12K SE ReefLux Bulb opinions

[szidls]

Hey Scott - how goes it? I asked Jason about that when he was here this morning - in his opinion, he did not notice much of a color change from first purchase to now (8 to 9 months of use). He did say that he ran 20k bulbs before (I think he said xm 20ks) and they were about the same color as these supposed 12ks. Also, I read somewhere (can't remember where b/c have been doing a lot lately) that the 12k reefluxes were supposed to have about the same PAR rating as the 10ks. I don't see how this is possible, but that's what I read somewhere. I'll see if I can dig it up.

Jason told me his SPS growth has never been better. That said, i can't remember if he's ever run 10ks before.

Hey question for you Scott... What type of ballast do you use on yours? Do you notice a pink hue with your 10k reefluxes at all?

I'm glad to hear that growth was good. i'll order up the 12ks, try them out for a while and then if my growth isn't good, or I don't like them, i'll switch to something else. Keep your 10ks for me (don't throw them out even if old) and I may borrow them from you just to get an idea. For now though, I'm just excited for a change and to see those POPPING COLORS of the 12ks.

Ben, I'm running the reeflux on Ice Cap electronic ballasts. The 10k's are about 10 weeks old with no pink color. Hey get the 12k's burnt in and we can swap a bulb with each other to compare.
Scott

 

[Krish]

yeah.. it's pretty blue. I've seen 20ks in person and I'd say this is pretty darn similar.

So, If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, talks like a duck, it's a duck right? then why do they call this a 12k bulb when it feels like a 20k? any logical explination for that? marketing?

LOL! Not sure, but have you ever eaten some chinese food that they say is chicken, looks like chicken, smells like chicken and even tastes like chicken, but then...:shock: (LOL)

 

[mattseattle]

Looks great Ben..... I didn't notice a change over in the colors on either the Reeflux 10k or 12k when I ran them. I also had good coral growth under both.

 

[class clown]

Thanks guys..

Scott- definately - let's do it!

Krish- if you ever figure that one out, lemme know. It ain't chicken. I think it's marketing b/c if color being equal, I'd buy a 12k vs. a 20k b/c I'd figure the lower the kelven rating, the better growth I should see.

Matt - good to know. that matches Jason's observations too.


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so check this out.. it's probably all crap, but here's where I got the whole "same PAR" idea..

http://www.reeferschoice.com/proddetail.asp?prod=RLux-12K-175

"The ReefLux 12000K has the performance of the 10000K but with a touch of blue added."

Yeah.. and if you ask me.. that is not exactly a "touch of blue" that's a "buncha blue" I don't know if I buy it.

 

[szidls]

Looks great Ben..... I didn't notice a change over in the colors on either the Reeflux 10k or 12k when I ran them. I also had good coral growth under both.

Hey Matt,
Did you run any actinic supplement with the 12k's? Thinking I might be able to just run 2 or none of the - 110 vho's.
Scott

 

[Krish]

Krish- if you ever figure that one out, lemme know. It ain't chicken. I think it's marketing b/c if color being equal, I'd buy a 12k vs. a 20k b/c I'd figure the lower the kelven rating, the better growth I should see

Yeah...I bought the 12K Reeflux because my 20K XM was too blue for the tank I was switching to at the time that would have the black background and also knowing I would be adding corals soon, I wanted something more white which I told would have more PAR as the 20K didn't have much PAR at all in comparison to many of the other bulbs and I ended up buying a bulb just as blue. My comparison pic shows the two bulbs were the same, just doesn't show how blue the spectrum actually was because of the camera I used, but your shots tell it all which I'm glad for. Not sure what the marketing strategy is here, but it is really misleading...

 

[class clown]

Scott- based on my observations, you could most likely easily get away without any actinics whatsoever. It may be overkill in fact. Then again, it's all personal preference.

Jason actually had some (I think he was using VHO) and said he really just doesn't need them.

For me.. I'll likely keep mine just to run in the early morning and at night to "similuate" dawn and dusk. But wouldn't run them during the day b/c there doesn't seem to be a "need" for them based on my viewing preference.

 

[szidls]

Yea Ben I have been contemplating getting some luminarc reflectors. I am using the pfo parallel now and they work great for hanging the actinic supp. If I could get away wo actinics I would make the switch. Maybe even add t-5 because of their size. Just a thought.
Scott

 

[mattseattle]

Hey Matt,
Did you run any actinic supplement with the 12k's? Thinking I might be able to just run 2 or none of the - 110 vho's.
Scott

I only ran them when I wanted the dawn/dusk effect otherwise they were off when the 12k's were fired up.

 

[Elmo18]

Looks cool Ben.

Too blue for me, I guess.

Best,
Ilham

 

[Reefdaddy1]

I Agree Ilham, When my tank was up that color was VHO supplemt only. I like the natural color better. I used the 12k bulb on a CV ballast and it did not look that blue. Hmmmm?

 

[morgan]

there is no way the 12k could be just as blue as a 20k other wise it wouldnt be 12K my 14k coralvue 400watt is a good blue and not as blue as a 20K
maybe u couldnt tell the differnce much krish cause u lacked the corals which do flures more under the 20K

 

[Scooterman]

there is no way the 12k could be just as blue as a 20k other wise it wouldnt be 12K my 14k coralvue 400watt is a good blue and not as blue as a 20K
maybe u couldnt tell the differnce much krish cause u lacked the corals which do flures more under the 20K

What I've seen here so far is different ballast, different looks on the same lamp also even though they look alike doesn't mean they are producing the same spectrum, the human eye can't be the judge in this case! last you will not see a much of a shift unless it is major regardless of how much the lamps does shifts actually, again you need the proper equipment to determine that, also you can't judge by brightness. Otherwise it is interesting to see what everyone comes up with using different lamps & ballast combinations. Looking at these I'm still having a hard time trying to decide what look I want, actually how to get that look, I want the performance of the 10k's with half the color of the 12 or 20k's!

 

[Krish]

there is no way the 12k could be just as blue as a 20k other wise it wouldnt be 12K my 14k coralvue 400watt is a good blue and not as blue as a 20K
maybe u couldnt tell the differnce much krish cause u lacked the corals which do flures more under the 20K

LOL!! Morgan you can just look at my tank alone and see the bulbs looked the same. Just the highlights from the coraline appear different with his tank and with my 75gal they were exactly the same using two different bulbs. Also, I had zoanthids in that 75gal on a little rock and they didn't look any different with the 2 different bulbs. They were exactly the same under each side of the tank. I also ran that bulb on my 38gal cube with all the gorgonians in it and it was crazy blue...Too much for me that I had to switch and got a 14K Hamilton which wasn't as blue IMO on the same 38gal with all the corals in it

 

[swissgaurd]

heres my lighting comparision.i tried the 10k xm 250's for 2 weeks,
swiched over to the 10k reeflux been using them for 4 days growth is extremly noticable and color is much more crisp ,i find that the reeflux has a tint of blue.

im using the ice cap ballasts

vic

 

[Scooterman]

Hey Vic which is which in your Pics?

 

[swissgaurd]

Hey Vic which is which in your Pics?

XM is the first one

 

[class clown]

gees - that's a big difference in the pix. I'd be curious to see what the reefluxs look like in 2 weeks (same as the xms).

anyone else?

 

[Scooterman]

Hey Vic one more Q? Which ballast are you using?
Surprised how yellow the 10K XM's look!

 

[swissgaurd]

im using the 250 icecap ballasts supplemented with 2 uri vho' with icecap ballasts