When do I replace MH lights?

[GeoHawk]

I am new to MH lighting and have had my setup for 11 months now. I am currently running DE 250W 14000K Phoenix bulb. It has been running 6 hours a day for 11 months. The light seems to be doing fine, but I was wondering when these are usually replaced? I have a XM 20,000k that I got at the same time that I could replace it with, but I don't know when I should do it.

Also what is a good brand of T5? I am currently running UV lighting's actinics, and I am not sure how much I like them. They have been running for 11 months 12 hours a day. Should they be replaced?

 

[Troylee]

I would say 12 months go ahead and swap them out.... The xm is way different than the phoenix and it will give ya great color but the growth is really slow compared to phoenix... As for the t5s you want ati bulbs there the best I would go with all blue plus or one purple plus in the mix super high par and great color... Hth

 

[GeoHawk]

Thanks for the quick reply I will look into those. That's unfortunate that the growth isn't as good with the 20,000k xm, my coral are all still very small

I have 2 T5 slots, so would you go with 2 blue plus, or 1 blue plus and 1 purple plus?

 

[ksc]

If you are looking for growth I'd go with the Iwasaki 14k. The xm20k I had lost about 40% of it's output in about 4 months. There's a good article about the life of a 14k phoenix by Sanjay. If you are happy with that bulb over 11 months it will be pretty stable for the next 11 months.
Light Output of the Phoenix 14,000K DE MH Bulb Over Time by Allen Chantelois - Reefkeeping.com

 

[Paul_N]

If you are looking for growth I'd go with the Iwasaki 14k. The xm20k I had lost about 40% of it's output in about 4 months. There's a good article about the life of a 14k phoenix by Sanjay. If you are happy with that bulb over 11 months it will be pretty stable for the next 11 months.
Light Output of the Phoenix 14,000K DE MH Bulb Over Time by Allen Chantelois - Reefkeeping.com

+1 if you are only running them 6 hours a day the MH can hold there par much longer. When I broke down my 75 my DE 250w Phoenix 14k where at 24 months and the color and growth were great. I was also running them 6 hours a day.

 

[GeoHawk]

Oh, thanks for the article. I am actually planning on moving my lights up 4 inches from 6 inches off the water to 10 inches off the water, because it seems like my coral don't really get the pop in color that others have. Since I am worried about having too much light I probably don't need new lights. I was told my lighter coral colors could be because my light is to close. I think this is possibly true, because the sides of the coral that face the light are lighter in color. They all grow though. I think I will move the MH up those 4 inches and see if that helps, and order the T5s

The 2 ATI 24 watt blue plus would be best? or should I mix? Something else?

 

[RaeRae]

I have a deep tank and had a green birds nest about 3/4 the way down the tank. It stoped growing after about 10 to 11 months. Then I new it was time.

 

[Salty Dog]

I change mine every 6-months with out a hitch