Decided to make a thread saying CSL hoods are great but the blue bulbs are JUNK!

[GSXR1000]

AFter much research ive found out all those blue atinic bulbs that the CSL and Coralife come with is nothing more then a blue bulb. It is possible to keep LPS, SOME sps, and SOME clams under pc. Brooklyn johnnys tank is proff over at saltwaterfish.com. If you get the right bulb setup. YOu would need a 10,000k and a TRUE 03 actinic bulb. Most companys sell these blue bulbs that do absolutley basicaly nothing. There is a couple guys over at saltwaterfish.com who are very very experienced in lighting and other thing. I want to get the 2x40 20" CSL setup but i will replace the blue junk actinic with a 32watt true 03 actinic. I Know for a fact in a 10 gallon i will be able to keep Softies, Zoos, LPS, Some highplaced SPS, and probaly a clam. I will atatch 2 links one is the discussion over the blue bulbs like CSL comes with. And the other is a thread of brooklyn johnnys tank who has 2x36 pc wait till you see his tank. Notice the purple tint of brooklyns tank as well as in one of the pics you can see the purpble pc.

 

Actinic thread: http://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread...light=actinic03

 

Brooklyns tank:http://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread...50&pagenumber=1

[GSXR1000]

Also if you have the 20" model you would have to settle for a 8watt lose cause they dont make 40watters just 32. But that is a 8watts well worth losing cause the ture 03s are still problay better. Im glad i found this out. Even though metal halide is still the best you can keep mostly anything I SAID MOSTLY under pc. Go and spend the 25 bucks and get yourself a real actinic. I know hellolights sells them. Make sure you match your pin base weather you have square or whatever. The true 03s have a higher PAR which will INCREASE yes increase what you can have as far as coral wise by a little bit compared to your blue junk. THe true 03s have a better photo growth with your corals to. You will see a diffrence imedialtly. I will be aslo doing a NANO cube with 2 28 watter one with true 03 and other 10k ill post pics soon. Remeber this thread i attached this guy kip is a pro trust me.But im sure sombdoy was out there smart enough to have already done this to ther CSL pc hood. I got this straight from the REEF SECtion not th nano thats usally where the big boys play over there.

[GSXR1000]

Here is a little info on the 50/50 they also make

 

*** FAQ:

Q. What's the difference between a "Blue 7,100K" and "Actinic 03" bulb?

A. Excellent question! OK, a little background: The original "Actinic 03" bulb was made by Philips. They were not made for aquarium use, but were adopted once news spread about the beneficial aspects of using this bulb over reef tanks. Nowadays, "Actinic 03" has become the marketing term used to identify "blue" looking bulbs. Many bulbs are passed off as "actinic", when they are just a blue bulb.

So, to answer the question, Blue 7,100K bulbs are visually brighter than HelloLights Actinic bulbs. Blue bulbs will NOT fluoresce your animals as well as our Actinic bulbs. Many others sell "actinic", but they are really selling blue bulbs. The phosphors coating the interior of our Actinic bulbs are specially formulated to produce a narrow spike of concentrated violet/blue light. This is why they appear to be more faint than blue bulbs. If you have tons-o-corals, then we suggest going with Actinic 03. Remember, a visual measurement of a lights utility is a poor one.

 

I hope this helps you guys for some of you that dont already know . Look at kips tank see the tank comparasion beteween the blue and the true 03. All im just tryin to say is the true 03s penetrate alot alot better. Just look at the tanks comparasion pics on kips tank on the thread i posted above. Its its very noticable that the true 03 reaches deeper

[bneyman]

Well, you answered my question from your last post...

Thanks, I'll be getting that bulb....

[1fish2fish]

Wow, that explains sooo much.

 

My first tank was a saltwater set up. It was also my most successful tank. It was orriginally set up with a phillips actinic 03 (this was back in about 1990 to 1991). I had some beatiful anemones (bubble tip and carpet) and a great little caulerpa forest made up of several species. The caulerpa grew fast and had to be clipped back on a regular basis. The anemones grew to great sizes and my clownfish were truely happy.

 

Then it came time to change the bulbs. The phillips was starting to get dark in the ends (REALLY was time to change the bulb). So I replaced it with a coralife bulb. I found that the caulerpa slowed its growth, the anemones began to wither, and hair algae began to grow. Nothing had changed about my maintenance. The tank had been up and running for quite some time and this was quite dissapointing. Furthermore I found that the CL bulbs tended to burn out VERY fast. I have since moved on to URI bulbs, but man I really wish that I could find a supplier of Phillips, and if Phillips made a power compact bulb I would be all over it like a hobbit on pie.

 

Thanks for the great post.

[Smokin-Reefer]

thanks for posting some "groundbreaking" news, which everyone already knows.

 

best post evaaaaaaaarrrr.

[GSXR1000]

I figured some or most people would know but i wanted to make a post to attract alot of people so everbody knows. THis is very helpful to all those people who have the CSL setup and keeping the blue bulb which i have seen alot. Does anybody have a true atinic 03 in there Coralife or Customsealife right now. I am curious maybe i should have orderd another 32 10,000k so i will have a equal 50/50. I just orderd the 20" 40x2. Well ill see how it goes.

[GSXR1000]

fish2fish,

 

I am pretty sure that marinedeopotlive carrys phillips bulbs. It will prob be a few watts less if you have one of those CSL or Coralife setups. Example if you have the 20" 2x40 youll have to get the 32 watt one they dont make a 40 in the TRUE 03. It dont matter you can run it as long as it matches your pinbase like square or straight. Its the ballast that runs the bulbs not the hood. I cant wait till i get my nano cube and put one in there the purplish looks wayyy better. CSL hoods are the best its just the blue bulbs are junk i promise.

[GSXR1000]

OH yes everbody is you do order a TRue 03 atinic. Make sure you get the matching watt pc for the 10,000k so it gives it a 50/50 look. IMO thats the best ratio.

[Fant]

well actually actinic bulbs are on the majority just for aesthetics. They wont have a dramatic outcome on the success of your system. Iv run successful tanks with the fake ones with the real ones, And with no actinic whatsoever. The corals dont care. They get their light from the 10k bulbs not the actinics. The true 03 do look better, but your corals wont notice.. just you.

[GSXR1000]

But the True 03s have a better PAR photogrowth they deff do. Plus the penatrate better. DID you see the pics of kips tank over at salwaterfish with the link i posted. YOu can tell. My freind bought one for his tank and there is so much of a dramatic change its not even funny and it only cost 20 bucks to do.

[GSXR1000]

Q. What's the difference between a "Blue 7,100K" and "Actinic 03" bulb?

A. Excellent question! OK, a little background: The original "Actinic 03" bulb was made by Philips. They were not made for aquarium use, but were adopted once news spread about the beneficial aspects of using this bulb over reef tanks. Nowadays, "Actinic 03" has become the marketing term used to identify "blue" looking bulbs. Many bulbs are passed off as "actinic", when they are just a blue bulb.

So, to answer the question, Blue 7,100K bulbs are visually brighter than HelloLights Actinic bulbs. Blue bulbs will NOT fluoresce your animals as well as our Actinic bulbs. Many others sell "actinic", but they are really selling blue bulbs. The phosphors coating the interior of our Actinic bulbs are specially formulated to produce a narrow spike of concentrated violet/blue light. This is why they appear to be more faint than blue bulbs. If you have tons-o-corals, then we suggest going with Actinic 03. Remember, a visual measurement of a lights utility is a poor one.

 

says it all right there.

[Fant]

you can copy and paste website faqs all you want, i used the real actinic pcs the week they first came out a few years ago. Regardless.. The amount of PAR or irriadiance that a fake/real actinic bulb contributes to your tank is almost nothing. The corals dont notice the difference. ITs aesthetics man, its all about how it looks to you. You can use a 5000k 10k bulb and your corals wont care, but most people say 10,000k is better.. why?? cuz it looks nicer. You can use a fake blue bulb, and your corals wont care.

And yes i saw kips photos but one step better kid, IV used both types over my own tanks. And guess what the corals do not notice a difference what so ever. Iv kept clams under both, iv kept some sps under both. And they do not care whatsoever. The moral of the story is that actinics are for LOOKS only. they do not contribute a meaningful amount of light to your photosynthetic animals.

[GSXR1000]

You may be right but ill still use the TRUE 03 i think it looks hella better

 

 

For all you guys with the Coralife 96 quad they make them for you to now.

 

 

http://hellolights.com/185cfquadret.html Retrofit

 

http://hellolights.com/96watquad100.html Just the quad

[Fant]

Thats all im saying man. I use the true 03s myself, Its just from the beginning of the post you made it sound like using the 03 over the fakes would solve peoples problems and make them able to keep anything they wanted, when that is not the case.

[GSXR1000]

By the way do you have any pics of your tank with the 03s i would love to see. What kinda nano do you have setup i would like to see your tank. Oh yea dont forget the specs.

[Fant]

I dont have any pics with pc actinic 03.. but heres a pic with 2x55 10k pcs and 2x vho actinics run as NOs..

 

[GSXR1000]

Nice i like the purple look wayy better then the blue anyway. Is that a 29 gallon? How many watts of NO actinic do you run.

[bneyman]

Also if you have the 20" model you would have to settle for a 8watt lose cause they dont make 40watters just 32. But that is a 8watts well worth losing

 

Check this link out, claims bulb wattage is dependant on the ballast in PC lights not the bulb itself. (Within reason, I'm NOT saying you could put a 13W bulb in a 96W ballast and get 96 watts), but the small differences like the 4W in my lights (32W fake actinic vs. 28W actinic03, they make no "32W" actinic03 for my setup).

 

http://www.hellolights.com/28watacblu.html

 

So are they lying to us or is it some kind of marketing technique?

???

[adinsxq]

i use 7100k white, 12000k blue. is my tank going to die?

[GSXR1000]

YESS I GOT 2 PAGES

 

No your tank will not die youll be fine. I just prefer the true 03 as many people do and use in the LARGER reef tank. Its only just a positve boost for your tank. Youll be fine with the 7100k. BUt when its time to upgrade think about the true 03s or just get them whenever.

 

 

bneyman did you read this

 

Q. Are these bulbs 28W or 32W?

A. (Note: This applies to both Compact Fluorescent and Fluorescent bulbs only.) Actual wattage to the lamp is primarily a factor of the lamp electrical characteristics and the ballast driving the lamp. Without getting too technical, the wattage marking on the lamp does not necessarily determine the actual wattage to the lamp. (i.e. you could have 96W to a lamp that is marked 28W!!) Fixtures with different ballast will have different wattage to the lamp and as such the wattage marking on the lamp is for reference only.

Actual wattage to the lamp operated by electronic ballast can only be measured using special high frequency wattage measuring equipment. Input wattage to the ballast is not a direct indication of wattage to the lamp.

Simply put, 28W and 32W lamps have same or similar electrical characteristics and therefore if one replaces either lamp into a given fixture (either a 28W or 32W system) then the wattage to the lamps will be driven by the ballast(s) of such system. Wattage to the lamp determines lumen output or total light output of the lamp.

Conclusion: Lamps marked 28W or 32W can be interchanged with similar or equivalent light output performance. The ballast drives the bulb.

[adinsxq]

you don't have to be nice about it. just tell me it's going to die

[GSXR1000]

nope your goodB)

[adinsxq]

ok

[bneyman]

GSXR1000, yep. Gives me the understanding there will NOT be a 4W loss because my ballast is 32W. Am I just confused or read it incorrectly?? I know 4W isn't much, will be getting this bulb anyways. I was assuming this would apply to your switch as well..