36 watts looked better then 65 watts !

[grannylvsfish]

I got my coralife light today for my 29 gallon, what a disappointment!
The 2 18 watt light strips looked better then this one single 65 light strip. in fact the lighting makes the tank look yellow :( I guess I can get used to it, but really I liked the look of the lighting before. it says 65 watt 6700k straight pin compact fluorescent lights. the other lights brought out the colors and made the blues look awsome. this one things look yellow. I will have to remove the background and put black on, the blue looks bad now.

[msjinkzd]

what was the color spectrum (K rating) on your 18w bulbs? You could always sell the 65w bulb with the 6700K rating and get a different spectrum if its more pleasing to you.

[mellowvision]

coralife uses those dual daylights with one 10000k bulb right? I don't like that either.

[grannylvsfish]

no it says right on there freshwater 6500k lamp
I was using 19 watt and 20 watt freshwater/saltwater lights before. the tank looked sooooooo much better. now I am stuck with yellow lighting, or until I can dish out more money and order different lights. ARGH ! the only bright spot is my other driftwood came, and it went directly into the tank after a good water washing. and I found my other pleco !!

[jones57742]

what was the color spectrum (K rating) on your 18w bulbs?
grannylvsfish:

ms' question is critical.

I believe that your 2 18W bulbs were 10000K bulbs (white light).

I also do not enjoy the appearance of the light produced by 6700K bulbs (many of these bulbs are marketed as "Grow Lights" in that they emulate Sun light).

TR

[grannylvsfish]

grannylvsfish:

ms' question is critical.

I believe that your 2 18W bulbs were 10000K bulbs (white light).

I also do not enjoy the appearance of the light produced by 6700K bulbs (many of these bulbs are marketed as "Grow Lights" in that they emulate Sun light).

TR

thank you, so what do I order to make it bright and not yellow? my tank looks so much darker :( I can not believe the difference. I will take a pic to show you ok.

[grannylvsfish]

here is the new lights..... 65 watts notice the yellow
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/hakunamakarla/tankcrappylights001.jpg


Old lights 20 Watt and 18 watt
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/hakunamakarla/tankcrappylights.jpg

[gmh]

I have to wonder if there is something wrong with the fixture. Or the bulb must have a weird spectral signature.

[grannylvsfish]

its pretty noticable though, the light looks fine when I turn it on, bright to look at, but yellow in the tank. I will look in on different lights for it, or get a new tank LOL! yeah, thats it get a new tank!!! ( and put new lights in it :)

[grannylvsfish]

Would this light be bright like the ones in the pic I like, and good for plants?

Coralife 10,000k PowerCompact Bulbs

The Coralife 10,000 Kelvin lamp is a purified super-daylight lamp that simulates the high-intensity lumen output of the midday tropical sun. It contains rare-earth, color-enhancing phosphors to emit sparkling, blue-white light rays.
21" 65w Straight Pin $23.99

[12 Volt Man]

this "problem" is common with 6700K bulbs.

they always look yellow.

10,000K bulbs are bright white and look good.

I have done the same thing - bought lights - all excited-- that is until I turned them on ontop of my tank...:(

[grannylvsfish]

this "problem" is common with 6700K bulbs.

they always look yellow.

10,000K bulbs are bright white and look good.

I have done the same thing - bought lights - all excited-- that is until I turned them on top of my tank...:(

I am ordering the 10,000k bulbs today, I just hate paying the 23.00 for the bulbs and then the shipping. :wall: guess I will sell the 67,000k :)

[Fishy_Fun]

i got the 10,000k bulbs in my coralife and i have to say it will look much better no yellow at all.

[allwet]

I got my coralife light today for my 29 gallon, what a disappointment!
The 2 18 watt light strips looked better then this one single 65 light strip. in fact the lighting makes the tank look yellow :( I guess I can get used to it, but really I liked the look of the lighting before. it says 65 watt 6700k straight pin compact fluorescent lights. the other lights brought out the colors and made the blues look awsome. this one things look yellow. I will have to remove the background and put black on, the blue looks bad now.

im certainly glad i saw this post as im in the process of ordering retro fitting light kits from ahs for my 3..10g tanks.excellent information.allwet......

[tankboy_taylor]

Funny the same thing happened to me yesterday guess ill look into some 10k lights

[grannylvsfish]

Ok, I got the bulbs in, but really did not see a whole lot of difference. maybe there is...
This is the 10,000k bulbs. Really, not sure what I like best. I was hoping for a pop, no "pop" so I hope my new plants do fine with it. other wise its back to the 67k bulbs.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/hakunamakarla/newplants.jpg

[Danyal]

too bad you already bought them, look on ebay for a straight pin 50/50 or above 10k bulb, it'll have a lot of blue and should be under $20 shipped.

[grannylvsfish]

I am done. I have spent way to much on bulbs and I am not impressed with any of them. I will just be happy with what I have. the last bulbs cost me a fortune for both light strips and it did not seem to me much better. Moral of the story.... Be happy with what you have. others may not be as fortunate :) I am happy. OYE :lol:

[Cory Keeper]

besides, with a 50/50 bulb, only half of the bulb is of any benefit to plants.

[grannylvsfish]

The tank acually does look brighter now. I was disapointed as it did not seem as bright as the 67k but I did a great 50% water change, and the tank looks so much brighter. I also did not realize the tanins were making the water so brown. but over 4 days my water went from clear to a tan. I was worried until my daughter reminded me there is 3 pieces of drift wood in there LOL! I will try to take another pic tomorrow.

[Cory Keeper]

Yeah, I have 1 piece of Malaysian Driftwood in my 20g, Even after over than a month, carbon (which works), one complete reset of the tank, its still leaching tannins. need to add more carbon. I've seen a hex that had it so bad it looked like the light was off, but was infact on.

[Danyal]

i've had the same thing happen with my tank, tannins made the water look very yellow then i did a 50% WC and suddenly the tank was once again a nice bright bluish hue. the 50/50 bulb would be only half as good for plants the chorophyll in the plants needs red and blue spectrum light and the actinitc half provides plenty of blue, so while actinitc isn't ideal it is still somewhat usefull, and it looks soo nice.

[leoslizards]

Bulbs in the 3,500k range look pinkish/red which is great for plants but algae would take advantage of it. Bulbs in the 5,600k - 6,700k range have greenish/yellow hues which closely resemble natural sunlight. 10,000k bulbs look white and anything higher for example 12,000k -15,000k looks bluish but is not beneficial for FW plants, only good for corals. 50/50 bulbs mean half/half, one side is actinic 420/460nm and the other side is usually 10,000k. Only the 10k side would be beneficial to your plants while the actinic side would just make things look cool. Actinic is basically a black light bulb, you know, the bulbs they use to make fluorescent black light posters glow, the bulbs they use at night clubs and bowling parlors. Btw Granny, your dog must look awesome under a black light! :D Remember also that manufactures use different techniques and materials when making their bulbs so X brand 10k bulbs will be a slightly different colored then Y brand 10k bulbs.

Try experimenting with different color temps to get the color you want. I use three different colored bulbs, one 3,5000 which makes the reds and oranges in my fish pop, a 5,600k and a 6,700k which make the blues and greens pop. If you use separate timers on each light you could also make a dust/dawn effect with the different colors. I'm kind of getting tired of that yellowish color myself so now I'm thinking of switching out one of the bulbs to a 10k and leaving the 3,500k. Do you still have your old fixtures? Try putting one of them back on and see how it looks with the 6,7k that came with your new fixture and the 10k you bought and see which one you like better. If you choose the one that came with the corallife fixture then you could return the 10k and get your $23 back. :) You'll also have an increase in light which will increase plant growth but might stimulate algae as well.

Hope this helps,
Leo.

[grannylvsfish]

the old fixtures are only for the 18 watt bulbs, but your right I could get some to add to those and see what colors I get. but not now, I have spent way to much and I am broke!

[leoslizards]

Use an old 18watt bulb if you still have one.

[Danyal]

anything higher for example 12,000k -15,000k looks bluish but is not beneficial for FW plants, only good for corals

actually thats incorrect, the higher kelvin bulbs are actually less usefull for corals(just like plants) because they have lower PAR but the low spectrum blues make the corals produce some very nice looking colours. with corals lower kelvin bulbs(like 65k) produce a lot of PAR and people get very good growth but the corals appear to have very dull colours and as you move higher up in kelvin ratings PAR decreases and growth slows significantly but colours improve.