How do you know its time to change your bulbs?

I cant remember for the life of me when I changed my bulbs last.

It hasnt been the greatest year with this tank, and I had to hypo for 3 months for ich, and the lights never went on so Im really not sure if there is something I should be looking for that they are going bad.

Im going to be upgrading the lights, so if I can go with out replacing them at the moment it would be good

I have not had any algae out breaks or anything like that and everything seems fine.

 

I've been wondering the same thing. I'm going on 8 months on my T5s...

Are there typical leading indicators, like spots of cyano, browning, yellow tint, etc?

 

12 to 18 months is what is recommended.

 

Cyano is a clear indicator that your white bulbs need to be replaced. (There are other factors obviously high nitrates, high phosphates, low flow, etc so the mere presence of cyano doesn't mean you need new bulbs. However, if you have good flow, reasonable nitrates, and no phosphates and your bulbs are old, I think there's a pretty good chance they need to be replaced).

 

I've found the following to be getting the most out each type of bulb;

PC no more then 6 months
T5 6-8 depending on brand
MH 12-18 depending on brand
LED 4-5 years. lol

But taking a pic when you first get the bulbs and then taking another pic around the time it is reccomended to change, you can usually see the loss of color/output.

 

Hi everyone, where can you order the bulbs? for T5 31watts

 

You will need to order them from the manufacturer or go to their site and find out who their vendors are.

 

CoraLife bulbs at petsolutions.com have four or five 30" 31w bulbs to choose from.

 

These inexpensive spectrometer's really help when determining if your bulbs are too old. Feature Article: Poor Man's Spectrometer: Estimating Lamp Spectral Quality for Less Than $30 — Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine

 

Hey inwall,
Have you seen/used this particular piece of equipment? I have been wanting one but it has been cost prohibitive .. this looks/reads like a perfect addition that wont break the bank...just curious to know its accuracy and ease of use.
Thanx !