anyone recommend these pc's?

[albionpo]

I think I'm going to purchase the sea life smartlite 48" power compact strip light for my tank. Was wondering if anyone knows how this lighting looks over a tank? Is it yellow? There are 2 50/50 bulbs ( I think 8800k & "ultra actinic" )Anyone know if this is nice lighting? I have a FOWLS and a few snails, crabs & feather dusters. I'm mostly concerned with the "yellow" aspect...Thanks in advance

 

[nm reef]

48" smartlite was the first PC fixture I purchased.......not a yellow tint at all.......rather clear and pleasing to the eye......personally I like them .....since I've added a 48" britelite with 10k bulbs and 2x110 vho(03 actinic).....when I change the origional bulbs I'll go with all 10k's on the pc's and keep the 03 actinics on the vho's........in short I've been very satisified with both of the customsealife fixtures I use.........

 

[broomer5]

The 48" CSL Smartlite fixture contains (2) 65watt 50/50 SmartLamps. Each SmartLamp has two colors - the tube is a U shaped pc tube, with on side of the U tube daylight and the other is blue.
48" x 6" x 4" 2x65w
I use the 36" Smartlight Strip that contains (1) 1x96w SmartLamp on my 30 gallon reef tank, and so far it has worked out well. I do not keep many high light demanding corals.
For a FOWLR I believe you will be pleased with this lighting. As NM reef mentioned, they do not produce a yellow tint at all.
You can see what the lighting looks like on my 30 gallon tank by clicking on my link.
My 55 gallon reef tank had what you said before - (2)65 65 watt 8800k & (2) ultra actinic. Not the same as the Smartlite strips.
Good luck
Broomer

 

[h2o]

Custom Sea Life Smartlite is 50/50, one is blue actinic, the other is 10,000k and produces no yellow tint at all. My tank is 55g tall, i have a 2 x 96w retro (actinic & 6700k) in the front, and dissembled my smartlite canopy and installed the smartlite in the back, makes it 3 x 96w. The 6700k bulb in the center is yellower compare to the 10,000k smartlite, but still wonderful and no yellow tint. Initially i wanted MH bulb so i could keep whatever i wanted, but the bulb would only be 2" away from the plastic splash cover, so heat would be a problem; then i thought about vho, but the actual vho bulbs measure a bit more than 36", and wouldn't fit into my canopy, so i had no choice but ordered the pc retro and modified my original smartlite. So far I like it very much. I have mostly soft corals and they thrive, i also have 2 crocea clams on the top lr that i thought wouldn't live thru these lights, but its almost 9 months they are still colorful, especially one that recovers well after being knocked down by some fish or crab and had damaged skins, it's all gone and well attached to lr. I think sea life pc are wonderful, but you should also consider MH bulbs if you have enough space in canopy, price about the same.

 

[albionpo]

Hey Guys, Thanks for your input on the lights, I think I'll go ahead & get them...but H2O...I thought the smartlite I looked at was (half) 8800k and (half) ultra actinic. Did you really get one with a (half) 10k? Where did you find it? (Anyone know what "ultra" actinic means? Is it a true actinic? Anyway, Thanks for your responses, glad to know you all were pleased with this light setup. I'm going to order it today! Yayyyy...

 

[h2o]

Hi Albion, my smartlite bulb is 50% 10,000k and 50% actinic. That's what is says on it, also the package that arrived from custom sealife. go look at custom sealife's website, it says it there too. I honestly don't know what the "ultra" actinic means, and there's a saying about a new pc blue 03 bulb on this site. I do have a 96w "ultra" actinic pc bulb in addition to my smartlite, and whatever it is, it's quite blue and seems to work great. hope it helps, good luck.

 

[albionpo]

Hmmm...Thanks H2O, I was just looking at their website and saw the 10,000k...I'm confused. All the sites I checked out had a 50/50 with one side 8800k and the other actinic. Do you know if they have an older model & a newer model? I want to get the right one!! I think I'll try to contact the company...Thanks again for your help! I'm on a hunt for the 10,000k...

 

[albionpo]

Okay. I'm done. That was a quick search. I just got off the phone with CSL and apparantly some websites out there don't know what they're talking about!! Can you imagine? They said they've been having some problems with this very thing. So, in short, There is no 8800k smartlite and it's always been 10,000k and CSL is making some phone calls to clear this up. Anyway, thanks for your input on this guys, I ordered the strip light and should be here next week!! ( even though the website says it's 8800k, I know I'm getting the right thing )I'm thinking of building a canopy for my tank at some point, though. I guess I can just remove the lights & ballast from the strip and place them in the canopy?

 

[h2o]

Albion, wait.......if you are planning on a canopy, don't buy a smartlite with canopy, you can just get the retro, it will save you a lot of work, and save you some money too. when i modified my smartlite hood, i spent time taking thigs apart and did some welding. So i suggest you get the cheaper retro if you going to have a diy canopy.

 

[albionpo]

Okay, I already placed my order but i think I can stop it still. I know you're right about the retro fit kit, it's just that I'm anxious to have my new lights up...My husband would like to build me a canopy and I should just be patient ( a good trait to practice in this hobby, I guess ) Do you know of any good sites for help in this area? ( do you have any tips of your own, too) Thanks for all your help, I appreciate it and this whole BB has been soooooo informative!! Mahalo...

 

[h2o]

i don't know much about diy canopy, but if you do a search on yahoo, there's lots of sites about how to diy

 

[albionpo]

Sorry to bring this up again...but we're going ahead with the DIY canopy and I want to get the right retro fit kit. I can't seem to find ANYWHERE a site that sells a 2x 65 watt smartlite retro kit...does anyone know if it even exists? How do you guys with 55 gallon tanks retro fit your lighting? Do you buy 2 of the 23" 55 watt kits? If so, how do you place them? one on each end or what? I don't need and can't really afford the 48" 4x 96 watt kit so....any ideas on how to get the original lighting I wanted? ( 2x 65 watt smartlite ) in a retro fit???? Thanks in advance!!

 

[h2o]

which sites have you been looking at? you can buy 2 sets of 1 x 96w smartlite retro and install it under your new canopy next to each other. or what about 2 x 96w custom sealife powerquad retro, or a 2x65w retro, or 2x96w pc but the white bulb is 67k. i am still not certain if it's 100% to put supplier's link here. but my mail is gorfolo@yahoo.com email me and i tell you where i got my.

 

[deucey]

Hi, just a suggestion but petsolutions.com has a ballast for (2) 65w PCs, made for custom sealife bulbs. It is $79 and all you will need is the two 65w PCs of your choice and a reflector. They have the smartlamps for $25/bulb. So you are looking at about $140 or so with shipping! Not that bad. Hey go to the site and check it out the ballast is called the Electro-Lite Ballast Kit, and the have the bulbs and all on there listed too.....go see for you......hope this helps! Good luck!

 

[psumba]

I can match - I have been doing ALOT of PC comparison shopping. You wouldnt believe the price differences!
anyways - Custom Sea Life recommended me to Championlighting.com for their products. Not only are they the lowest at their regular prices - right now all their CSL's are on sale!
Their 2x65 retro is $142.11
same price as previously mention but not DIY.
How big of a tank are you talking?
oddly the site lists this as the only retro kit that is not dawn/dusk.
I am looking at the 4x65 ABS for my 55gal.
Does anyone know the diff between lumens and color K factor? I thought these were similar.

 

[albionpo]

Okay...Thanks everyone for responding. I'll check everything out before I decide what to get but I really appreciate all your advice! My tank is a 55 gallon with LS, some crabs & snails and feather dusters, so I don't need huge lighting, just wanting to upgrade from the one tube of 50/50 flourescent I have now...Thanks for all your help! I don't see much of a price difference between the smartlite 2 x 65 watt strip light and buying 2 of the 55 watt smartlite retro kits...
psumba - thanks for the site, they did have great prices but I couldn't find a 2 x 65 watt retro kit?
Anyway, good luck finding your lighting, too!

 

[h2o]

Hi again, the website mentioned 2 columns above does have the 2 x 65w pc retro kit. if you click on the pc retro page and scroll down you will see it, however, it's just regular pc bulbs not smartlite, so like what i bought, the white bulb is 67k. i don't think the 67k & 10,000k really matter if you aren't going to keep anything requires more light. what's is the length of your tank? why will you want a 65w on a 55gallon, not a 96w kit? think it's better to get it right first time than keep upgrading in the future, will save you some $ i wasted a lot of $ in lighting. anyway just a friendly suggestion. well, that's where i got my light from, and although they are in pensyvania, csl is nearby san diego, ca so the light ships out from ca, and shipping is around $10-$15. good luck.

 

[albionpo]

Hi again H2O! I really thought the smartlite would be the best way to go as far as cost & getting the look I want over the tank. As far as the 55 & 96 watts goes... I really want to make sure the light covers the length of the tank...my tank is 48" long. Do you think I'd have to get two of the 96 watt to get full coverage on the tank? The 96 watt is 36" and the 55 watt is 23". So, I think I'm gonna get 2 of the 55 watt smartlite retro kit & place them one at either end...what do you think? I hope that works out. You said you disassembled a 48" strip light to install in your canopy. How hard was that? I guess you don't recommend doing that? ( didn't sound like it was a lot of fun ) Anyway, I really appreciate all of your feedback...I'm still pondering but I'll let you know how it works out
Mahalo again, Albion

 

[h2o]

I am not an expert at all, and lighting has always been a controvertial issue in reef hobby. When i changed my fish only into a reef tank, i didn't know anything about lighting, my lfs sold me a 36" smartlite with abs hood at $200 and i thought it was bright enough, but then my corals started to bleach and died. i then realized how important lighting is and then joined this site, then i really learned.
Albion, because my 55g tank canopy is exactly 36" and with limited height, i was only able to install the pc retro and my previous smartlite. (my lfs sold me the smartlite hood knowing i already had the canopy, and at that time i didn't even know there's a retro kit, at cheaper price.)
So a 48" tank and you are about to make your own canopy, you are open to a wide selection of lighting. Sorry i don't mean to be nosy, but just friendly advise.
Smartlite isn't necessary the best, there's Metal Halide. check aquaticlight.com or even vho that people prefer more than pc's. please don't be mad if i think your plan (2x55w) just isn't worth the investment. 2 x 55w pc is suggested for eclipse system, not enough for a 55g. of course it also depends what you have in your tank, and what you will want to keep in the future. Lighting is a long term investment.
dissembling a smartlite hood wasted me a little time, more important was the $ i could have saved from buying a retro on-line. If you really just want smartlite retro, why not get 2 or 3 96w retro, and install under your canopy with separate timers, and leave room for addition. Or get a MH bulb put in the center of canopy, and buy 2 cheap normal output blue flourecense bulbs, one in front and other in rear. for myself i am tring to find room for another bulb, hopefully a mh because i want more corals.
Again thank you for asking me. I am not an expert at all, i am must a sixline wrasse Good Luck !