Two random questions

[tima]

Hi everyone -- I just have two quick questions
1) How do I know when to change my PC bulbs. I just got the set up and have no idea how old the bulbs are and want to make sure I'm running them efficiently
2) The other day I forgot I turned my lights off the timer and didn't turn them on until 8PM (about 18 hours of being off) In one corner of the tank I saw a bunch of centipede like things, about 30 of them, all on the glass going about half a foot high. They are white, a little shorter than 1" and have many legs. I never noticed these guys before and now when ever I look at the tank they are all over the place -- what are these? are they bad?
Thanks

 

[devilboy]

with the PC bulbs i change mine at around 10 months, change one bulb at a time dont change them both at the same time. just change one, then a week or two later change the next.
as for your centipede creatures, from you description i would say they are "pods" which is a good thing, they normally come out at night time and eat left over deitrius.
you will know when you bulbs are going bad you will see alot of algae starting to take the tank over.
HTH

 

[tima]

Thanks for the response -- I was wondering why I was seeing an unusual amt of algea so I got that answered too.
Another question I forgot though ---
I had two large hermits (about the size of half a fist) and the other day one ended up in pieces on my tank floor. -- I mean this guy didnt go too well at all. I have a purple and yellow tang, two perc clowns and a blue chromis and I dont think they would have messed w/ him. The other hermit is still alive but instead of roaming all over the place like he did all of the time before the other one died he has sat in a cave barley moving around for about 6 days now. Is something attacking the hermits? Anyone heard anything like this? Thanks

 

[jdragunas]

what are your water parameters? Inverts are really sensative to high ammonia/nitrites/nitrates, so if any of those are high, that could be your problem...
and IMO, i wouldn't wait until you get a lot of algae to change the bulbs, i'd just do it at 10 months to play it safe. The bulbs won't be less bright when they start losing their effectiveness, so the algae thing is really the only way to know.