you running the stock bulbs? Love your 40 by the way.

Was going to stay away from hc with this light, but I think you convinced me otherwise.


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## Doc7 (Apr 7, 2011)

pandacory said:


> Hey doc7, are you running the stock bulbs? Love your 40 by the way.
> 
> 
> 
> Was going to stay away from hc with this light, but I think you convinced me otherwise.



Thanks for the kind comment. I have stock bulbs on one fixture and swapped a ColorMax for a 10K on the other. Not really for any reason other than thinking it might give a little extra PAR. No meter and not sure how much confirmed repeated testing has been done on the colormax bulbs.

All 4 bulbs are now approximately 4 months old with no replacements yet.

I got them from Amazon without any issue.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9650 using Tapatalk


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## JustJen (Jun 20, 2011)

A friend and I have a PAR meter borrowed from our local aquatic plant club, and tried this very thing the other night with one of the coralife t5no fixtures. Replacing the ColorMax bulb with another 6700k gave her a little more par than the colormax did, but that's relative...

All in all, the readings for this fixture were abysmal. I am running a 36" as well as a 24" on my 46 bowfront, and at the substrate, directly under the lights, I got about 12mm of par at best. (running just the 36" would only get me around 7-8). Mid-column with no obstruction was only around 20. We had to get the sensor right under the surface of the water to even get a reading in the low 30's. The fixtures and lights are less than 6 months old, and sitting directly on top of the tank. My friend put the stock light that came with the tank on, and got better readings than the coralife light gave her. Certainly explains why plants are not doing as well as I would like them to! 

Even before the par readings we've done, I couldn't recommend these lights. I had one fixture that didn't work from the day I received it and another that went out after about 2 months with the same issue. My friend has had at least one fixture go out as well, and another that is litterally falling apart. All of these have been purchased since June. Definitely in the market for a better option for low-medium light tanks if anyone has any suggestions! lol!

I know a lot of people have had good luck with these lights and recommend them, but that has definitely not been our experience.



Doc7 said:


> Thanks for the kind comment. I have stock bulbs on one fixture and swapped a ColorMax for a 10K on the other. Not really for any reason other than thinking it might give a little extra PAR. No meter and not sure how much confirmed repeated testing has been done on the colormax bulbs.
> 
> All 4 bulbs are now approximately 4 months old with no replacements yet.
> 
> ...


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

JustJen said:


> Definitely in the market for a better option for low-medium light tanks if anyone has any suggestions! lol!


Another 1 is the SolarMax at Petblvd.com. Just type SolarMax in the search area at their site. Jacob has it over his tank. 

Then there is also the option of hanging a T5HO strip above the tank as Hyzer has done.


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## JustJen (Jun 20, 2011)

Thanks - will look into that!


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