what symptoms do you guys get to let you know its time to replace t-5s? ive got this brown stringy algae all over suddenly, and my seabae has been sucked up for 3 days, water parameters are fine and the algae doesnt seem to be cyano , wondering if my bulbs are to blame................
signs your t-5s are old?
- Thread starter roons
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dwdenny
New member
How old are they. I was think about 12-14 months but might be every 12 months after seeing this http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=795494
dwdenny
New member
I would replace them one bulb per week so that if the intensity has dropped it wont shock them by chane all bulbs at once. HTH That is good that you corals are fine with some being 24 months old. Algea growth is from excessive nutrients mainly. Light will help it grow but it need nutrients to really grow.
Horace
New member
T5s start to shift spectrum after about 8-9 months and some claim even earlier. It is best to not let them go any longer than 9-12 months. Any longer and I am sure your losing not only brightness but significant spectrum shift which is not good. If you dont run alot of SPS it may not be a huge issue though.
horkn
New member
I am on month 15 with my t5hos
my algal growth is the same as at month 3.. but still too much, it has nothing to do with the bulbs. i know its my dirty water, but the rodi unit is on its way now..
i need proof of "spectral shift" before i believe it. not to call you out horace, but i believe many rumors start from one guy saying this, and someone else piggybacks on that having nothing to back it with. theres guys running 2 year old t5ho (day ) bulbs and no algal growth...
my algal growth is the same as at month 3.. but still too much, it has nothing to do with the bulbs. i know its my dirty water, but the rodi unit is on its way now..
i need proof of "spectral shift" before i believe it. not to call you out horace, but i believe many rumors start from one guy saying this, and someone else piggybacks on that having nothing to back it with. theres guys running 2 year old t5ho (day ) bulbs and no algal growth...
horkn
New member
yeah i know about spectral shift. but the main reason t5ho are so good is that they are supposedly not supposed to shift until they are way past their prime for aquarium use.. when i heavily researched my t5ho purchase a year and a half ago(nearly) i found out that t5ho bulbs dont shift until after the 18-24 month period which we should swap bulbs at. kinda a moot point if you swap them before they shift...
The T5 haters start all the rummors 
I've got the bown "stringy" algae as well but guess what? I'm running an 250w XM 10k that is about 6 months old. The brown stringy is dinoflagellates and/or diatoms and have nothing to do with your lighting spectrum shift. They are a product of nutrient rich water (overfeeding, etc....) and light in general. I'm going through a cleanout phase right now because of it. My sebae is curled up and I have a couple SPS RTNing on the tips thanks to it covering them. No light for 24 hours, heavy skimming,using filter floss to catch it, and gradually ramping up your lighting an hour a day is just what the doctor ordered
I've got the bown "stringy" algae as well but guess what? I'm running an 250w XM 10k that is about 6 months old. The brown stringy is dinoflagellates and/or diatoms and have nothing to do with your lighting spectrum shift. They are a product of nutrient rich water (overfeeding, etc....) and light in general. I'm going through a cleanout phase right now because of it. My sebae is curled up and I have a couple SPS RTNing on the tips thanks to it covering them. No light for 24 hours, heavy skimming,using filter floss to catch it, and gradually ramping up your lighting an hour a day is just what the doctor ordered yep , my saebae is curled up, why is this? does this algae effect it in a way other algae doesnt? ive had cyano b4 , he didnt curl up with that....................ill try the light trick , but right now im treating with boyds chemi clean then gonna do a water change then ill try the light thingy..........................he was huge, dinner plate size , now hes all curled up and my 2 clownfish are having a tuff time .....................hope i dont lose him =(
thing is , i run ozone , i feed once every 3 days , i use ro/di (yes i checked the tds), and i did my monthly water change 2 weeks ago, so only thing i can point to is the bulbs are old, i cant see it being high nutrients.............
thing is , i run ozone , i feed once every 3 days , i use ro/di (yes i checked the tds), and i did my monthly water change 2 weeks ago, so only thing i can point to is the bulbs are old, i cant see it being high nutrients.............
From what I've read from biologist, water changes actually tend to help it flourish. Of course I read this right after doing to good sized water changes. Mine actually started after I went out of town and my skimmer air inlet clogged and basically didn't skim anything for a week. I know some people run without skimmers, but it had been about 6 months since the previous water change (don't shoot me). I also checked my RODI and it was wasted so all my topoff was pretty crappy. Good luck! I'm on day three with a two hour light period. I think it just irritates the anemone and maked them not happy. they probably eat a bit and get a little sick since everthing that touches their tentacle seemd to go to their mouths (except the clowns).
Horace
New member
I happen to use T5 myself so the last thing I want to do is bash them. However, I have heard from some very reliable sources, including The Grim Reefer, and Iwan that most guys with big SPS tanks notice a significant reduction in growth at about 9 months. For that reason many of them change thier bulbs at 6-8 months. This has been standard in Japan for quite a while now. You can believe what you want, but I think I will take the advice from those who have the best tanks in the world and have proven success.
Also I never said you would get algae because of the spectrum shift. That is a falacy I think. Algae is caused from nutrients, plain and simple. If you have low nutrients, no algae is going to grow PERIOD. However, you will notice a stagnation of growth in your corals, and this is what the expert SPS tank owners report starting at 6+ months with T5.
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