ATI coral plus vs purple plus

thejoshdavis · Dec 10, 2012

Do any of you guys have experience with these 2 bulbs? I just ordered 2 more Blue plus for my lamp. I have a quad lamp and will be doing 3 Blue Plus + a purple plus or coral plus. Mixed tank with LPS and softies right now. I would like to try my hand at SPS down the road, maybe something like a montipora digi which seems to be an easier SPS.

Flipside · Dec 10, 2012

I have experience with both of them. I like them both. With only four bulbs, it's really hard to run both. Maybe buy one to see how you like it. The CP is brighter than the BP and PP. Lays down some serious PAR in my tank.

thejoshdavis · Dec 10, 2012

Flipside said:
I have experience with both of them. I like them both. With only four bulbs, it's really hard to run both. Maybe buy one to see how you like it. The CP is brighter than the BP and PP. Lays down some serious PAR in my tank.

I may go with the Purple plus, there seems to be better reviews out of it.

I'll have my bulbs like this:
Blue+
Blue+
Purple+
Blue+

My lamp has dual circuits for each pair of bulbs. I currently have the front 2 come on first, then 2 hours later all four. After about 6 hours, the rear 2 go off, then 2 more hours and its all off.

Dowtish · Dec 10, 2012

Either one would be fine. But I would go with the Coral Plus. It appears a little bit whiter than you would think, and the fact you are already running 3 blue plus, it will balance it out well.

jackers · Dec 10, 2012

I ran 4 Blue + and 1 Purple + and it was ok. I kept blowing the purple + (probably because I am overdriving it with my IceCap 660 ballasts) so I swapped out for a white bulb. I think I like the white a little more. With the white and blue + it gives it that bright white with blue tints.

You'll be happy with your two bulb blue+ setup. Its actually my favorite and I just ordered another blue+ and a coral+ to swap in and out to see what I like best.

Again, it might be from my ballast, but it takes a little for my lights to settle once they come on. My blue+ look really dark blue for about 10 minutes then eventually lighten up a bit. Same for my white bulb, it seems to come on really strong and then ease up a bit. When swapping bulbs around looking for the perfect color, I'd recommend giving it a little before swapping them around.