Coralvue Reeflux 10k Bulb (DE Version not Mogul)

[thedude]

All,

This is supposedly the next "hot bulb" on the market after the Phoenix and after seeing Sanjay's results for it (the Mogul version no DE results yet), I really wanted to try one. Now mind you, I was running a Giesseman 20k MegaChrome bulb. The 20k had a very beautiful blue color and really colored up the corals well, but the growth from it was non-existent. Not to mention, that the bulb has a pricetag in the 120 dollar range :sick .

So I decided to go with this 10k bulb, hoping for a bulb that was ALL white with no yellowish tint. I must tell you, I'm EXTREMELY impressed with this bulb. Immediately after putting it in, you could tell the tank was brighter (probably the 20k to 10k switch) and everything reacted great. Usually after a bulb switch, my acroporas would be ****ed off for a few weeks but they seemed to adjust to this new bulb almost immediately (I attribute this to the bulb's huge spike in the 430nm range). I can also see noticeable growth from all my acropora frags which is HUGE for me, as like I said with the Giesseman I saw NO growth. 2 weeks later and the bulb has basically burned in and I love the color and growth and probably won't switch bulbs again.

One thing I will say about it, is that it is a true 10k bulb. If I wasn't using a hanging fixture I'd supplement with VHO's or T5's in the blue spectrum.

This is the link to Sanjay's article on the mogul version of the bulb, and as I stated, he has not published data on the DE bulb yet http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/may2005/feature.html

Remember that you are looking at the Coralvue Reeflux bulb not the Coralvue 10k as I've heard from quite a few people the old Coralvue bulbs were crap.

John

[GaryP]

Your corals ****ed off was probably due to a huge increase in PAR from going to a 10K. I had the same problem when I went to 10K from 14K. For future reference, its probably a good idea to cut back the timers when going down in K value and then work them back up again. Give them a couple of weeks to adjust.

As for the spike in the 430 nm range that you mentioned, I have looked at Sanjay's spectrums and that looks like 450 nm to me, not 430 nm. 450-460 is blue, while 420 nm is the violet color that is generally attributed by Bornemann and others to be responsible for color pigment production in SPS. You might try comparing the reeflux spectrum to that of an XM-10 or Ushio 10K bulb that has a very large 420 nm spectrum spike. Of course these results for the Mogul base not the DE. I have been able to find any results for the DE at either Coralvue's site, or in any of Sanjay's publications. I don't know if it is appreciably different or not. I have recently found out, the hard way, that XM has a QC problem, and their published spectrum is not necessarily what you get when it is delivered. I got a very yellow XM-10K that looks more like a 6.5K.

20K bulbs are what I call a "pretty" bulb, but not real practical if growth is your major goal. The reason is that the PAR is almost half that of a 10K so that if you want to get good growth, you have to use twice the wattage to get the same growth as a 10K. 20K are what I consider a lighting supplement bulb, not a primary bulb. However, since they peak at 460 nm, and not 420, they don't seem to be an efficient bulb when it comes to coral color development. Actinic fluorescent bulbs or a 10K MH with a good 420 nm spike would seem to be better. Some of the new 14 and 15K bulbs that are coming along may be a better compromise but I have not really studied them.

[gjuarez]

Thats great to hear. You might also want to check out this thread.

http://www.maast.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=16345

[thedude]

Thanks Gary, I do mean that the bulb has the largest peak at 450 and not 430 like previously mentioned. One of my major problems with XM bulbs is that the 10k looks yellow and the 14 and 20k looks purple.

What I was trying to say is that with the switch to 10k this time, the corals actually were NOT ****ed off. Which I think is due to the huge spike at 450, similar to what happens in a 20k bulb.

I'd agree with you on the 20k bulbs being "pretty". They have a great color but the PAR value is so low, I might as well be lighting my tank with a flashlight.

[GaryP]

Like I said, it was more likely due to the increase in PAR, not the 450. The corals could care less about spectrum. To them, light is light. What they do care about is PAR, except as far as spectrum stimulating pigment production is concerned. The yellow 10K was an off-spec bulb. An XM should not look yellow. I have two now, one is crisp white, and the other is yellow. That was the QC (quality control) problem I referred to.

[brewercm]

Guys, the 450 is irrelevant because those stats are for a completely different lamp. I don't think you can really speculate the properties of any DE lamp by looking at it's mogul counterpart. JMO

Agree completely. I was running XM10K mogul and switched over to XM10K DEs on the same ballast and the DE's are much brighter and much more yellow than the SE bulbs. As far as I know this is only true to the XM 10K bulb though.

[thedude]

Well I'll say for just sight reference for now, the DE version of the Reeflux 10k's are white with a hint of blue.

EDIT:

Oh and it was really funny. Right as this morning we were talking about QC issues with XM, guess what? A 6 month old XM 20k had blown up at Austin Aquariums. I'm not real impressed with XM at all.

[fishypets]

Just installed the 400W 10K Reeflux and I must say my tank has never looked better. All the blues are much brighter than before (14K Hamiltons) and the tank has a very crisp white look. I'll try to post some pics later.

Clint

[BIGBIRD123]

Where can you get these bulbs? I need a 400w and two 250w.

Steve

[fishypets]

http://www.acropora.net

[gjuarez]

yup, thats the cheapest place