How often to replace light lamp

H

hoangtin18

New member
I have aquatic life light fixture for 2 years but my light still working good. Manufacture recommend replace lamps 12-14 months. Do I really need to replace them every 12-14 months? There a lot of money to replace all lamps. Also how long can you keep spare lamps without using them? Please help
 
Pc bulbs i would replace around the 10-12 month area.
T5 bulbs around 14-16 months as long as they are properly cooled
mh bulbs around 18-24 months
 
I ran the same fixture for 3yrs. Replacing lamps every 8-10 months. Never heard of anyone running them longer than that.
Number 1 reason why I switched to LED's.
 
I ran t5 bulbs (10 of them spread over 4 tanks) for a year and MH bulbs (6 of them spread over the same 4 tanks) for 2 years.

I switched to leds and between electricity (aquarium fixture use, chiller run time and house A/C run time) and bulb replacement, my savings over 2 years more than paid for 6 led fixtures ($1300).
 
Thanks , what happen if you don't replace lamp? My fixture come with luner night light, do I need to replace that too? If you go with LED light you still need to replace bulbs sometime too correct and they are expensive too aren't they
 
hoangtin18 said:
Thanks , what happen if you don't replace lamp? My fixture come with luner night light, do I need to replace that too?
Click to expand...

This is likely an LED, so no.

If you go with LED light you still need to replace bulbs sometime too correct and they are expensive too aren't they
Click to expand...

LED emitters do have a finite life and will drop in output linearly over time, but that usable lifetime is probably in the 10+ year range.

A new better fixture (in some way) will come out in 5 years and you'll upgrade anyway ;)
 
If you dont change bulbs (other than leds) then the spectrum of the bulb will change which will promote more algae growth and less what the corals need to thrive.

Btw the spectrum isnt enough to see with the naked eye which is why there are guidlines on when to change out the bulbs
 
theatrus said:
This is likely an LED, so no.



LED emitters do have a finite life and will drop in output linearly over time, but that usable lifetime is probably in the 10+ year range.

A new better fixture (in some way) will come out in 5 years and you'll upgrade anyway ;)
Click to expand...
If I switch over to led lights what are your recommend best type of LED lights with low price for 90g tank.
 
Only should have to change the daylight bulbs, i never worry to much about bulbs used just for dusk and dawn effect.
 
hoangtin18 said:
My fixture have 4 difference type of lamp do I need to replace all of them? Please help
Click to expand...

What bulb types do you have? What colors? Is this an Aquatic Life 4 bulb T5-HO?

If you are swapping T5HO bulbs, I personally use all ATI bulbs. A common white would be the Aquablue Special, with Blue Plus bulbs for the blue end. The range is diverse so this isn't the only option.
 
shifty51008 said:
If you dont change bulbs (other than leds) then the spectrum of the bulb will change which will promote more algae growth and less what the corals need to thrive.

Btw the spectrum isnt enough to see with the naked eye which is why there are guidlines on when to change out the bulbs
Click to expand...

+1

This happened to me when I ran Halides, I waited to long and the bulbs color shifted to a red and caused a lot of GHA to grow. I didn't notice it with the naked eye but did when I had taken some pictures of the tank, the lights had a purple look
 
If I switch over to led lights what are your recommend best type of LED lights with low price for 90g tank.
Click to expand...

A good bang for buck LED light is the Reef Breeder Super Lux. I have 3 over a 180. You don't have a lot you can do with them except set the timer and the output of the blues and whites. I have a FOWLR with a large RBTA and some Kenya Trees.

I have the blues set @ 50% output and the whites at 30%

I do have them set up front to back instead of side to side, I do have a little bit of shadowing

https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/superlux/
 
theatrus said:
What bulb types do you have? What colors? Is this an Aquatic Life 4 bulb T5-HO?

If you are swapping T5HO bulbs, I personally use all ATI bulbs. A common white would be the Aquablue Special, with Blue Plus bulbs for the blue end. The range is diverse so this isn't the only option.
Click to expand...
Yes aquatic life 4 bulb t5-ho if I use ATI what bulb would I substitute for all ATI to match with aquatic life 4 bulb white, blue and purple
azjohnny said:
A good bang for buck LED light is the Reef Breeder Super Lux. I have 3 over a 180. You don't have a lot you can do with them except set the timer and the output of the blues and whites. I have a FOWLR with a large RBTA and some Kenya Trees.

I have the blues set @ 50% output and the whites at 30%

I do have them set up front to back instead of side to side, I do have a little bit of shadowing

https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/superlux/
Click to expand...

azjohnny said:
+1

This happened to me when I ran Halides, I waited to long and the bulbs color shifted to a red and caused a lot of GHA to grow. I didn't notice it with the naked eye but did when I had taken some pictures of the tank, the lights had a purple look
Click to expand...
 
azjohnny said:
A good bang for buck LED light is the Reef Breeder Super Lux. I have 3 over a 180. You don't have a lot you can do with them except set the timer and the output of the blues and whites. I have a FOWLR with a large RBTA and some Kenya Trees.

I have the blues set @ 50% output and the whites at 30%

I do have them set up front to back instead of side to side, I do have a little bit of shadowing

https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/superlux/
Click to expand...
I have a 90g tank 1 will work? I have live rocks and some LPS corals
 
hoangtin18 said:
As you said I don't need to replace effect light blue and purple correct so all I need to replace are daylights lamp correct
Click to expand...


The blues and purple contribute in a major way to your light output.

The purple may be either an actinic or something similar to the ATI "Purple Plus" - the bulb should be marked.
 
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