rumjason

Just picked up a coralife 260 watt fixture very cheep for a buddy that upgraded his setup but the bulbs are 10,000k and actinic blue. I need to replace them with 6700k but i am cheep What I would like to know is if there is a difference between 65watt and 55watt cf bulbs other then the 10 watts. Ahsupply has the 55 watts for $17 and all the 65 watt bulbs i see are $25 and up. Can i get away with the less expensive bulbs?
Just want to also add I love this site I have spent countless hours learning much from the wealth of knowledge here.

The old man

Just make sure the pin connections are the same (straight or square) and you should be ok. You might consider only getting two 6700 to go with the 10,000 that you have. Gives a good combination of light for me. I'm running two 96 watt with my Coralife 192 watt lunar light. You may wait on another opinion. Just my 2 cents worth.

Newt

It's the ballast that drives the bulb. So if you put a 55w bulb in a fixture that has a ballast that drives them at 65w then that's what you get. I'd steer clear of Coralfe bulbs as they have too much green in their spectral output.
Here is a better option:http://www.1000bulbs.com/Full-Spectr...t-Light-Bulbs/

Any of these three is a good option althou the Philips is probably the best. The website has some errors on the description for these. They are 5000K (old style is 5300K) and the CRI is 92, not 82.



Also, not a bad idea to mix bulbs with different kelvin. The 10000K will provide more blue light which will make your plants more 'bushy'.

rumjason

Thank you for the info. If i understand this correct the ballast will drive a 55w bulb at 65w so the bulbs marked 65w are $15 to $20 more for a extra .5 to1" of glass. I am in the wrong business i need to sell fish tank equipment lol.