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Should I change Bulbs?

M

mott768

Wondering if I should change my MH bulbs or not, I'm running 175w 10k XM's that are about 6 months old installed in Nov. should I replace them with new bulbs? I noticed the past couple of day's my clams not looking right.... I remember reading MH bulbs start to lose there par after 6 months or so, I know there is a few threads about MH bulbs and how long they last but I'm too lazy to look them up and read :)
 
S

sinkingbeach

I had one go out on me the other day that was 6 months old :mad: Actually first time ever this happened, I usually change them out at 10 months, I use the double ended bulbs, don't know if it makes a difference
 
M

mott768

sinkingbeach said:
I had one go out on me the other day that was 6 months old :mad: Actually first time ever this happened, I usually change them out at 10 months, I use the double ended bulbs, don't know if it makes a difference
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I never had that problem before, a friend had that happen but it was the ballast not the bulb....I'm wondering about the par, I know someone on here said something about XM mogul base bulbs and something about the par levels after 6 months.
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
We've run our MH for going on a year. But they were/are ReefLux. I don't have any experience with XM. I don't care for the color.
 
D

DaveK

mott768 said:
Wondering if I should change my MH bulbs or not, I'm running 175w 10k XM's that are about 6 months old installed in Nov. should I replace them with new bulbs? I noticed the past couple of day's my clams not looking right.... I remember reading MH bulbs start to lose there par after 6 months or so, I know there is a few threads about MH bulbs and how long they last but I'm too lazy to look them up and read :)
Click to expand...

I don't think the lighting would all of a sudden cause a problem with your clams, and I'd look for another possible problem.

I usually change my MHs about every 12 - 18 months. I don't have any clams though. Usually when I feel "rich", since those bulbs are not cheep, and I've got 6 on various tanks.

You could always change the bulbs, and keep the old ones. If you see a response from the clams, it was the old bulbs. If not, you can use the old bulbs as spares, or put them back in for another 6 months or so. You will need to replace bulbs sooner or later, so it's not like you are throwing money away if you are wrong.
 
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