Coralife PC bulbs suck,

[bekindtoyurbuds]

What company makes the best PC bulbs, Im running two 65watt PC bulbs on my 15 gal, My red sea max also runs two PC bulbs but they are 55watts each.
The lights on my red sea max are defintely brighter than the coralife bulbs even though they have 20watts less.

Who makes some high quality bulbs that I can replace the coralife bulbs with?
(the lights in the red sea max are made by red sea max and they only come in 55watts, so I can't go with that manufacturer, wish I could, they make good bulbs)

[emoore]

You can use 55W bulbs in the 65W fixture if the pins match. I would guess that it is not the bulbs that are making your 15 gallon look dimmer, it is the ballast. The Rea Sea probably has a better ballast.

[bekindtoyurbuds]

hmm. never thought about that, Its about time to replace the red sea bulbs anyways (there about 10 months old, and they are still brighter than the 3 month old coralife bulbs) When I get new ones for the red sea max I will put the old bulbs in the coralife fixture to see if they are brighter, if so I guess I will buy another new red sea set for the coralife fixture. Im pretty sure they are both straight pin.

Would there be a problem running lower than recommended wattage bulbs on the coralife fixture?(like exploding bulbs or anything like that???)

[emoore]

I have used 55W bulbs in a 65W fixture for many years in my freshwater tanks and I have never had a problem.

[celano]

I've been a big fan of UVL's PC-R series. They have a built in reflector to help get some of that stray light back in the tank and they offer some different color choices(12k and 14k)for us PC guys.

[zachfishman]

I find that the reflector is a huge determinant of light-intensity. I have an old Current-USA 48" PC fixture that has a huge (6" wide) arced reflector that throws as much light into the tank as you'd expect to come from 4PC bulbs rather than the 2 it holds. Also I noticed no difference in brightness when I replaced my old 65watt 50/50 SmartPaq PC's with Coralife's 65watt 50/50 PCs.

The Corallife PC hoods on the other hand are comparatively dim (at least the old hood I had on another tank).