When Do I Need to Change My Aquarium Bulbs? Learn Timeline For Changing Your Aquarium Bulbs

!±8± When Do I Need to Change My Aquarium Bulbs? Learn Timeline For Changing Your Aquarium Bulbs

If my aquarium light bulbs are still working, do I need to change them? The answer is Yes, change your bulbs! As bulbs age, the lighting spectrum shifts from blue to red. Red wavelength light will increase the growth of algae in an aquarium and provides less of the energy corals need to grow.

Why do you need to Change your Aquarium Bulbs:

Even though your bulbs are still turning on and may not look any different to you, rest assured, your aquarium inhabitants can certainly tell the difference. As your bulbs age, they lose their color spectrum and intensity. If you neglect to change them, you will start to witness unwanted algae growth and failing coral, invertebrate, or plant health.

When do you need to Change your Aquarium Bulbs:

Different types of bulbs maintain their spectrum and intensity for various periods of time. Use this timeline as a guide for changing your bulbs.

Normal output fluorescent including NO T5, T8, and T10 - need replacing every 4 to 6 months.

High output fluorescent including HO T5, VHO T5, VHO T12, and Power Compacts - need replacing every 8 to12 months.

Metal Halide Bulbs including Double end and Single end need replacing every 10 to 14 months.

There is a range for the change timeline because of the variances on how long the aquarium bulb may run each day Ie: 8 hours a day, 10 hours a day, etc)

How do you Change your Aquarium Bulbs:

If you have multiple bulbs in your fixture, you should change out old bulbs slowly. Replace a couple bulbs every two weeks until they are all replaced. This is done so that you do not shock the live stock in your tank with the new greater intensity bulbs. You may need to do it over a longer period of time if the live stock are showing stress or if your bulbs were way past due for changing.

It is important to keep up on these important maintenance items in order to keep your aquarium at its best.

When Do I Need to Change My Aquarium Bulbs? Learn Timeline For Changing Your Aquarium Bulbs

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Aquarium Lighting - Play a Benevolent God and Give Your Fish the Best Environment You Can!

!±8± Aquarium Lighting - Play a Benevolent God and Give Your Fish the Best Environment You Can!

Aquarium lighting isn't just lighting, its specialist lighting; more than that, the way you light your aquarium really is the difference between life and death for your fish.

The idea is that the lighting system in your aquarium replicates as closely as possible the light conditions that your fish would enjoy in their natural habitat. The closer you get the better. Move too far away from the habitat lighting and your fish will become stressed and fail to grow. From a purely selfish point of view, if you don't have the right light in your aquarium, your fish will lose their colours, and the chances are that is exactly what you bought them for.

The important thing to understand when you look at aquarium lighting is the Kelvin rating; which is what the K numbers you see on aquarium lights represent. The Kelvin rating gives you some idea of the temperature of the light, that is, how warm or cold looking it is. Cold, blue light has a 'high tech' clinical feel to it and is around 10,000K; this is the sort of temperature that would be used for a tank where you keep reefs and plants. The lowest Kelvin rated aquarium lighting is around 5,500K; the lower rated lamps are used for aquaria with freshwater fish and no plant life.

The best lamps, which are available in a wide range of Kelvin ratings, are metal halide lamps. They produce a shimmer, not unlike sunlight shining on water. Metal halide lamps range in intensity from 75 watts to 1,000 watts and their only disadvantage is that they generate heat - so do be careful.

If you are a new aquarist, you'll probably start your aquarium lighting career with fluorescent lighting, which are the type that are usually provided as part of a lighting kit. Fluorescent tubes for aquaria come in a range of colour temperatures and in three standard sizes. Sizes are indicated by a T number; T12, T8, and T5. You'll need at least a couple of lights, depending on the size of your tank, because fluorescent lamps are far lower in terms of intensity than metal halide. On the plus side though, they don't get hot!

The topic of aquarium lighting is complex and wide ranging, and you would be well advised to get a book on the subject, unless you have a well-informed friend. We've only touched on the subject here, and we haven't got as far as even mentioning marine aquarium lighting!

Aquarium Lighting - Play a Benevolent God and Give Your Fish the Best Environment You Can!

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