mooric Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 How often should you replace PC Bulbs? Every 6 Months? 9 Months? 1 Year? TIA Charles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 I do every 6 months. My reasoning is this: They might last longer, but the only way you'll know if they are needing to be placed is: 1. Measuring PAR with a PAR meter (you probably don't have one and they are several hundred to buy) 2. You'll start seeing corals look brown or die off 3. You'll start getting nuisance algae issue. In other words, for #2 and #3, you'll be reacting to something going wrong in your tank, which will take some time to fix. So therefore, I just replace every 6 months and avoid the issues. NOTE: PC bulbs are especially known for losing punch early (before 6 months) so again, I'd go for a 6 month replacement schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooric Posted June 18, 2010 Author Share Posted June 18, 2010 Is it necessary to follow this schedule if the bulbs are just Actinics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Is it necessary to follow this schedule if the bulbs are just Actinics? I do b/c the actinics do provide some part of the photosythensis cycle and they make your corals fluorese. If your actinics aren't up to spec, then you'll see it in your tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooric Posted June 18, 2010 Author Share Posted June 18, 2010 Thanks for the info. My bulbs are JUST past 6months old so guess I will order some new ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Thanks for the info. My bulbs are JUST past 6months old so guess I will order some new ones. LMK if you want to do a group buy. Hellolights.com has given us better than advertised prices before if we gather enough folks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Thanks for the info. My bulbs are JUST past 6months old so guess I will order some new ones. LMK if you want to do a group buy. Hellolights.com has given us better than advertised prices before if we gather enough folks I would be in for a group buy, as I need some new MH bulbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooric Posted June 18, 2010 Author Share Posted June 18, 2010 Unfortunately Hellolights.com doesn't carry any 18watt PC Actinics (just the 50/50s). So I am going to order them from nanocustoms.com where I got them originally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KeeperOfTheZoo Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Here is some food for thought. When I bought my system the people I'd gotten it from had never, in 5 years, changed the bulbs. One ballast had gone out on the fixture but all the other bulbs still worked. It took me a few months of learning about SW to realize I needed new bulbs. In that time I had a variety of softies and a few LPS & SPS growing great guns. I cleaned up a massive nutrient and hair algae problem. My corals looked good and healthy. When I switched to new bulbs a lot of my corals freaked out and I had to back way off on how long I ran my lights. I had some very negative color shifts and its taken a few months for the affected corals to color back up. So, while I have no intentions of letting bulbs get 5 years old, I dont plan to replace mine before the 10-12 month mark. I'm sure there may be some spectrum shift and loss of output, but I'm not convinced it makes that much difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Keeper..your corals freaked b/c all of the sudden your new bulbs were actually putting out decent light. They weren't used to it - they were used to the old worn out lights- so they reacted by dying off or changing colors to protect themselves. And, your LPS/Softies/SPS were probably fine b/c they didn't need a lot of light to survive. Even some SPS don't like high light. Anytime bulbs are changed, you should ramp up your lights slowly to a full photo period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooric Posted June 18, 2010 Author Share Posted June 18, 2010 Well I ordered the new bulbs, but I think in 6 months when I have to do it again I am going to upgrade my ballast and bulbs from 18watt to 27watt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Keeper..your corals freaked b/c all of the sudden your new bulbs were actually putting out decent light. They weren't used to it - they were used to the old worn out lights- so they reacted by dying off or changing colors to protect themselves. And, your LPS/Softies/SPS were probably fine b/c they didn't need a lot of light to survive. Even some SPS don't like high light. Anytime bulbs are changed, you should ramp up your lights slowly to a full photo period. I have to agree with Mark. I have to back off my photo period to 4 hrs and add an hour weekly until I have reached my original photo period. The corals will let you know if your moving to fast. Dave- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 I like to scratch the month/year on the metal end of the bulb to help remember (a tortured paper clip works good). I'm pretty comfortable not cutting back on the photo period when I change bulbs but I want to emphasize almost all my corals are cultured (mostly by me) and I am VERY COMFORTABLE with their adaptability and have even doubled the amount of light on some (I checked with a lux meter) without having adverse effects. With corals I don't have a LONG, PERSONAL history with, Mike Callahan's approach is by far the safer way to do it. As he pointed out some species have a greater tolerance than others. Two good examples of this are Porites porites which is found from the 3' to 160' deep and Porites branneri which has a very narrow depth range of 10' to 35' deep. Obviously one has a much better ability to adapt to different lighting conditions than the other. I also want to point out I prefer to use multiple bulbs of lower wattage to single bulb (not always practicle, I know) and stagger the replacement cycles when possible. I've seen this on other websites and have to agree - it is important to match coral colonies and lighting (intensity & spectrum) to each other for ideal results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 I like to scratch the month/year on the metal end of the bulb to help remember (a tortured paper clip works good). I'm pretty comfortable not cutting back on the photo period when I change bulbs but I want to emphasize almost all my corals are cultured (mostly by me) and I am VERY COMFORTABLE with their adaptability and have even doubled the amount of light on some (I checked with a lux meter) without having adverse effects. With corals I don't have a LONG, PERSONAL history with, Mike Callahan's approach is by far the safer way to do it. As he pointed out some species have a greater tolerance than others. Two good examples of this are Porites porites which is found from the 3' to 160' deep and Porites branneri which has a very narrow depth range of 10' to 35' deep. Obviously one has a much better ability to adapt to different lighting conditions than the other. I also want to point out I prefer to use multiple bulbs of lower wattage to single bulb (not always practicle, I know) and stagger the replacement cycles when possible. I've seen this on other websites and have to agree - it is important to match coral colonies and lighting (intensity & spectrum) to each other for ideal results. I've always wondered about starting a tank and taking the time to ONLY raise colonies from similar regions/depths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 I've always wondered about starting a tank and taking the time to ONLY raise colonies from similar regions/depths. That would be so cool! Pick a reef and depth and try to get as many species as possible that are found at that exact spot. I think we're going to need a lot bigger orb though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 I've always wondered about starting a tank and taking the time to ONLY raise colonies from similar regions/depths. That would be so cool! Pick a reef and depth and try to get as many species as possible that are found at that exact spot. I think we're going to need a lot bigger orb though yeah! and many dive trips to study the region! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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