Effective lifespan of VHO bulb?

[adnup]

Hey guys,
Heres a newbie question. What the effective lifespan of VHO bulb? Meaning they still work but are a year old and(maybe its just me) dont seem as bright.
Paul

 

[dmbedard]

Paul,

You're supposed to replace them every 6 mo. It will make a nice improvement in your tank when you do.

Diane

 

[adnup]

Oops... guess I'll do that..
Thanks

 

[adnup]

Another question,
They are currently (2) Super Actinic R & (2) Actinic White 50/50 all 110W is there something better (as far as VHO's) I should look into?
Paul

 

[robthorn]

6 months on actinic and more like 9 months on the others. breaking up the change like this also helps your pocket and even reduce some light shock to your corals if you have any. the blue bulbs seem to shift colors alot easier than other bulbs closer to daylight colors. different ballasts can also shorten or lengthen the life of any bulb. ice cap seems to shorten the useful life of alot of bulbs but after saying that I am running ice cap ballasts.

 

[adnup]

Thanks Rob

 

[adnup]

I have ARO ballasts (2) As-220

Also I read somewhere that using 3 white and 1 blue bulb would increase the chances of keeping hard corals
any thoughts on that?

 

[robthorn]

if you want lps 2 and 2 would be enough. if you want sps I would probably change to t5's.
2 11k 1 actinic and one blue is really nice looking. I run 1 blue 1 actinic and 3 11k and I like it and everyone that has seen it likes it. also told they can't believe how bright they are. I have 5 ft bulbs on a 6 ft tank so they are staggered that is why I have 3 11k