Another Bulb Thread (Reeflux)

[woz9683]

I'm about ready to get new bulbs and I've been looking at the Reeflux bulbs. First of all, whatever I get will be 250W DE run on HQI ballasts. Everything I've seen recently here on RC has been either SE or has been run on electronic ballasts (when it comes to the Reeflux bulbs anyway).

Is anybody actually running these bulbs on an HQI ballast?

If so, how is the color? If I read correctly, some people didn't like the pinkish hue they got from these bulbs. Is this still an issue with the HQI ballasts? Is it an issue for both bulbs (10K and 12K)?

I know the 10K bulb has the 4 different spikes along the spectrum of light emitted, but what about the 12K? I can't find any literature on the 12K at all, and even Sanjay's reviews only cover the 250W SE version of the 10K bulb (I think, if there are more recent ones please point me in the right direction). Also, along the same lines, is there any info floating around on PAR, PPFD, CCT for the 12K bulbs?

Please, just information on the 250W DE running on an HQI ballast, or any other bulb suggestions for this setup would also be useful. In general, I'm looking for a bulb with a higher than average PAR (so probably a 10K), but I don't want a yellowish hue to it either.

[ahullsb]

bump

[woz9683]

Damn, stuff gets hidden fast on this forum. Does anybody have info about the reeflux in the 250W DE version (10K or 12K) running on an HQI ballast?

[PSam]

I believe they're meant to run on electronic, and look pinker on HQI, but don't quote me on that. I have 12K on e-ballast and really like it - no pink, some blue, less blue than phoenix or those other type bulbs, though I'm taking it out this week to try the 10K. Sanjay does have data on the 10K & 12K Reeflux, in the 400w version, but wasn't there some more recent article about the 250w?

[PSam]

Found it: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/3/review/view

[woz9683]

The 250w DE bulbs have HQI written all over the ads. They're definitely able to run on HQI ballasts.

Are yours SE or DE?

I'm pretty sure I've looked at all the articles on these bulbs from Sanjay's site, the most recent one on these bulbs was 400w and 250w, all SE. Now he did run them on an HQI ballast along with the other ballasts so I would expect those to be overdriven resulting in the pink color. I'm hoping this is not the case for the DE bulbs.

[woz9683]

Sweet, he doesn't have a link to that article on his website. Thanks a lot PSam, now I just have to read it.

[woz9683]

Well, that is info for the 12Ks 400w, 250w, and 175w but still just SE I think?

[DarG]

Ive had both the 10K and 12K , 250 watt, DE. Both run on Magnetoc HQI ballasts. The 10K is the version where the pink tint issue has come up, I believe. Mine were not pink. I sold the 10K's with very little time on them. They are pretty bright but couldnt color them up the way I wanted to with T5's when I went down from 4 T5's to 2 T5's. They are pretty much a white bulb but I didnt see much if any of a blue tint in them. Atleast not in the pair I had on the Blue Wave VII ballasts.

The 12K's dont have the par of the 10's but are quite a bit bluer. They must measure bluer than the 12K rating. They do have a good bit of blue on the magnetic HQI ballasts. I'm sure there would be a lot of people that would run these without flourescent supplementation. I was running these until I switched to the new Iwasaki's. Then I put these back in just because I dont need the par of the Iwasakis at the present time. I will run the Iwasakis in place of these when the time comes. But they are keepers in my opinion.

Anyway, if you want a bulb with a decent amount of blue on it's own and that you probably could get to look any way you wanted it to with flouresecent supplements, I think the 12K's are a good choice.

[woz9683]

Well, I do have some actinics to supplement the bulbs, maybe the 10Ks will look ok with some supplementation? Now I need to find someone who's had them through the burn in period to see if that pink tint shows up when they burn in.

The 12Ks sound like they could be a good look by themselves, or maybe if I rotate them with something that has a little more PAR. I guess I need to see how much the PAR actually drops off from the 10K to the 12K. It's good to know that the 12Ks still have some blue though, especially if the PAR isn't too bad.

What is the new Iwasaki you got, a 6500K?

[oct2274]

the new iwasaki is a 14k 250 DE bulb

[DarG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10986004#post10986004 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by oct2274
the new iwasaki is a 14k 250 DE bulb

The Par isnt too low on the 12K's but the 10K is definitely a brighter lamp. I have no doubt however that you could keep pretty much anything under the 12's, especially with good reflectors and flourescent supplementation. In fac, there is one member here running the 12K's only and he has a beautiful reef.

The 10K's looked great when I was running 4 T5's. But I was changing reflectors and going to 2 T5's at the same time I ordered the bulbs so they only ran for a very short time. Couldnt get the color with two T5's so I sold the bulbs and ran the 12K's.

The Iwasaki is a 14K. Very bright but a white bulb, no yellow. The 12K Reeflux are bluer than the Iwasaki. Iwasaki has just a hint of actnic/blue. Color up nice with my two overdriven T5's though.

[woz9683]

Well, my reflectors aren't really that great so that's one of the reasons I was looking for a higher PAR bulb, to make up for the weak reflectors. I'm going to retrofit some Lumenarc DEs when I have the time, but I'm afraid that's way down the list of tank priorities. For supplementation I have 2 x 96w PCs, which seems to be sufficient.

It sounds like the 12Ks may be the way to go, my tank is only 20" deep after all. I just wish I could get PAR numbers for all the DE bulbs. And those Iwasakis for that matter. And I'd still like to hear from somebody who used the 10Ks past burn in.

So, from the sounds of it, you'd probably put the Iwasaki in between the 10K and 12K as far as spectrum is concerned?

[Philwd]

Iwasaki PAR and spectrum are posted in the Icecap forum in the Iwasaki thread.

[DarG]

Yes, Iwasaki 14K's measured 93 or 95 on the magnetic HQI ballast. That was a quick and dirty check though. Sanjay hasnt posted info on the Iwasakis yet from a more thorough test. They are whiter than the 10K reeflux, not as blue as the 12K reeflux and brighter than both.
On a 20" deep tank the 12K's would be more than enough.

Depends what you want, with your PC's, bluer, go with the 12K. Whiter, the 10K's or the Iwasaki. The Iwasaki with the PC's would end up with a stronger blue tint than the 10K reeflux, atleast from my experience with the 10K's which was probably just past break-in. I think I had them for 3 weeks but I cant remember now. I sold one pair of bulbs with only a few hours and a couple other pairs that I used for a little while. I think the 10K's I ran for 3 weeks.

Anyway, there should be some more people with experience with both 10K and 12K that can give more input.

[woz9683]

Well, thanks for all your info and personal experience with these bulbs DarG, I really appreciate it.

I certainly thought some more Reeflux users would chime in too, maybe there just aren't that many using the DE version.