When to change my T5 light

[jonny_ftm]

Hi,

I have a 4x54W luminaire on my 40-60G tank
I read on many forums that they should be changed every 12 months, and never all at the same time, that is 1 to 3 months between changes

Now, I never read if with EI, keeping T5 modules for a longer period is safe or not. Any clarifications on when and how should I change the T5 modules?

many thanks for your help

 

[shoggoth43]

There was a recent thread about T5 life. The general gist of it was that they may be reasonably used past the 12 months and closer to 18-24 months for the general planted tank purposes. Staggering the replacements may be a good idea in that you won't go from 70% of output suddenly to 100% which may cause issues as your plants adjust and you run into CO2 and nutrient demand issues as a result of a potentially massive increase in light.

-
S

 

[jonny_ftm]

Many thanks for the precision

Do you have, by case, a link to the topic?