# PC Lighting...bulbs



## boz910 (Jan 7, 2009)

Just wanted to pick some peoples brains on their opinions of PC light bulbs.

I have a 30" Coralife 65w PC setup, and am slightly irked with the colours of the 6700K bulb. Everything looks so washed out and green green green.

Anyone have any experience with other bulbs in terms of the colours produced? i.e. the colormax bulb from coralife.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/details/bulbs.php?product_ID=lb-pc656d

It seems the pink bulb would probably have a mellowing out effect and enrich other colours aside from green. Can anyone confirm this?


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

I use a T5 setup where one of the bulbs is one of those "color max" pink bulbs. The effect it has are richer reds in the tank, as well the greens seem deeper than just with a 6700K bulb.


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## boz910 (Jan 7, 2009)

yea, i figuered that was the case. I googled color spectrum and found a link to Aquatic Plant Central, where someone else had noticed the same thing. Apparently the colormax bulbs "aren't optimal" for plant growth. bah humbug...i knew i should have went w/ a multiple T5 fixture.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

yep. that's why it's in a T5 fixture. I'd run more bulbs, but they don't make a three bulb fixture


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

Tubes in the 6500K range don't usually have very high CRI numbers (usually around 81). The highest CRI numbers are usually in tubes around 5000K (there are exceptions). Of course, if you want colour distorted in a particular way, rather than looking natural, more research is necessary.


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## boz910 (Jan 7, 2009)

thanks for the feedback guys!

hmm...i found the bulk of my answer here, no luck with CRI ratings for the coralife bulbs though: 
http://www.plantgeek.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10220

it appears i'm in a bit of a rut - running a single linear 65W bulb i'm at a bit of a loss in terms of being able to mix and match bulbs. Not to mention there is a severe dearth in terms of bulb selection for PC lights.

Can i interest anyone in a < 2 month old 30" coralife 65w single linear strip PC light? lol (it may be time to continue this thread in the buy/sell section)


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

I have a 96W CF, really bright, great reflector but the first bulb I had was a 6700K and it was, err...pretty good at accentuating the greens.

When it came time, I replaced it with a Current Sunpaq Dual Daylight 6700/10000K and I like it quite a bit more, I get good growth but the colours are a lot more pleasing to my eye at least.


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## boz910 (Jan 7, 2009)

Good stuff! where did you get that particular bulb from?


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

boz910 said:


> Good stuff! where did you get that particular bulb from?


Picked it up from MOPS.ca


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## roeguy (Oct 1, 2008)

i have a coralife 6700k 24" kit. And have been dismayed at my poor plant growth. I have actually aimed my 3 50W halogen lights on my ceiling in the hopes it will help, although I am starting to get some algae.

The spectrum of the coralife 6700k bulbs has a large spike about 540nm (green), a slightly smaller spike at 620nm (orange), followed by smaller spikes at 440nm (blue), 500nm (blue-green) and 580nm (yellow).

The fact that it has such intensity in the green area of the spectrum might make plants look great, but doesn't do much for photosynthesis. The target wavelengths that help plants grow are 660-680nm and 420-480nm.

In fact, if one could "tune" their lighting system to only target those frequencies, you could get much more photosynthesis for way less power.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Grow your plants wwith red lights 

I have pretty good growth with those PC lamps. I have one over my 20g, and I have to prune back about every three weeks, which is good considering I don't dose CO2 or any ferts.


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