How often should I change my florescent bulbs??

GE publishes graphs that show the decay of light output over time. It drops
quickly the first week then slows down and in 6 months is roughly 80% lower
then when new. The anal retentive and wealthy retube at 6 mos.

I use hardware store not pet store tubes and believe gro-lux and any
blusih tube (C50, SPX65, Daylight) to be about as good as you can get
and do not hold much stock with Asian made high priced pet store bulbs.


I have 5 tanks. They all have less than 1.5 watts per gallon even
with new bulbs. Since I decided to leave the lighting that way, I
chose only "low light" plants. I have never changed the bulbs. I
have all the light I need to enjoy looking and the choice of plants
gives me no reason to have maximum illumination.

Never one to be a slave to fashion I'm into low light tanks these days.

I tried a massive amount of CF over one tank. Ok, so I can fill it with hygrophilia
in a week. So what? I'm much more proud of my tanks with no lights that grow
crypts from ambient light.


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