bulb question.

[dahenley]

i currently have a 240g tank. i purchased it as a used setup. the lights that are used are 400w PFO halides. the tank dementions are 96 X 24 X 24. my bulbs are XM 20K. i think the bulbs are 2 years old........ i know i should change them but as a current college student. its hard to spend 300$ in bulbs.......
what are some negatives to running old bulbs?

also, will this cause my corals to loose some of their color?


i am ordering lights soon, but just wanted some in site

thanks

 

[jsdancer]

Old bulbs can cause your corals to lose their coloration. As bulbs age they lose their spectrum (par readings). The ability of light to penetrate the aquarium water and to give the symbotic algae in the corals the light it needs to produce its food source can be greatly reduced with old bulbs. Change them as soon as you can.
Also old bulbs can cause algae to grow.
By the way what type of lighting came with the tank?
Also did the previous owner run the bulbs consistantly? If not then you may get a few weeks to a month out of them.

 

[dahenley]

the tank was in a college. (im sure they dont have a clue about anything about maintanance)

the lighting that came with the tank was the 3-400w SE 20K XM bulbs run by PFO Mag ballasts.
it came like this, and that is how i have been running it. they run for about 8-10 hours a day at my house. (i have owned the tank for a year this way. with these original bubls. they were well used when i got it by the way) i dont relaly have any algae problems, but i have 4 tangs in my tank. as far as the right algae in my tank for my corals. thats the kind of info that i am looking for.

the main reason for posting here, is most of my corals are SPS. andi wanted coral keepers to give my their opinions.

(by the way, the reflectors on my tnak are cheap spider reflectors.)
any other info, i dont mind sharing.
thanks