How frequent do you change bulbs?

silverdak

silverdak

Active Member
Title pretty much says it all. How often should bulbs be changed in your lighting system? Mine is a stock 14G Bio-Cube lighting... tank has been up and running for 6-7 months now... haven't replaced the bulbs yet.... I was told you should change them every year or so? also what is so bad about old bulbs? I thought I read somewhere that it will cause algae, which I am currently fighting... Thanks!
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
It is bad because after the light goes "bad" (depends on what kind of bulb), the light that the bulb puts out is not the right kind of light for your coral and is not very usable by your photosynthetic organisms.
I change my bulbs every 10 months.
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Yes, the amount of time you take to change them depends on what type of bulb (halide, T-5, etc)
And yes, bad bulbs will certainly speed up nuisance algae growth.
 
silverdak

silverdak

Active Member
hmmm and there is know way to really tell if you need to be replaced right? haha
and 6 months or so for a PC bulb sound about right? and would it be the 10K only?
sorry for picking your brain, I just have no other real source of info
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
I know, myself, I can usually see in the color of my tank when the bulbs need to be changed. The color the light puts out just is not what it usually looks like.
Six to eight months is the time frame for when I would change power compacts. I would do the 10k's around the 8 month mark and the actinics around the 10 month mark.
It is very important to stagger your change (change one bulb a week or two) so that you do not shock anything by the sudden, dramatic change (if you were to do all of them at the same time, that is).
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Originally Posted by SilverDak
http:///forum/post/2915144
sorry for picking your brain, I just have no other real source of info
And trust me, you never need to apologize for asking questions. The more you ask, the more you learn. I always say, the only stupid question is the one that remains unasked.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top