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Opinion on retrofitting a pc fixture for planted tank

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  • Opinion on retrofitting a pc fixture for planted tank

    i have this square pin fixture in need of a new square pin bulb but since it's a bit hard to find on top of being pricier and inferior to a t5 so i thought i may just retrofit this coralife fixture to house 3 bulb sockets and then just add the right curly bulbs to promote plante growth. SO...

    1. do you all think this little project is worth it?
    2. what would this fixture be good enough for?
    3. what's a good bulb combination to use in this setup?
    4. where would i find this bulb?

    I ben to home depot and lowes before but haven't ben able to find any bulbs in the 6k range. FG was the only place when i found some made by coralife, and i think i saw some on petmountain with no info other than the statement that it promoted plant growth or something like that.
    Last edited by electricblue; 02-17-2012, 02:48 AM.

  • #2
    I think it would be a waste, you could just get a square pin to straight pin adapter and get one of the knockoff brand bulbs.
    700g Mini-Monster tank

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    • #3
      got any links? i'm going to check if there is an old badd fixture in the garage first to get the bulb sockets.

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      • #4
        actually the T5HO is the exact same technology as PC, the only difference is the shape and the availability of quality lamps. I have recently switched from PC to T5HO only because its easier to get quality bulbs. +1 to definately getting a :: pin to .... pin adapter. Definately DO NOT use knock off brand bulbs, their color quality is terrible. I have a whole box of odyssea that i will give away with my PC retrofit kits when i ever get around to selling them. i just went to drsfostersmith.com, thatfishplace.com, and petsolutions.com and they all have straight pin 65W PC lamps from Coralife and JBJ, these are good quality lamps in the 6500k to 6700k range. You can also try Current USA brand, I like their T5 so the PC should be okay plus they make a 6700k / 10000k combo that would be okay for deeper tanks. i have purchased from all three sites and they are good operations
        75G Standard - High Light Planted Community Fish
        28G Aquapod - Medium Light Planted Shrimp & Microrasboras
        12G Eclipse - Bonsai Planted Betta & Shrimp
        29G Standard - Vivarium w/ Red Devil Crabs
        45G Exo-Terra - Terrarium w/ Hermit Crabs (in progress)
        33G Cubish - Vivarium w/ D.auratus 'blue & bronze'

        GHAC Member

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