how long do you use a bulb over your aquarium?

[mr.maroonsalty]

I'm running a M80 radium in a high end reflector since 6-9-10; with all the other < $100 expenses adding up for the end of my build I may end up giving this one and another old bulb a wee bit more off a workout before final retirement.

 

[tmz]

I change the halides in the display every 15 mos and then run them for another 6 mos in the grow out tanks. I change vho actinics every 8 months.
IIRC, generally, most of the photosynthetic available radiation (PAR) loss that will occur , occurs within the first 3 months of use. After that the curve flattens out with a much less significant loss over a long period of time.

 

[tent boy]

Now I'm really confused. I thought actinics really didn't do that much and were rarely changed?

 

[Stusdesktop]

T5's normally every 12 months although the current ones are at 13 months right now.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Now I'm really confused. I thought actinics really didn't do that much and were rarely changed?

I would have to disagree.

One of my longtime reef buddies grew SPS (and other corals!) under VHO's for years... but one of my main concerns was his need for lamp replacement around 10-12 months while I was getting 2 to 3 years out of halides.
I try and change out my actinics at least once a year.

BTW- that chalice you saw in my aquarium with the white areas... it was due to low alkalinity. I just can't keep up with alk demand. When diligent about maintaining 9.0 dKH it recovered in a couple of weeks.

 

[tmz]

In my experience super actinic vho supplements to halide lighting are a big plus for coloration but they need cahnging every 6 to 8 months or so.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I'm shooting for 16 or 18 years this time.

Gary, you mentioned spectral shift with respect to algae blooms. I agree with you 100% that the real "problem" is nutrient loading in the water, but I also think it's important to differentiate between shifts in the actual spectrum vs shifts in kelvin. A 10k lamp and a 5.5k lamp might both have spectral distributions that totally miss the spectra that common pest algae grow best under, but it's possible for either lamp to experience only a very small kelvin shift that corresponds to a spike in the spectrum shifting into a band that the algae like. In other words the 10k lamp might suddenly be producing spectra liked by pest algae even though it's only shifted to a 9.9k lamp on the kelvin scale. And that 5.5k lamp might never have any peaks near that band preferred by pest algae, no matter how much it shifts.

I guess what I'm getting at is that kelvin is a really, really horrible way to describe spectra in terms of application to reef tanks.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I guess what I'm getting at is that kelvin is a really, really horrible way to describe spectra in terms of application to reef tanks.

agreed. Additionally- there is no "industry standard" that lamp ratings are held accountable to. It's always been horrible.

 

[Srixon]

What about the "yellowing" of the tanks that most of have seen(when I had a DE halide) ...things do shift from what I have seen

 

[dieseldaisy]

Gary,
Currently how old are your halides and vho t5's and typically you change them how often?
Do you have a current picture of your tank u coul dost

 

[dieseldaisy]

How do you know the t5 need changing?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I don't run t5's

I don't run t5's

I burn "standard" VHO actinics. (Somebody help me out... "standard" fluorescent bulbs are t12, t8 or ?)

Anyways... I purchased some new VHO's at the Canandaigua swap last spring but I just installed two of the new ones about 4 months ago.

I'm going to have to look up how old the current Ushio 14k's are. I'm sure they're at least 3 years old. I'll post current aquarium pix soon.
these pix taken Jan 2013

living room side

 

[dieseldaisy]

Thanks! Looks great!!!

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

thanks

thanks

this aquarium looks pretty much the same today except some corals grew slightly larger, some were fragged in the past couple weeks and my gigantea anemone has now completely squirmed it's way to the top of my orange cap... so I had to frag some nearby SPS

 

[lilman024]

Gary your tank looks great

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

tanks!

tanks!

ok... I took some pix last night.

As it turns out, they were the last pix taken before my gigantea anemone moved entirely up onto the orange cap and in fact (unknown to me at the time), that's what it was in the process of doing when I snapped this pic!

 

[leftygerbino]

I have 4 36" t5 tel lights . I change mine every 10 months.

 

[NirvanaFan]

I burn "standard" VHO actinics. (Somebody help me out... "standard" fluorescent bulbs are t12, t8 or ?)

VHO bulbs are t12 (1.5" diameter).


When I was running VHOs, I tried to change them out every 8 or 9 months. You could definitely tell the difference in color, especially with the super actinic bulbs.

When I ran t5s, I tried yearly, but they stretched a bit over that. 14 months was common.

Now with LEDs, they will probably be obsolete before they need to be changed.

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

Here's a 2 3/4 yo radium 250 w/m80 ballast next to one that has about a year on it; I thought the colour shift might be from the new cube next to the 9 yo PFO ballast but, I switched the bulbs around today and it's the bulbs causing the shift.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

oh yeah... Radiums shift rather quickly!

It's one of their (few) drawbacks. Personally, I don't like that heavy blue on the right side.