I was there with clownnut during the tests. As we had just got in the UVL bulbs and wanted to see how they stacked up to the ATI brands.
The distance from the bulb was 5.5", it was the apogee par meter used to get the light readings. Ballast was the Univeral b254punv-d ( same as Tek lights use ), bulbs were all 54W 48" bulbs. The ratio of increased light using the Icecap slr vs. the Tek reflectors is pretty much 25% regardless what bulb. So whenever possible, I personally would choose retrofit over a Tek fixture to get more light with less bulbs.
I ran the ATI Aquablues along with VHO super actinics for a little more than a year, my experience was not very favrable for LPS. Many either didn't expand as well or had a lighter/faded color to them over time. I did switch back to VHOs and was much happier. I am trying the UVL brand bulbs in the same basic ratios as I preferred with the VHOs hoping to get similiar results with my LPS but the jury probably won't be out until about 6 months of use or more. I am hopeful but not switching out my show tank until I can get a better feel for how my LPS will react.
Nobody has the same exact corals, water quality, personal preferences for aethics, light duration, height, water temps and a ton of other variables there is just no way to say what is going to work best for you or what will look the best. IME: you just got to go with something and trying different combinations until you get what works best for your tank. I personally hate the Blue+ bulbs, yet you will find probably just as many people who prefer it over an actinic.
