How often do you replace power compacts

[hiepatitis]

My pc's have been dimming but I'm not sure how to tell if they need replacing. How often are you suppose to change the bulbs. Where can I get quality bulbs at a good price.

 

[Fragmented]

The standard is every 12 months for PCs.

 

[MandM]

I do 12 months for my tanks at home but my nano at work every 10 months. I see a big difference when I replace that bulb, just a 24w. My corals color up a lot, I don't notice the decline in light but they sure do.

 

[fragaholic]

I replace my actinic pc's every 6-8 months just to be safe. I dont think I want to wait until I see a noticable difference in the bulbs output.

 

[lilleahseafreak]

i wish there was some kind of indicator on the lights that say when the bulbs need to be changed, like how there is a battery that has this little bar on the side that shows up when you put your fingers on the dots. like batteries you don't really noctice the decline in power and you cannot be totally sure when its about time to replace them, i mean some people do the minimun ammount of light time a day, others leave them on longer (i have been known to leave them on from 11am to 12 am so i can enjoy my tanks while i am here at home, but if i am at class they get turned on from 5pm to 12am)

 

[MandM]

That would be a light meter but they are expensive. Anthony suggested we buy one for the club. Any funds for that Minh? I use the low-tech sharpie marker method to date my bulbs.

 

[dots]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7386473#post7386473 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lilleahseafreak
(i have been known to leave them on from 11am to 12 am so i can enjoy my tanks while i am here at home, but if i am at class they get turned on from 5pm to 12am)

You really should put your tanks on timers......overall it will contribute to better coral and fish health. In addition, it is better to have a split timer if you have independent actinics to simulate dawn and dusk.

Your world and schedule would be pretty strange if the sun just started shinning at odd times irregularly, your health overall wouldn't be the best because of stress induced by this.

 

[H20Sidhe]

And, to support what Dots said, timers are really inexpensive. Especially compared to the majority of the stuff required for this hobby.

 

[boviac]

I change 55 or 65W PC's every 10-12mo and wow the difference. Sometimes I get a brief diatom or some other algae bloom afterwards. Occasionally my corals too sometimes perk right up after a light change.

Lux intensity falls off and the wavelenght shifts to more towards the red range which, I've heard, can contribute to undesirable algae growth if not changed out when they are old. I too use the sharpie method but currently one light that is 12 mo old looks brighter than another next to it that's only 6 mo old. I'm thinking about getting an underwater lux meter off ebay to be the real test. But still there is no economical way to determine amount of color shift. Sanjay wasn't interested in testing PCs when I asked him at WMC. It sounds like he's pretty overloaded simply testing MH.

 

[The Marmot]

when they burn out usually...actually that happened only once, otherwise, i try to chang them about once a year