# Coralife Fixture Broken - Help Advise needed



## overthetop2009 (Jan 18, 2010)

Well the same day I was thinking of buying a new light fixture is the day I come home and find one of my fixtures not working. 

This is the 48 inch coralife t5 fixture. It came with 28 W bulbs. before thinking plants I bought the wrong bulbs and installed 54W hagen lifeglo bulbs. 

I have put another fixture with the manuafactures bulbs from my oscar tank onto my planted tank but now I'm only at 56 W or power with Marine enhancement lighting. 

Need to buy a new fixture right away. 

Questions: 

1. I thought i could use my T5 fixture coralife with 54w bulbs? Perhaps not? Could that have shorted out my fixture? 

2. How do you get these fixtures repaired? The one that burnt out is three years old but has only had the high wattage bulbs running for 4 months and only have been kept on for the last 2-3 weeks 12-14 hours a day. 

3. I want 4 bulbs on my planted tank at 54W. What product would you folks recommend. 

4. How long will my plants last with the current lighting. How big of an emergency is this? 

5. The fixture was lying right on the glass and does not have a built in fan. Is this OK? I brough the fixture into superpet and they fit the bulbs to it so I'd be suprised this was the case. 

Any help would really be appreciated. 

Thanks so much!

Greg


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

overthetop2009 said:


> Well the same day I was thinking of buying a new light fixture is the day I come home and find one of my fixtures not working.
> 
> This is the 48 inch coralife t5 fixture. It came with 28 W bulbs. before thinking plants I bought the wrong bulbs and installed 54W hagen lifeglo bulbs.
> 
> ...


I would find a replacement T5HO fixture asap. If you do plan on going with 4 T5HO bulbs, I hope you have supplemental CO2 and ferts.

Good Luck!


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## tebore (Jan 3, 2010)

You most like blew the ballast in most cases
you just need to replace the ballast with a higher rating. However your fixture has a max rating for safety and heat reasons. For this reason I suggest trying the stock bulbs again if it still doesn't work replace the ballast but for safety reasons don't exceed the max wattage of the fixture.


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## overthetop2009 (Jan 18, 2010)

I went and ordered 3X54W catalina Ho light fixture. Wow.... it's still pretty expensive but still cheaper than buying a 2X fixture around here. 

I suplement with Flourish Excell right now. I'm going to have to wait a couple months before going with canister CO2 now that I've shelled out an equivallent amount of money on lighting and replacement bulbs for down the road. 

2-7 days wait. I certainly hope my plants hang on until they arrive.


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## overthetop2009 (Jan 18, 2010)

IS there somewhere in the GTA that sells this product?


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

Where did you order the catalina fixture? Straight from their website? Is there mention of brokerage fees? What courier do they use to ship to Canada?


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## overthetop2009 (Jan 18, 2010)

*Catalina from website*

Yes, right from the website and your brokerage fee statement makes a lot of sense now as their was little to no details on shiping and it was crazy expensive. Over 50 dollars.

I am in a bit of a panic to lose my plants to this disaster so I may have jumped the gun here.

Is there a good place to buy this equipment in Toronto? If so where? How much for the 3 times 54 W fixture (with splash guard) including three bulbs?

It would be great if they had a broker in Toronto who could get these to me today or tomorrow. I'm waiting for noon to call Catalina in Calif. to clear this up./


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

I'd appreciate if you could post any info you get. I had a look at their site and they seem to have some good deals, unless it gets jacked really bad with fees...


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## overthetop2009 (Jan 18, 2010)

This is what i bought:

http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/pro...=1638&osCsid=2ccc09f8fceb17e096570f42f90a8cec

Triple light fixture with 2 bulbs included. At Super Pet and Lawrence the Hagen dual HO light fixture was selling for 185 without any bulbs.

The shipping was around 55 dollars and it is on the way through USPS Priority mail. I hope it gets here before the weekend or my plants won't make it!

I'll repost if there are additional costs.


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

Has your fixture arrived yet?


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## Aquatic Designs (Apr 2, 2006)

Are those fixtures CSA or UL approved?


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

Aquatic Designs said:


> Are those fixtures CSA or UL approved?


good question, I don't believe they are.


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