Ati coral plus bulbs

Bubbabobobbrain · Feb 9, 2012

Fieroguy19 said:
I have been running one for two weeks now and really like the change. It is considered a white bulb even though it looks purple to the naked eye. The bulb has alot of blue and red in it, giving the purple color.

I have tried purple plus in the past and hated it due to it giving my tank a pink color even with plenty of blue plus. This bulb is kinda like a toned down purple plus with more blue in it that the purple plus lacks.

So would you consider this a good white bulb (aqua blue special) replacement or do you think this would just be a better option for a replacement purple plus bulb?

Fieroguy19 · Feb 9, 2012

I guess it depends on PAR output which I should measure but am lazy. I replaced my aquablue with the coral plus. It does look dimmer to the eye than a typical 10k or 12k white bulb but I would want to check the PAR to be sure. The other thing is that since the PAR meter is more sensitive to blue and red it might have really good numbers. Guess I need to get off my butt and measure it.

bwoodward0012 · Feb 9, 2012

I may try one of these with 2 blue+ bulbs and a kz fiji purple in combination with leds on my next project. Here is the bulb info from reefgeek:

"

ATI 24W Coral Plus T5 High-Output Fluorescent bulb combines the properties of a Blue Plus (~50%), Aquablue Special (~40%) and Purple Plus (~10%) producing a bulb with a cool, crisp white color with hints of red and blue. The higher blue component compared to an Aquablue Special produces better fluorescence in capable corals and the red component is excellent for color rendition. Approximate color temperature: 15000K+. Recommended Use: as a stand-alone bulb or in combination with Blue Plus, Purple Plus, True Actinic or other supplemental T5 bulbs."

Bubbabobobbrain · Feb 9, 2012

I would appreciate it, lol. My main reason for starting this thread about these bulbs is that I am hoping to replace the lights on my reef tank in the near future and would like a bluer look. I also want to stay with ati bulbs as they are imo the best bulbs. I know a few people in my reef club that use the aqua blue special bulbs and they look nice but I really want to go not so white when I upgrade my lighting, but I also want to make sure that they will be good for my corals (which im sure they will be considering they are called coral plus bulbs, lol). Thanks in advance for the effort, lol.

kuyatwo · Feb 9, 2012

If anyone wants some of them. I have some 24" ati coral plus bulbs for sale.

Personally it did not work in the combination with KZ Fiji purple bulbs. Definitely they are different than ati abs.

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Fieroguy19 · Feb 9, 2012

Well I measured a few bulbs. I used an Apogee meter and the coral plus was nearly identical to the ATI blue plus in terms of PAR. Both bulbs have been used for 2 weeks and I let both of them warm up before I tested them. The only other newer bulb to test was a GE 6500K bulb and it was actually 100 PAR lower than the other two which was pretty surprising to me.

I still think it is less bright compared to a typical 10k or 12k bulb, and based on what I measured would have less PAR than a 10k bulb since they usually have better PAR numbers than blue plus bulbs. Blue plus bulbs are known for having great PAR for a blue bulb, so the coral plus still has good PAR. As for recommendations, I really don't know since everyone likes their tanks a little different. It is almost like having 1/2 of a fiji/purple plus bulb in terms of the red spectrum. The bulb looks white with purple and does not brighten your tank as much like a 10k bulb would.

kuyatwo · Feb 9, 2012

I think your ge bulb is defective when I ran ge bulb it put a bit more par than blue +.

Here grim reefer tested par on some t5 bulbs

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1279308

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PurpleMonster · Feb 10, 2012

So my thoughts on the bulb.... when turned on by themselves they look a bit blue, and when i have them on combined with my LED's it makes for the perfect white color in the tank but the corals still pop in color! the Reds look red, the purple looks real purple, the green look green. I am very happy i added the 2 bulbs to the system.

I maybe get a few more RB to replace a few of the CW led's just to get a little more blue in there but I think i can live with it no problem. I know i said i'd post pictures but my cams bettery is dead and been to lazy lol.

PAR:

Before with just LED's i was getting a good 300 - 350 at the top where my Purple Monster sits, now in that area im getting well over 500!!!!! at the sandbed i was getting around 100 to 150ish, now 200+!! i have plenty of light all over the tank now and no more fear of if i put this coral here or there whill it not get enough light lol. The T5's i feel added some color that i was lacking with just the LED's and absolutely bumped my PAR.

HAPPY!!!:bigsmile: