Silly Question

[Kathi]

Am fairly sure that I read out here that the bulbs need to be changed either every 6 months or every year. Could someone clarify this for me?

[dobejazz]

I have read that too regarding PC bulbs. I think the drop in Par affects mostly the higher light corals. I'm going to try and get on a schedule to replace my bulbs every 9 months

[Wiskey]

Using my Lux meater I found that the output drop in PC bulbs was very signifigant and past 4-7 months (depending on the bulb I tested) they had a 30% loss, this is a signel for me to replace.

I was dissapointed with my results, but they are what they are, and I replace my PC bulbs at 6 months now.

Interestingly enough I found that keeping the bulbs really cool while running seemed to prolong their life.

Whiskey

[Loverotties]

Kathi What type of bulbs? T-5,PC,Mh ...etc...?

[Superman]

Power compact bulbs are made differently than T5, VHO, NO bulbs. They run hotter than others and should be coupled with a high quality ballast like an Ice Cap because this will prolong the life of the bulbs. Keeping high output fluorescents cool with a fan blowing across them actually will increase the light output, a cool fluorescent is a happy fluorescent!

[Sndwave80]

I have found that changing my VHOs (White Actinic/ Actinic) every 10-12mo. and MH (67K) every 8-10mo has worked out fine. The VHOs run 9hrs and MH 5hrs per day on my set up and with in that time you can see the color shift in pictures. There may be a difference in the color spectrum of bulbs too that you run as to when they would visually need to be changed.