SPS Tanks Owners : For how many months you keep your T5 bulbs ?

[nemodan]

Hi all

I just came from the house of a very experience SPS keeper, that sells a lot. He has around 2000 Gl in frag tanks.

Chatting with him I told I was replacing my T5 every 6 months in average. Basically he said " are you crazy " bring me your disposed bulbs because I change them every 1.5 years. He swear that I can use the T5 for 1 year without any issue. That I am throwing my money in bulbs....etc etc.

Bottom line, I would like to hear from others old keepers of SPS tanks with what frequency you change your T5. What is your experience.

Thanks !!!
Daniel

For those not following my thread this is my tank right now. You can have an idea of what I have. It is a RSM 250 All In One enclosed tank with 6 39W T5.

 

[swk]

I change 2 bulbs every week or so starting around 7-8 months. I'd rather get at it a bit early and honestly, a bulb swap doesn't hurt me financially....so why not?

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I use an ATI Powermodule. I start to change my tubes after 11 months of use. However, past experience suggests that changing after 10 months is more ideal as the light spectrum starts to shift after the end of 10 months.

When I start to change tubes, I change two tubes at a time and give at least one week between tube changes. I complete tubes changes within a month.

I hope this helps.

 

[cham]

12 months, but I only run 6 of my 8 bulbs three hours a day

 

[nemodan]

Thank you all for your answers so far. Lets wait more reefers answers to have a better sample population to decide what I will do from now on.

Cheers
Daniel

 

[Deftones2015]

I always switched my bulbs on my ati module every 6-7 months as well. Awesome tank!

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Thank you all for your answers so far. Lets wait more reefers answers to have a better sample population to decide what I will do from now on.

Cheers
Daniel

When you compare answers please bear in mind that those T5 units with active cooling (e.g. ATI sunpower/powermodule) are not comparable to either passive cooling units or units without cooling in terms of longevity of tubes that they run.

 

[slavetonet]

Switch out every 12 months.
Who cares if it shifts colours a little bit... It's not going to cause major issues at all.

 

[SPS911]

~10 months

 

[neoyhng]

I have experienced with different brands of T5 and their "deterioration" rate differs quite a bit. Both stated as "Actinic", one brand burn out in just 6 months while another one remain strong after 10 months. I trust my eye and photometer to determine if replacement is required

 

[nemodan]

When you compare answers please bear in mind that those T5 units with active cooling (e.g. ATI sunpower/powermodule) are not comparable to either passive cooling units or units without cooling in terms of longevity of tubes that they run.

This is interesting. I have a closed hood with 6 39W T5 that has fans only for the T5. That will be active cooling ?

Also brands is important, but most are ATI, KZ , etc from German origin. Let say that they are all similar. I am getting already that 10 months will be a nice window of time to use them.

 

[lushuk]

I change tubes every 12 months, I ave staggered the changes to 1 tube every 7 weeks approx so if they only last 10 months I have 6/7 working at full steam, I've never seen a spectrum change and my par meter never shows a loss of par this way and I never have to worry about acclimation as I only ever change 1 tube at a time ��

 

[DiscusHeckel]

This is interesting. I have a closed hood with 6 39W T5 that has fans only for the T5. That will be active cooling ?

No, it will not. In active cooling, fans blow air over the cooling spot of a T5 tube, which is normally the labelled end. To run T5 tubes most efficiently and prolong their longevity, the temperature over the cooling spot needs to be 35C. Furthermore, the air needs to travel along a T5 tube from the cooling spot to the other end. This is ensured by using a form of perspex/acrylic under the tubes. ATI uses this arrangement. This is why even if you have an ATI unit with active cooling, you need to keep the acrylic on to benefit from active cooling.

Also brands is important, but most are ATI, KZ , etc from German origin. Let say that they are all similar. I am getting already that 10 months will be a nice window of time to use them.

Not all German brand of tubes have the same longevity. It was shown on this forum by a reefer that ATI and Giesemann tubes' longevity vary significantly. I use ATI because they last the longest.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I change tubes every 12 months, I ave staggered the changes to 1 tube every 7 weeks approx so if they only last 10 months I have 6/7 working at full steam, I've never seen a spectrum change and my par meter never shows a loss of par this way and I never have to worry about acclimation as I only ever change 1 tube at a time ��

In my case, by using my Apogee meter, I can actually notice spectrum shift indirectly. When the blue spectrum shifts towards green, yellow and red, my quantum sensor records higher PAR readings. You expect PAR to drop as tubes get older, but towards the end of 11th month, I record increase in PAR. This can only be explained by having more light in the red, yellow and green spectrum, hence the spectrum shift. It is for this reason that a PAR meter alone is not a good way of measuring"useful" light as one needs to measure PUR too, which is very expensive to do.

 

[lushuk]

I take that on board Mr Heckel, I use the same meter but do not chase the numbers, my theory rightly or wrongly by staggering the tube changes is that at any one time there will only be 1 tube not working at 100% which hope and seems to give me no issues in my tank, I've always used ATI but am going to have a punt on Pacific Sun as at the moment i can get the 24w version for around £8 which seems good value, wether they last 12 months....... I have no idea

 

[yifan917]

same as your reefer friend - every 1.5 years

 

[jdraider75]

ATI sun power. Start changing at 10 months. 2 bulbs a week.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

am going to have a punt on Pacific Sun as at the moment i can get the 24w version for around £8 which seems good value, wether they last 12 months....... I have no idea

Been there and done that, and made my views very clear on these tubes in two separate threads publicly in the past.

 

[nemodan]

No, it will not. In active cooling, fans blow air over the cooling spot of a T5 tube, which is normally the labelled end. To run T5 tubes most efficiently and prolong their longevity, the temperature over the cooling spot needs to be 35C. Furthermore, the air needs to travel along a T5 tube from the cooling spot to the other end. This is ensured by using a form of perspex/acrylic under the tubes. ATI uses this arrangement. This is why even if you have an ATI unit with active cooling, you need to keep the acrylic on to benefit from active cooling.

First.... Thank you very much for all the answers.

Second....about the quoted paragraph I think I didn't explain well how my hood is. The Red Sea Max 250 is an AIO tank with a fully enclosed hood. The T5 are in that enclosed hood and have an acrylic cover under them. So the T5 are in like "a sealed box". I copied the below paragraph from a review about the RSM 250.

T5 .....Cooling is via two fans on the left of the hood that draw in air and there’s a further two exhaust fans on the right. Given that the vents are larger than the fan ports this arrangement looks to work quite efficiently as neither set of fans are being forced to work against each other.......

If I place the t5 side with the label at the left, where the air goes IN...will that be active cooling ?.

Thanks !!
Daniel

Here is a picture of the hood open.

 

[lushuk]

Been there and done that, and made my views very clear on these tubes in two separate threads publicly in the past.

Oh dear that does not sound good, I'll see if I can find them