catalina bulbs metal halide....

[waipahu50]

HAS anyone done any spectral or lumen output of the catalina metal halide bulbs both the mogul and HQI.....


many people say their bulbs suck and arent worth it.....and quite frankly i am starting to believe them....while with their actual fixtures and and retrofits i could deal with those.....Its just the bulbs that iam not sure with....

are the catalina bulbs any worth it....

supposedly they are called catalina but they have multiple sites....

www.catalinaaquarium.com
www.aquauniverse.com
www.petsupplyliquidator.com

 

[Len]

I am not aware of any tests done on these (definitely none by Sanjay). I've heard too many questionable reviews to want to try them myself.

 

[Anonymous]

I've used catalina actinic PC bulbs, they were the only ones at the time that were cheap enough to give that sharp purple fluorescence need without paying $30 a bulb. Considering that the bulbs themselves don't contribute greatly to growth and are mearly asthetic I'll take them. As to bulbs used more for growth, that's hard to say as there really isn't ANY industry standard, other wise most all 10000k bulbs would look almost identical regardless of brand name or wattage, this just isn't the case.

But as Len suggests no one has done any testing on this. Just people saying they're crap, and for now that's what you'll have to take unless you want to experience with them. Hey I got fairly decent results from the cheaply made chinese knock off PC & T5 bulbs, now the cost has come down somewhat, I might be more willing to buy a "quality" *laugh* bulb.

 

[FragMaster]

CA bulbs are total garbage IMO. At least one out of every three you buy will have big problems. I bought a dozen of them (175w mogul base MH) to resale (got them WAYYYYyyy below wholesale couldnt pass it up BUT I SHOULD HAVE!)
Litteraly one out of three didnt even fire.

 

[waipahu50]

yeah i heard the same thing about the bulbs not firing up....and honestly i dont want to buy something that might fire and die out perhaps 2 weeks or even 3 months later and not last the expected 1 year lifespan...

man i wish i could get a hold of the owners of catalina.....At least they could tell me if they have a warranty if their bulbs prematurely die out...

 

[FragMaster]

The makers of catalina bulbs are in Gardenea (spelling?) California.
They used to go under thename " Pet supply Liquidators" I believe.

 

[GSchiemer]

Well, I'm using a 400W 20K mogul-based Catalina bulb for the past 6 months and I have to say that I love it. I would characterize the apparent color as more of a 14K than 20K. Granted, I only have the one sample, but it's the nicest "20K" MH bulb that I've ever used.

Greg

 

[waipahu50]

well last time i called them they said they are located in Sacramento, california....and i suppose the owners are Jim(father) and son(colton) That's what i assumed....

Whatever their story is.....I just want to make sure that my hard earned money does not go to waste....US middle school students dont really have all that much money to waste.....Man it took me at least 2 years of recycling in order for me to save up this $300 for this 3-175 setup....(retro)....Yeah i know that's a little to dedicated but hey what's a kid to do...

I probalby dont have any other choice right now but to go with these guys....But They do have a 3-150 watt HQI retro and a 3-175 watt mogul base....has anyone had any experience with the HQI retros....Would it be better if i get the catalina mogul retros or the HQI retros...

remeber i have a 125 gallon tank 6 feet long....so i want to make sure i cover the whole tank....and really dont want any shadows....

 

[Perasyte]

I've bought three catalina bulbs ...

1) 10K -- VERY yellow, color looks like a shoplight
2) 10K -- Yellow, but not as yellow as the first
3) 20K -- Slightly better color than the 10K, but still yellow.

I live in Sacramento, and I'm aware of the local fish stores here that sell their equipment ...

The ballasts and retrofit lighting kits are just fine, but the bulbs suck.

 

[GSchiemer]

I've bought three catalina bulbs ...

1) 10K -- VERY yellow, color looks like a shoplight
2) 10K -- Yellow, but not as yellow as the first
3) 20K -- Slightly better color than the 10K, but still yellow.

I live in Sacramento, and I'm aware of the local fish stores here that sell their equipment ...

The ballasts and retrofit lighting kits are just fine, but the bulbs suck.

Catalina markets bulbs from 70W through 400W in both double-ended and mogul-based. Did you try EVERY one?

 

[The_Big_Fish]

Pet Supply Liquidator
8241 Valdez drive
sacramento, CA 95826
United States

I too agree they suck.

 

[waipahu50]

It might upset you guys but.....i bought the darn retrofit anyways and just got it yesterday......I was okay with the retrofit themselvess.....they had a metal ballast housing and semi good reflectors.....I had picked those 15K bulbs and well quite frankly.....they are much brighter than the stupid bootleg pc fixtures that i had on the tank before....ANd well it does look like a regular 15K color temp in my perspective....It look bluish, not even yellow, but not to blue like a 20K

Then again i played around with different bulbs that someone gave me....

I put some 10K Hamilton bulbs and all i can say is wow....the white light of 10K just blew my tank away....I really like the color of the 10K hamiltons but obiously the colors of the corals, rocks, fish, and coraline algae was not so defined as did the 15K catalina bulbs did...I guess its going take some decisions on which one iam going to use...Most likely i would use the catalina ones for now....because the 10K bulbs given to me look like they had been used for a little while.....

But i will keep updating if the bulbs break or color shift...I just hope they dont////Ohh i wish i had a light par meter to measure the par on these bulbs....