VHO super actinic bulbs

[nature boy]

I have a 75 gallon mostly sps reef that has been up for a year now. My lighting consists of two 250 watt DE 14k pheonix lights which are on for 8 hours a day. I have changed these bulbs out already at about 9 months. I also have two 3' VHO super actinic for supplementation.

My question is do these bulbs need replacing? They are stricly for aesthetics and aren't doing much for the corals. Or are they? I have heard both to let them go till they burn out and to change them. If they could trigger algae growth or if the sps corals benefit from new super actinic bulbs I would like to change them.

What do you guys think?

 

[mfinn]

Do they need to be? Not sure, but I do replace my VHO actinic once a year.
I do notice a difference in the color when I replace the bulbs.

 

[outy]

atinic is also called supplimentation lighting, and its just that.

if you like the color keep running them as long as you want. I ran a pair over 3 years a few times. I love the new 454's they have enough par to grow coral on there own lol

I would also get more then 9 months out of the MH bulbs as well. As I recall most MH bulbs loos intensity right off the bat after break in and then slowly degrade to about 18 months before they fall off the chart.

if the center is not black on the edges they still have plenty of par left