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8800K bulbs

4K views 19 replies 9 participants last post by  GulfCoastAquarian 
#1 ·
I'm in search for the 8800K bulb that Amano is supposed to use and standby so much. I've read in a few articles that ADA believes this color K is the best suited for plants, and shows their natural colors best.

If you know what I'm talking about, and even better, the exact make/brand Amano uses, I'm all ears. Otherwise any 8800K recommendations of your own are welcome. I'm looking for a 55W CF first, then regular NO tubes second.
 
#3 ·
I use 8800K PC. It's my favorite color. It's the whitest color of all bulbs IMO. No blue, yellow or green tint. The spectrum graph is similar to 6700 but it balances better to reduce the yellow hue.

Aquatic-store carries the 55 watts. I got mine from Aquariumpros but they only carry the 96watts CSL bulbs.

Here's a pic. to give you an idea on how white it is:
 

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#7 ·
Rolo said:
Thanks for the recommendations! hmm, seem like they all are square pin. Where could I get square pin connector, something capatible with a AHS 55W kit? (Only comes with straight).
Rolo,
I already went through this exercise after mistakenly ordering a couple of 8800K bulbs on clearance from Big Al's. I e-mailed AH Supply about switching endcaps on their kits. The reply I got was that I'd need to use their dual 55W ballast in order to drive a single 65W bulb (their single 55w ballast isn't capable of driving a 65w bulb). The new end cap was an additional $7.
 
#8 ·
I don't think I'll be getting the 65W though, just the 55W malkore mentioned. I do have a workhorse 5 ballast (capable of driving 2 55W) so all I need is the squre pin endcap. Thanks for the help everyone!

Wait, one more thing. There should be no problem running a straight pin GE 9325K and one of the [::] 8800K from the same ballast, right?
 
#9 ·
Rolo said:
Wait, one more thing. There should be no problem running a straight pin GE 9325K and one of the [::] 8800K from the same ballast, right?
I get the feeling you are going to be the first to find out.
 
#11 ·
I don't see how the pin configuration is going to make any difference to the ability of the ballast to handle the 55Wx2 load. 2 power leads to each. There is some difference based on Osram or Panasonic (per the Fulham catalogue), but I have no idea what that is about.
 
#12 ·
aquaverde said:
I don't see how the pin configuration is going to make any difference to the ability of the ballast to handle the 55Wx2 load. 2 power leads to each. There is some difference based on Osram or Panasonic (per the Fulham catalogue), but I have no idea what that is about.
That difference you were talking about between the Osram and Panasonic for fulham ballast is exactly the reason im wondering. In some really confusing artical they basically linked osram and panasonic to mean either straight pin or square. So I'm confused if my ballast can do both if it is only configured for one type?

Anyone wanna help clarify?

SCMurphy said:
I get the feeling you are going to be the first to find out.
Well I'm not usually the type to jump in and take risk, but I really want to get this tank setup quickly. So you could be right. ;)
 
#13 · (Edited)
Still looking for help here.

I'm going to use a Workhorse 5 ballast for run 2x55w PCs. One is the the 9325K bulb (straight pin) and one an 8800k (square pin). Can you do this? The Fulham site seems to designate their ballast as either osram or panasonic - which I think means straight or square pin.

Malkore - I remember your commenting on how the 8800k bulb blances out with the pink from the 9325k. Are you using two different ballasts to run each?

If anyone knows of a straight pin 55W 8800k bulb that would be great!
 
#15 ·
oldfarmhouse said:
I cannot see a problem with two different bulbs. They sell PC lights with acetic and 10000k bulbs all the time.
Opps, I made a mistake and that confused you OFH. It's fixed now. The problem is not the Kelvin, but the pin configuration. 55w 8800k bulbs come in square pin, but the 9325k I have now is straight. I don't know if its safe to mix them.
 
#16 ·
I suggest you give Fulham a call, or drop them an email. There's a woman staffer there who will respond fairly quickly to technical email requests. A question like this is simple enough that you should be able to get your answer that way. OTOH, if you would like a more complete answer, you can call and talk to an engineer.

That's what I did when I wanted to know if the output leads on a WH5 could be switched. I got sort of the company line by email ("not an approved application"), and the real deal from the engineer (you can do it, but if you use the switch while it's powered up, you can blow up the ballast since there's no spike protection on the output).
 
#18 ·
I tried 2 different e-mail address and sent 3 in total. Kept getting a failure to send return. Tried the toll free number, but they don't offer customer help that way. Anyway, I won't be using my 9325k anymore so the straight/square pin issue doesn't affect me. Take a look in swap and shop, as I'm selling my 55w kit w/ the bulb!
 
#20 ·
Try emailing Dhalia in tech support...
djennings@fulham.com

She had always answered my questions very quickly.
As for using OSRAM and Panasonic style bulbs on a single ballast, I hope its ok because I've been running mine that way for over a year. I've got one straight pin 9325K 55W GE bulb and one square pin 8800K 65W CSL bulb running off of my Fulham WH5. The fulham website tells you to wire two outputs from the WH5 for Straight Pin (OSRAM style) bulbs...

And it tells you to use three outputs from the WH5 for Square Pin (Panasonic style) bulbs...

So if you want to run both off of one WH5, you'll only have two outputs available for the Square Pin (Panasonic style) bulb. Subsequently, the 8800K 65W Square Pin bulb in my setup is a little dimmer than the 9325K 55W Straight Pin bulb, but as I said, they've run for over a year with no problems.
 
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