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PC users, how often do you change your bulbs?

C

Candi

As the title states, do you go every 6 months... longer? sooner? The bulbs in my 24g aquapod are about 6 1/2 months old now... zoas don't look great (they never do though LOL) but my LPS are growing like crazy, xenia is pulsing away, shrooms look very happy... should I swap out my bulbs or milk another few weeks from them?

Thanks!
 
mynd

mynd

Generally speaking, ANY bulb should be changed after 2500 hours of burn time (3000 hours at most). Much after this, the intensity decreases dramatically, and you tend to have a spectral loss at the blue/UV end. Changing bulbs at a regular interval will avoid this. As an example, suppose you are burning your lights 10 hours a day. Assuming 30 days per month, you would want to change the bulbs every 8.5 months at minimum or 10 months at maximum. Do NOT assume that just because a light is bright means that it is still valuable as a light source. This is not always the case. Our eyes are far more sensitive to the red/yellow/orange areas of the spectrum, whereas the greatest loss occurs down at the blue/UV portion (a portion of the spectrum to which ours eyes are not as sensitive. That’s the reason high Kelvin bulbs look dimmer to us).

Over time, as the bulbs dim, your corals become accustomed to the lower spectral intensity. Suddenly, as you change the bulbs, these animals are blasted with higher levels of UV radiation as well as visible light. This is the primary cause of “coral burn” or coral bleaching in captive specimens. In order to avoid this, whenever you install new lighting, or when changing from a lower intensity bulb to a higher intensity bulb, you might want to raise the fixture higher over the tank. Then over a period of a week or two, slowly lower the fixture back to its original height this applies mostly to metal halide lighting as other lighting sources do not seem to produce the same effect). This will give the corals time to adjust to the greater intensity. If raising the lighting is not an option, placing a sheet of glass or UV blocking acrylic between the bulbs and the corals should suffice.

I got this from another source, so don't blame me ;)
 
M

mladencovic

Candi said:
As the title states, do you go every 6 months... longer? sooner? The bulbs in my 24g aquapod are about 6 1/2 months old now... zoas don't look great (they never do though LOL) but my LPS are growing like crazy, xenia is pulsing away, shrooms look very happy... should I swap out my bulbs or milk another few weeks from them?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

In general you should replace your bulbs every six months, and while you might not be able to notice the drop in light intensity and change in spectrum, it is there and will be very noticeable if you compare them by putting them side by side. That being said, you could certainly milk a month or two more out of them, though the corals won't be that thrilled about it. So, if you plan to order them and receive them in a week or two, there certainly won't be a problem. You might even wait for group buy in September if you want to save a buck or two.
 
Z

zucker26

I have a 12gal nano-cube and I can pretty much tell exactly when the bulbs need to be replaced by the reaction of my zooanthids and the start of diatom growth. So far it's been predictable at about 7 months. Funny that I read this thread today, because I just ordered two more PC's this morning!
 
T

twan

1st time I did it at 9 months. Now I will do it at 6 months like I should. Here is a good comparison shot I took.
lightreplacedh3.jpg


Would be a good time to also disconnect and clean out your fans.
 
K

kathainbowen

:mad:

ARGH!!!

Remember how I was just saying a few days ago that it was definitely more than time for me to change my bulbs out? Well, with an only 12" unit, I know I always have to get my stuff special ordered. I kept putting off going through the weekend, and yesterday. So, I run home today, thinking I'll change and head down to Trop.

.... my actinic blew.


.... *string of profanities not NJRC appropriate*





.... and it won't be in until Friday at the earliest. Man, yet again, I'm really glad I like softies and really hardy types of coral.
 
C

Candi

I say turn off the daylights too... lots of people turn off all nights for a couple days every couple months. Think of all the critters that normally come out during the night that you can see :)

My ballast for my daylights went a few months back and I was stuck with nothing but actinic for well over a week, I couldn't wait to get full lights back on so I could stare at my tank like normal LOL
 
malulu

malulu

NJRC Member
just a quick comment, i have 3 bulds (not like Candi only have 1 bulb), i don't change them all at once, i change only ONE bulb at a time every 3 months (mean each one last for 9 months or so), so it would be less stress compared to change them all in one shot.
 
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