So..you don't believe you need to change your bulbs as often as some say?

[pammy]

Hey all. My T5 bulbs are 11 months old, and my MH bulb is 6 months old. I know some people say bulbs should be changed at 6 months, and some say 12 months, and some say longer. I figured there was no reason they had to be changed before 12 months. Well, I added my first SPS' two months ago, and they aren't showing any color or PE, so after adding a Phosphate Reactor and getting my phosphates to an undetectable level (from .1) and adding more flow, and pulling out my Coral Beauty that was nipping a bit, and still not seeing any improvement, I decided I should try changing out the 11 month old T5 bulbs. I pulled out the old T5 bulbs just now, and once out of the fixture, I couldn't believe how grey the old UVL Super Actinic bulbs looked next to the new ones (both out of the fixture) I put in a new ATI Blue plus bulb into the light fixture and a new UVL Super Actinic, and left in an old one of each just to see the difference when lit, and WOW, the new bulbs were SO much brighter than the old ones. They looked about twice as bright. Will be interested in seeing if this helps with the color of my SPS'. Guess I better lower the photo period of the T5's for a bit and gradually bring it back up over the next week or so.

Pam

 

[dnjan]

Unfortunately, the light wavelengths that look good (to most people) decrease in intensity more quickly than the wavelengths that contribute more to growth.
So, the actinics need to be replaced more frequently than the daylight spectrums.

 

[Scooterman]

Sounds like you have one MH lamp & T5's which If replaced every 6 months would be fine. T5's as other fluorescents can burn bright (to the eye) two years so claimed but that doesn't explain the spectrum shift & decreases you can't see. If you have enough MH & just supplement with fluorescents then that is one story but relying on the T5's for needed light as It seems to be in your case, then it is very important to replace them when they loose what corals needs. Depending on the corals you keep makes a big difference also, don't believe what people say without knowing the entire details.

 

[pammy]

Hi Scooterman. Yes, I have one 150w MH bulb, and 4 24W T5's in an Elos Planet Light fixture (individual reflectors). Tank is
31" long X 19.5" deep X 19.5" Tall. Are you saying I'm relying on the T5's for light needs because my MH is only 150w?
Thanks, Pam

Sounds like you have one MH lamp & T5's which If replaced every 6 months would be fine. T5's as other fluorescents can burn bright (to the eye) two years so claimed but that doesn't explain the spectrum shift & decreases you can't see. If you have enough MH & just supplement with fluorescents then that is one story but relying on the T5's for needed light as It seems to be in your case, then it is very important to replace them when they loose what corals needs. Depending on the corals you keep makes a big difference also, don't believe what people say without knowing the entire details.

 

[Scooterman]

I would say outer edges & maybe even the deeper portions, your 150 Mh what K is it?

 

[pammy]

It's a 10k 150W Elos DE MH bulb. Thanks. Pam I'm about to replace it with either a 10k or 12k refulx bulb.

I would say outer edges & maybe even the deeper portions, your 150 Mh what K is it?

 

[Scooterman]

I'd stick with the 10K to get the most PAR out if it. If you look at Keven P's tanks he pushed lots of light on his SPS to get amazing growth & coloration. The Problem is when you have mixed reef, If your pushing lots of light, you got to know where to place each coral.

 

[pammy]

Thanks Scooterman. Appreciate the advise. Pam

I'd stick with the 10K to get the most PAR out if it. If you look at Keven P's tanks he pushed lots of light on his SPS to get amazing growth & coloration. The Problem is when you have mixed reef, If your pushing lots of light, you got to know where to place each coral.

 

[Maxx]

Bulb and ballast combinations are also important to note in MH lighting. I honestly dont know enough about 150 watt mh's, but with the 250 watt setups, different bulbs on different ballasts need to be replaced at different times.

JBNY did a huge test on 250 watt SE/Mogul based bulbs and paired each bulb with several ballasts and compiled the information on his website www.cnidarianreef.com .

The information there wont help you specifically with your setup, but it will show you what I'm talking about.

Radium bulbs are famous for needing to be replaced about every 6-8 months. JBNY found that other bulbs had not lost an appreciable amount of intensity over 12 months worth of burn time.

Another factor to keep in mind is like dnjan alluded to, the human eye cant pick up the wavelengths used for photosynthesis, so we cant visually detect when its time to change the bulbs over our tanks. The only way to really know when its time to change out bulbs is by using a PAR meter. They are kinda pricey so most people just stick to a time line along the lines of:

6-8 months life for VHO's
12 months life for PC's & MH's
18 months life for T-5's

HTH

Nick

 

[pammy]

Thanks Nick! I'll check out that thread. so, I maybe have another 7 months of life left on the T5's I just pulled out? The Super Actinics (UVL)
T5's REALLY looked gray when they were pulled out of the fixture, compared to the new bulbs. Looked kind of like how a standard lightbulb for a lamp looks, after it blows out. And before I hung the fixture back up, I turned it on with one new ATI Blue plus and one old ATI Blue plus bulb, and the difference in brightness was drastic. I do have a glass shield covering the whole bottom of the light fixture, protecting all bulbs from any salt spray. Thanks, Pam

Bulb and ballast combinations are also important to note in MH lighting. I honestly dont know enough about 150 watt mh's, but with the 250 watt setups, different bulbs on different ballasts need to be replaced at different times.

JBNY did a huge test on 250 watt SE/Mogul based bulbs and paired each bulb with several ballasts and compiled the information on his website www.cnidarianreef.com .

The information there wont help you specifically with your setup, but it will show you what I'm talking about.

Radium bulbs are famous for needing to be replaced about every 6-8 months. JBNY found that other bulbs had not lost an appreciable amount of intensity over 12 months worth of burn time.

Another factor to keep in mind is like dnjan alluded to, the human eye cant pick up the wavelengths used for photosynthesis, so we cant visually detect when its time to change the bulbs over our tanks. The only way to really know when its time to change out bulbs is by using a PAR meter. They are kinda pricey so most people just stick to a time line along the lines of:

6-8 months life for VHO's
12 months life for PC's & MH's
18 months life for T-5's

HTH

Nick

 

[Scooterman]

6-8 months life for VHO's
12 months life for PC's & MH's
18 months life for T-5's

I disagree on this time line, all fluorescents drop off about the same time, PC's being the most in-efficient, 6-8 months would be about right unless your using them as a supplement to MH.

Overdriven MH should be replaced around the same time line of 6 to 8 months.
T-5 18 month life on tanks supporting high light demanding corals will agree that is way too long to go & they notice a drop off at or around 6 months In the growth of corals.
Almost all of these lights will urn 2 years easily & look super to the eye.

 

[dnjan]

Something else to consider for your T-5's - don't replace them all at the same time. Get onto a staggered schedule. If all four T-5's are the same, I would try to get to a schedule that replaces one of them every 3 months (say No.1 first, then three months later No.3, then three months later No.2, and then three months later No.4). Side-by-side, you will be able to notice differences between old and new bulbs, and a staggered replacement schedule will help you decide when you feel they have gone long enough.

Plus, with a staggered replacement schedule, you will be less-likely to light-shock your corals.

 

[Maxx]

I disagree on this time line, all fluorescents drop off about the same time, PC's being the most in-efficient, 6-8 months would be about right unless your using them as a supplement to MH.

Overdriven MH should be replaced around the same time line of 6 to 8 months.
T-5 18 month life on tanks supporting high light demanding corals will agree that is way too long to go & they notice a drop off at or around 6 months In the growth of corals.
Almost all of these lights will urn 2 years easily & look super to the eye.

Scott,
I just tried looking through the thread on RC regarding the 250 watt bulbs to find the exact post....but quit after scrolling through 40 something pages and realizing the thread split....

Long story short, JBNY was told by several manufacturers that MH bulbs can run up to 6k hours without needing to be replaced. At 12 hours per day of burn time, that equates to almost 17 months, (500 days). I dont have a PAR meter, so I cant tell you how my lights are doing, but I'm running dual XM10k's on a PFO HQI ballast. They've been running for about a year now. They've turned more yellowish in visible hue, but no ill affects on coral growth or algae blooms. I have two new bulbs on order and they should be here either Saturday or Monday...

Honestly though, all of my thoughts/observations are subjective as I dont have a PAR meter to verify what I'm seeing. Without a PAR meter, you really just dont know how your lights are doing (intensity wise).

Nick

 

[Scooterman]

Yup agreed, a meter won't lie LOL!
Also that is general guidelines for actual testing done by sanjay.
If you really want to get technical & apogee meter or Quantum Meter will tell you what you need. Depending on the manufacturer of the lamp, the kelvin used, the ballast & the combination all makes differences, xm10K's push an awful lot of PAR so you can probably go way longer than say an overdriven radium 14K, everything makes a difference & it all is opinionated mixed in with actual testing so that doesn't help either.\

Oh BTW manufactures are correct they last a long time but you have to consider usefulness for what we're using them for, not lighting up a supermarket, where it doesn't matter if you get a phase shift or loss.

 

[krisfal]

I disagree on this time line, all fluorescents drop off about the same time, PC's being the most in-efficient, 6-8 months would be about right unless your using them as a supplement to MH.

Overdriven MH should be replaced around the same time line of 6 to 8 months.
T-5 18 month life on tanks supporting high light demanding corals will agree that is way too long to go & they notice a drop off at or around 6 months In the growth of corals.
Almost all of these lights will urn 2 years easily & look super to the eye.

Scooty, can you explaing the term "overdriven MH"?

Thanks,

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Single ended bulb powered by an HQI ballast

 

[Scooterman]

HQI's run at a higher stepped up voltage, so putting an HQI ballast on a regular MH lamp, it will make the lamp run at a higher wattage than designed to. The characteristics of that bulb will be different, spectrum etc will shift slightly.

 

[Maxx]

Kristfal,

The term refers to the wattage the ballast is pushing through the bulbs. If you follow the link in my earlier post to JBNY's website, you'll see the 250 watt MH testing he did. Part of his testing was to run all bulb/ballast combinations through a Kill-o-watt volt meter to see how much wattage that particular combination was drawing.

HQI ballasts were meant for European bulbs which dont have a starter in them and require higher wattage to start. They are also designed to run DE bulbs as well.

For example, a 250 watt PFO HQI ballast, (like mine), drew 340 watts when hooked to a 250 watt XM 10k bulb, (like I'm using), and produced a PAR reading of 835. So the ballast is increasing the wattage through the bulb by 36%. This makes the light from the bulb more intense, but will also shorten the life of the bulb. By how much, I dont know and no one can really give a certain answer as each bulb is slightly different than every other K rating by the same manufacturer.

By way of comparison, the Icecap Electronic ballast, used just 252 watts when connected to the same bulb and produced a PAR reading of 530.

The PFO standard ballast, (Non HQI), used 268 watts, which was 7% more wattage, than the bulb was "designed" for, and produced a PAR rating of 600.

The PFO Standard ran the bulb at roughly 30% less PAR than the PFO HQI.
The Icecap E-ballast ran the bulb at 37% less PAR than the PFO HQI.

People run non HQI bulbs on HQI ballasts in order to get more light intensity from their bulbs. This called "over driving" since you are pushing more electricity through a bulb than it was "designed" for.

Hope that makes sense and/or helps