Diving The World's 80g Acro Wonderland!

[DivingTheWorld]

RRU "The Vinh"

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Cornbred's Bubblegum Digi with some photobombs by other LPS/Montis.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I've got a question for you old school reefers like me who still use T5s and have heavy acro tanks. Realistically, how often do you replace the bulbs?

I always read threads where people say 1 year or more for replacement, but I've found in my tank they start to deteriorate after 6 months.

I run my channel 1 (2 bulbs) 10 hours/day and channel 2 (6 bulbs) 8 hours/day.

The past year or so I've noticed a decline in acros starting around the 5 month mark and I'm thinking about reducing my replacement schedule from 6 months to 5 months. When I say decline, my acros start to lose color and ones lower in the tank have less new growth. I also see an increase in Nitrate/Phosphate which indicates to me that the acros are consuming less.

So what say you? Am I loony to replace my bulbs every 5 months?

 

[spsick]

I've got a question for you old school reefers like me who still use T5s and have heavy acro tanks. Realistically, how often do you replace the bulbs?

I always read threads where people say 1 year or more for replacement, but I've found in my tank they start to deteriorate after 6 months.

I run my channel 1 (2 bulbs) 10 hours/day and channel 2 (6 bulbs) 8 hours/day.

The past year or so I've noticed a decline in acros starting around the 5 month mark and I'm thinking about reducing my replacement schedule from 6 months to 5 months. When I say decline, my acros start to lose color and ones lower in the tank have less new growth. I also see an increase in Nitrate/Phosphate which indicates to me that the acros are consuming less.

So what say you? Am I loony to replace my bulbs every 5 months?

I replace mine once a year with no issues. All of the replacement dates are staggered a bit.

I have found the Actinic and Purple plus bulbs lose a ton of output after 6 months, while Blue plus and Coral plus maintain output well.

 

[HairyGary]

I try to replace my 8 bulb every 6-8 months.

BRS can review and say all they want but I notice decrease in par at about 10 months.

 

[Smite]

I'm looking forward to the responses, I was planning on going over a year but maybe not depending on what i see here.
I'd imagine with an ATI style fixture and it's selectable fan speed, that would come into play a little bit as well right? Cooler lamps, lower output but longer life?

 

[JCOLE]

I plan on dragging it out a year considering I switched to all T5's for a total of 24. I think I would have to start donating blood at 6 months if so.

 

[dwest]

I have a T5 hybrid. I replace T5 bulbs every 2 years on a rotating schedule. Every 6 months, a new one goes in. It works for me.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I'm looking forward to the responses, I was planning on going over a year but maybe not depending on what i see here.
I'd imagine with an ATI style fixture and it's selectable fan speed, that would come into play a little bit as well right? Cooler lamps, lower output but longer life?

Perhaps, but that's what I run, an 8-bulb ATI T5 Dimmable (I don't use the dimming feature).

 

[Kodski]

I would think if you staggered the bulb replacement you could get 6-8 months out of each bulb. This way not all the bulbs are loosing output at once, but rather balance out the par decrease from aged bulbs. I'd bet the corals would like it better as it would be a more consistent in terms of light output.

 

[Smite]

Perhaps, but that's what I run, an 8-bulb ATI T5 Dimmable (I don't use the dimming feature).

I just rehung my 10x54w Powermodule. With 5 fans, I run them on a low setting to keep the noise down. So I'll probably opt to swap some of the lamps here soon.

Just another reason I should bite the bullet and get ITC Parwise one full relamp is about the same price as that meter

Anyways, tank is looking beautiful. Great work!

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I would think if you staggered the bulb replacement you could get 6-8 months out of each bulb. This way not all the bulbs are loosing output at once, but rather balance out the par decrease from aged bulbs. I'd bet the corals would like it better as it would be a more consistent in terms of light output.

I’m thinking I might try this, maybe replace 2 bulbs every 1.5 months. It makes for kind of an annoying amount of extra maintenance, but it seems like sound logic. If I replace 2 bulbs every 1.5 months, I’ll still be replacing on a 6 month schedule, but most of the bulbs will not be that old. In theory PAR should stay more flat.

Ok, question to those who use this technique: do you do any reduction in schedule or do you just swap the two bulbs out and keep the schedule the same?

The way I do it now is to replace all 8 bulbs and reduce my light duration by 50% (4 hours). I then add back an hour every 2 days until full time again.

 

[fishface NJ]

I've got a question for you old school reefers like me who still use T5s and have heavy acro tanks. Realistically, how often do you replace the bulbs?

I always read threads where people say 1 year or more for replacement, but I've found in my tank they start to deteriorate after 6 months.

I run my channel 1 (2 bulbs) 10 hours/day and channel 2 (6 bulbs) 8 hours/day.

The past year or so I've noticed a decline in acros starting around the 5 month mark and I'm thinking about reducing my replacement schedule from 6 months to 5 months. When I say decline, my acros start to lose color and ones lower in the tank have less new growth. I also see an increase in Nitrate/Phosphate which indicates to me that the acros are consuming less.

So what say you? Am I loony to replace my bulbs every 5 months?

I stagger replacements of bulbs every 18 months

 

[Kodski]

I’m thinking I might try this, maybe replace 2 bulbs every 1.5 months. It makes for kind of an annoying amount of extra maintenance, but it seems like sound logic. If I replace 2 bulbs every 1.5 months, I’ll still be replacing on a 6 month schedule, but most of the bulbs will not be that old. In theory PAR should stay more flat.

Ok, question to those who use this technique: do you do any reduction in schedule or do you just swap the two bulbs out and keep the schedule the same?

The way I do it now is to replace all 8 bulbs and reduce my light duration by 50% (4 hours). I then add back an hour every 2 days until full time again.

With only replacing two at a time and especially if you're talking every 6 months you don't need to worry about the par change. It will be negligible.