CoralVue 14K or 20K

110galreef · 03-16-2007, 01:46 PM

Has or does anyone use these??

They are at great price now and just wondering if anyone has seen the coloration of these.

110galreef · 03-16-2007, 01:47 PM

I have used the CoralVue 10K and it was rather blue for a 10K...and I liked it?

Just not sure how the 14K or 20K were?

Fly Guy · 03-16-2007, 02:06 PM

The coralvue 14k is bluer than (insert innapropriate for TRT phrase here)..........havent seen a 20k, i imagine its even worse

110galreef · 03-16-2007, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fly Guy

(insert innapropriate for TRT phrase here)

AKA: Detritus!

Fly Guy · 03-16-2007, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 110galreef

AKA: Detritus!

nope...it was a much longer phrase I was thinking of

Wiskey · 03-16-2007, 02:54 PM

I've seen the 175W 20K's in use and they looked like blue moonlights,...

Whiskey

jenajet · 03-16-2007, 03:25 PM

I have the 20000k. Very blue, I like it but I don't think it is strong lighting as far as sps. Spend the extra for xm or something, wish I had. I thought I was getting xm but after looking at the bulbs online I found I got ripped. I don't have sps so for now it will do.

Wiskey · 03-16-2007, 04:04 PM

The PAR on the Coralview SE 20K's is not Terrible,.. 60. That's about what other decent 20K bulbs put out,.. but if compaired to the XM10,000K it's pathetic,.. about half what that bulb puts out.

BTW,.. We are talking 250W SE bulbs here right? Cauz I didn't know coralview made a 250W SE 14K,..
Whiskey

Fly Guy · 03-16-2007, 04:06 PM

They do......thats the one i was referring to that ive seen

they were the first MH I had that came with my old coralvue ballasts

Wiskey · 03-16-2007, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fly Guy

They do......thats the one i was referring to that ive seen

they were the first MH I had that came with my old coralvue ballasts

Cool deal,.. I thought that it was a 15K for some reason,.. Probably because I'm always talking about your 15K's.

Whiskey

steveweast · 03-16-2007, 10:50 PM

I'm running only 400 watt 20K Coralvues these days....I don't think that they are too blue at all....although I'm running them on HQI ballasts which yield a PAR of 146 for each bulb. The coral color improvement was very noticeable over the Radiums that they replaced.

tdwyatt · 03-17-2007, 06:21 PM

Steve, who's HQI ballast are you usng, and at what depth were you testing the PAR (I assume with an Apogee meter?) and how far from the water were the bulbs? What spource of UV filter? I am considering testing some of these, but as I need to replace all my bulbs in all the systems now, wa thinking of just buying a case. I use the XM's and really prefer them over everything else at this time, but I wouldn't mind saving about 25% over the cost of XM bulbs...

reefermike1 · 03-17-2007, 09:11 PM

dont know about the 14k coralvue, but the 14k hamilton is a perfect color imo

steveweast · 03-17-2007, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdwyatt

Steve, who's HQI ballast are you usng, and at what depth were you testing the PAR (I assume with an Apogee meter?) and how far from the water were the bulbs? What spource of UV filter? I am considering testing some of these, but as I need to replace all my bulbs in all the systems now, wa thinking of just buying a case. I use the XM's and really prefer them over everything else at this time, but I wouldn't mind saving about 25% over the cost of XM bulbs...

I never cared for the XM (too blue and bad coral coloration) or the Phoenix 14K (too yellow) on an HQI ballast....but, the Coralvue 20K on a Sunlight HQI ballast seems to be liked by my eye, my wallet, and my corals. I was using Radiums for the longest time and noticed quite an improvement in coral color a few weeks after the switch....the overall look of the tank hasn't changed much....maybe the Coralvues are slightly less blue than the Radiums.

As for testing....I'm just going from Sanjays' testing that he did for many types of bulbs on many types of ballasts. I chose the Coralvues because of the PAR and spectrum on Sanjays' charts as they compared to the Radiums and Aquaconnects (two bulbs that I've always had good results with). The Coralvue has a very similar spectrum to an Aquaconnect and a Radium in the blue range....except for a high peak in the 410 range compared to the Radium. To me, using Sanjays' charts seems to be the best way to compare spectrum, PAR, etc. of bulbs and ballasts since it was done the same way from test to test.....I'm not terribly concerned what the exact numbers of any particular bulb is; but rather, how the numbers and spectrums compare from bulb to bulb on my HQI ballasts.

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/index.htm

On a side note.....I also have used the Helios 20K which, according to the charts, has a VERY similar performance to the Coralvues....but, I had three bulbs explode over about a 6 month span (although the color was OK)....so, when replacement time came, I decided to try a bulb that hopefully will have less drama.

110galreef · 03-19-2007, 10:41 AM

Thanks all for the info!