how often do you need to change actinic PC?

[Seafan]

Hi,

I was under the impression that daylight (6500K) bulbs must be changed as the spectrum shift to the red could casue algae blooms. my question is, do the actinic PC light bulb also shift so much as to cause algae/cyano? how often do they need to be changed?

thanks,

Jason

[reef4kids]

Last time, I changed my PC actinics after 13 months. I am not sure how much the spectrum had shifted at that point. I was starting to have algae problems, and this was one of the many things I was doing to attempt to correct the problem. I changed one PC actinic first, and I immediately noticed the new one was substantially brighter and seemed to make the corals flourese more.

Next time I will try to change them a little sooner. Probably between 10-12 months.

Hope this helps,

Jim
http://jdownhower.topcities.com/Fish/index.html

[ChrisPrusha]

That's a good question, seafan! I tend to agree with reef4kids' answer...does anyone else a different opinion on this?

Chris