Power compact bulbs Question

I have current bulbs. Can't say I have any complaints at all.

 

I change out my PC bulbs every yr and currently use 96w 420/460 Actinics from Current.



luna

 

Hmm thanks Luna looks like i will need to buy some either way as i am not 100% Sure how old these current bulbs are... Sigh Thanks for the imput

 

i would use two hamilton dual actinics, they are not deep blue and seem to be around 14 or 15k.
sps lights are nice too.

If your corals are not getting enough light then I would make sure you have one 10k strip but I wouldnt go lower due to algae

 

Ohh Dreiling Thanks! :Writes down on sticky: I Will look into them!

 

Oh, I agree with the quality/cost thing with PC's. If they made an 18 or 20" fixture with 4 or 6 bulbs capacity, I'd buy 2 in a heartbeat!! Its just that these PC's fit perfect.

 

UVL pc's best.

 

i agree with Night-Rida... i was running Coralife PC's one actinic and one 10k and recently switched to the UVL/URI bulbs. soo much brighter cause they have the 180 degree reflector built into them and my mushrooms grew double in size after the first day of having them

 

and they state their bulbs last 4500 hrs...

12 hrs cycle per day /actinics = 375 days / 1 year
8 hrs cycle per day / daylights = 562 days / 1.5 year

everyone says change pc bulbs 6-10 months, but if uvl is stating 4500 hrs on the box they should last pretty long..

 

The reason for the 6 mo change is the spectral degradation and PAR loss.