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02-15-2013, 03:07 AM
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#1 |
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Planted Tank Obsessed
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How often do you change your bulbs?
Just wanted to see what other members are doing? I have a T5 set up, how often to change the bulbs?
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No, those are not my husbands tanks.
Aqueon Evolve RCS, mosses, and crypt. 46 Bow Front Planted Eheim 2217, 2-39wt T5 bulbs (6700k) Onion plant, amazon sword, red lotus, christmas moss, guppy grass, and crypt lutea.7 pristella tetras, 9 cardinal tetras, 2 Otocinclus, 1 patty, 3 ghost shrimp, and several cherry shrimp. 125 Cichlid All Male Hap, Peocock, and Mumba Cichlids. |
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02-15-2013, 03:42 AM
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#2 |
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H is for Hillstream
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i try to do it once every 8 months or so. but i doubt it really depends on how often i actually remember to do it.
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Will ________________________________ my 29g story To See all of my photos Click ME! |
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02-15-2013, 04:06 AM
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#3 |
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Planted Tank Guru
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I have CF bulbs that I forgot they are over 2 years old. I just had them changed last week.
Ive seen a lot of the difference on plant growth and lot more pearlings than the old ones.
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 #23 VTS-253A-320, VTS 253A-1993 Eheim # 371 Ecco 2232 Classic 2213 "No CO2/poor CO2 & high light/ ferts = great way to grow algae" - Tom Barr |
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02-15-2013, 05:29 AM
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#4 |
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Planted Tank Obsessed
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I bought 4 for $40 Actinic and 12K off of ebay I going to see if there is any difference between the LFS ones and the ebay ones for life span. The LFS sells theirs for $40 each!
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So a guy walks into a Pet Store
Guy: "I have a Algae on my drift wood!" Pet Clerk: "Take two Plecos and call me next week."  EHEIM Classic 2213 |
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02-15-2013, 06:36 AM
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#5 |
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Planted Tank Guru
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Amazon sells open box bulb for a very low price.
I got two CF bulbs for $10+ each. Free shipping when I reached $25 total order. These bulbs are Coralife Brand which would sell on ebay for I think over $30 each shipped.
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#23 VTS-253A-320, VTS 253A-1993 Eheim # 371 Ecco 2232 Classic 2213 "No CO2/poor CO2 & high light/ ferts = great way to grow algae" - Tom Barr |
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02-15-2013, 06:39 AM
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#6 | |
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Planted Tank Obsessed
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Quote:
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No, those are not my husbands tanks.
Aqueon Evolve RCS, mosses, and crypt. 46 Bow Front Planted Eheim 2217, 2-39wt T5 bulbs (6700k) Onion plant, amazon sword, red lotus, christmas moss, guppy grass, and crypt lutea.7 pristella tetras, 9 cardinal tetras, 2 Otocinclus, 1 patty, 3 ghost shrimp, and several cherry shrimp. 125 Cichlid All Male Hap, Peocock, and Mumba Cichlids. |
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02-15-2013, 12:35 PM
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#7 |
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Planted Tank Guru
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well are the HO or normal output? at 20 bux a bulb i will replace mine when their lifespan hours have been met
which on two of my bulbs will be about 9 months and 4 of them being on half the time will be 18 months
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02-15-2013, 03:59 PM
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#8 |
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So good my algae pearls!
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Check out this article: http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/nlpi.../lat5/pc1a.asp
The average life span of most T5s and T8s is 20,000 hours. That's like 5 years. Even after 40 percent of their life span if used up (22 months) T5s still have 94% output. So if you're changing bulbs every year, or even worse, every 8 months, your are spending a great deal of money to regain a couple percentage points. The article is ten years old, but I think that makes for an even stronger case as bulb quality and efficiency has only improved over the years.
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02-15-2013, 04:47 PM
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#9 |
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Planted Tank Guru
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Their output is high, but the quality of color changes if im not mistaken
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