Bulb life span

[jokersplayground]

I have a 250w m/h unit i bought it used with a ice cap ballest. I was just wondering how long does the light bulb last for. Im starting to get diatoms in my tank and i havent done anything different. All my water checks out.

 

[JohnK]

What specific bulb? Some last a lot longer than others, usually higher K temp lamps start to color shift sooner than lower K temp lamps.

 

[jokersplayground]

Its a phinex i think its a 14k or a 20k

 

[JohnK]

moderate lifespan. 6-9 months is probably good. Longer and it will still light up but the color will be shifting.

I've run one for over a year, but that doesn't make it a good idea. When I did that I didn't seen any particular problems.

You said you're seeing diatoms, have you done some substantial water changes reccently? Could the DI on your RODI be used up? Usually diatom blooms are due to increases in silicate, not lighting.

 

[jokersplayground]

Well i didnt do a water change for almost a month. And i dont have a rodi unit anymore. Ive been topping off witj distilled water and ive been useing petco natrual sea water. Its never happend before. Do you think its do to me not doing the water change for close to a month? The stuff is all over my rocks and sand.

 

[JohnK]

Are you sure it's diatoms and not cyano?

With diatoms the silicate gets used up and becomes a limiting factor. A lot of the time new silicate gets imported with top off or water change water (if the DI is spent, or if whatever other means of purifying doesn't remove all the silicate) and triggers a bloom. Hence not doing water changes is not likely to encourage diatoms. I don't know if it's likely that distilled water will be importing silicate or not (I would think not, but you never know).

 

[jokersplayground]

i will be posting pics in a few min.

 

[jokersplayground]

heres a few pics of the stuff

 

[jt628]

That is Cyano, looks to me like a phosphate problem, not a lighting problem

 

[jason401]

cyphon out as much as u can..i ran purigen and chemi-pure elite when i had cyano, havnt seen it since..also hows your water-flow?

 

[stingythingy45]

How old is this tank?
Definitely cyano there.
How much are you feeding and what?
What's the live stock?
And lastly,get an ro/di and start mixing your own water.You have no idea what's in that Petco stuff.

 

[jokersplayground]

i have a hydro pico 180gph+ a aquaclear powerhead 150 or 250 i cant remember. i have 27x over in my tank i do remember that.

 

[jokersplayground]

How old is this tank?
Definitely cyano there.
How much are you feeding and what?
What's the live stock?
And lastly,get an ro/di and start mixing your own water.You have no idea what's in that Petco stuff.

i plan on buying it again from brs. my tank is like 4-5 months old now but before this tank it was a 1.5 pico moved into a 12g nano cube. that 1.5 was up and running for over a year with no problems. i feed every other day with frozen and i rince it with the distilled water. i have a tomato clown and a manderin in there right now with clean up crew. for the longest time i only had 3lbs of live rock in my tank and just recently i added more from kca in auburn.

 

[jokersplayground]

So i just found out the lfs that i go to is test everybodys water with freshwater tests. So now i dont even know where my tank levels are. Im so screwed. I do not have test kits at all. I need to find out what my levels are.

 

[HuuTa]

Are u talking about amonia,nitrite and nitrate being tested?

 

[KSC]

If you are running the 250 Phoenix, here's a good atricle concerning "bulb lifespan"...

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/ac/index.php

 

[jokersplayground]

Are u talking about amonia,nitrite and nitrate being tested?

yes i am talking about that and also phosphate, ph.

 

[mnavick]

KCA also sells RODI now, I do beleive. Might be better than the Natural Sea Water brand and distilled.

 

[HuuTa]

then it's fine with the test.Pho also cause they just use different color chart to tell the parameter

 

[jokersplayground]

then it's fine with the test.Pho also cause they just use different color chart to tell the parameter

well i just brought my water to him and he said that my ph is 5.5. i was like thats not right cuz all my fish and coral would be dead. and he said my nitrite is through the roof, and same with my amonnia. everything would be dead or dieing.