Custom Sea Life Out of Biz :( Who Else Makes Good Actinics?

[sawyerc]

I just found out that Custom Sea Life went out of business when I tried to order new bulbs for my reef. I don't like the coralife compact-flourescent actinics - they seem to glow very purple. I would assume that the red component of these bulbs will cause/perpetuate algae problems eventually. My Custom Sea Life actinics were always REALLY blue. Does anyone have any suggestions about CF actinic bulb manufacturers: a company that makes one that's blue, not purple, and that's not out of business?

 

[DaisyPolyp]

are you talking about the coralife true actinic-03 bulbs? The only difference i really notice in actinics is the brightness associated with no/vho/cf, not the color. They should all be very heavily weighted around 420nm with very little if any red.

 

[DaisyPolyp]

...that being said, I would highly recommend the following sponsor of RDO:

http://www.hellolights.com/bluelamps.html

 

[sawyerc]

I mean coralife's "actinic" compact flourescent bulb. To the eye it glows very violet compared with custom sea life's bulbs. I went to hello lights. Thanks, its a good site.

 

[DaisyPolyp]

I notice you're in New Hampshire... you gonna make it out to MACNA in Boston?

 

[sawyerc]

Sadly no We're moving in the next two weeks. We'll still be in the area but everything is so crazy now I can't get even get to my own door because of all the boxes....and fishtanks....and bulbs...and filters.........

 

[DaisyPolyp]

I hear ya, I'm moving into the boston area in about 4 weeks... moving is no fun.

 

[sawyerc]

We'll be switching coasts. I'm heading off to school at Stanford in September. Let me warn you: it's cold here. At least you don't need a chiller. Speaking of fish, maybe the Coralife actinics are fine. I would assume that they make quality products, though I'm switching to Instant Ocean salt for my new tank. I was just surprised at how violet the bulbs appeared.

 

[JennM]

Try Current USA. Some of the folks from Custom Sea Life have turned up there I expect that the quality of bulbs would be the same or better than CSL.

HTH

Jenn

 

[PorkPie5000]

I may be wrong but I believe the difference you are seeing is that CoralLife's bulbs are true actinic 03s where Custom Sealife's were just blue. If this is true, you should actually be better off with the CoralLife bulbs.

 

[Len]

I believe Coralife's "actinics" are just blue bulbs, not true actinics. I know there are numerous Japanese manufacturers like Panasonic that make "true" actinics (meaning they use actinic phosphors). Hellolights, Marine Depot, Premium, et. al. should carry these bulbs.

 

[PorkPie5000]

Looking at the ESU website (www.esuweb.com), it looks like Coralife is now offering both Royal Blue (470nm), True Actinic 03 (420nm) and a hybrid Dual Blue that has one tube of each. Something for everyone I guess.

 

[sawyerc]

Thanks, guys. I'll look on the boxes if I can find them and see what they say.

Does anyone here successfully use Coralife's actinic compact flourescents?

 

[DaisyPolyp]

I've used many different manufacturer's actinics (including coralife currently) in both NO and CF flavors... as long as they output around 420nm you're getting what you need.

 

[sawyerc]

thanks, that makes me feel better to know that someone else is using them