What a difference a new bulb makes.

[DJ88]

Well after buying a new 250W Iwasaki now that J&L has them in again I put it on..

What a difference one day makes.

I thought the Diatom and Cyano problem I was having was due to the crash.

WRONG!

Changed over the bulb and my my sand is as clean as ever and all the icky stuff is diappearing fast. lets me see the few flatworms left tho.. Grrrrrr....

If its not one thing it is another..


So words to the wise. Make sure you have that extra bulb ready for your next bulb change so if your supplier sells out you don't have to wait and go through what has been going on with me.

As an aside. Noticing different colorations on a small frag I got from Marc a few weeks ago.. images/smiles/icon_smile.gif SWEEETTTTT!

Also noticed a large heat drop too. no longer hitting 83 by the end of the photoperiod. Only at my usual 80.5. cool

[ 09 December 2001: Message edited by: DJ88 ]

[christyf5]

Hey Darren,

How do you know when the bulbs need to be changed. Can you check them with a light meter or something?? (sorry for the duh question). I don't even know how old mine are. I never thought to ask. I am having a horrible diatom bloom right now. Arggh. I hope it isn't the damn bulbs!!

Christy images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[DJ88]

Well I should have changed it back in Sept..

About a year after putting it in.

If you don't know how old they are I'd think about changing them just so you do know.

images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Silverfish]

Geez.. I guess I'd better think about changing mine in a bit ..eh Darren? Just trying to remember when I got it! images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

[reefburnaby]

Hi,
http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1999/dec/features/2/default.asp

- Victor.

[Silverfish]

Thanks for the interesting link, Victor. Maybe I will wait a bit before replacing my 6500 Iwasaki 250. Food for thought anyways!

[ldzielak]

Take a standard CD, silver bottom and look at the light. Cheap man's spectrometer. If you did this at the begining and near the end, maybe you could see the difference.... Just what I heard a guy say at a LFS in Portland.

[Delphinus]

Verrrry true. Lights shift their spectrum.

However some lights useful lifespans last longer than others. It depends on the brand, the type, the ballast you use ... etc. Higher-K bulbs (>10000K) and actinics have a much shorter useful lifespan than lower-K bulbs. Some are useless after 6 months, others I have been able to sqeak out 12+ months. But even on those a side by side comparison of a new bulb and an older bulb, same brand, same wattage, same everything in all other respects ... should be enough to convince anyone that we need to stick to a fixed schedule of bulb replacement.