New 2x250W MH light - Acclimation questions

[dgmanny]

Hi,

I am a new member and currently in the process of upgrading my lighting. I am running a 4x65 PC light on my 72gal bowfront (23" depth) and getting a new ice cap reef illimunation 2x250MH (14k) 2/54W T5 fixture. I am planning on using the tank mounts for the fixture.

Right now I only have some mushrooms mid tank, candy cane on the bottom, and a large rock with button polyps. I am wondering what should I do to acclimate the corals to the new light? Right now I am running the 10ks about 8hrs/day and actinics around 12hrs/day.

Thanks for your feedback,

Dave

 

[B.rian]

this is the wrong forum for this, but here are my thoughts.

you currently have 260W. you are jumping up to 600W. i would cut the light schedule in half for a week and slowly increase it. on a side note, you want to move all of your corals to the bottom of the tank. 2 250W MH is going to be some serious light on a 72g.

 

[dgmanny]

Sorry - i just realized I posted in the wrong forum. Thanks, Dave

 

[dgmanny]

Thanks - I realized it might be overkill for a 72g, but I am probably going to be upgrading in the not too distant future so I didn't want to have to upgrade the fixture. I also am going to be introducing sps and figured i could run a shorter lighting schedule. Dave

 

[dgmanny]

I will repost in the reef talk forum.

 

[Mrs. Delta]

I will repost in the reef talk forum.

moved to current forum

 

[stingythingy45]

I went from 4-65 watt PC to 2-250 watt halides a few years ago.I just cut back my lighting to 4 hrs. and brought it up an hour every few days till I got to 8 hrs.

 

[JohnK]

That is a big increase. Another thing you can do to ease the transition is to get some plastic window screen from HD and lay a few layers of it across the surface, then remove one layer every few days.

 

[JayM]

button polyps and mushrooms don't need MH lighting.

go slow with your lights, that's a big change. Maybe run the halides for 2-3 hours with the t-5s to start, then ramp the time up by 30 minutes every few days.

 

[jtmac]

I agree with Jay. I am also upgrading from 150 to 250 on a 90 and slow is the way to go on that.

 

[dgmanny]

thanks for the info. I was thinking that I may not need to run the MH's very long each day until I get sps's. Will that work for the lps's?

Dave

 

[stingythingy45]

The LPS is going to need at least a few hours of MH.
BTW,I hope you have an auto top-off system on this tank.You're going to freak when you see how much evaporation happens once you start running those MH's full time.

 

[dgmanny]

I have two 5 gallon gravity fed ATO containers. I am only using one at the moment except when i go on vacation. This is certainly a great hobby for an engineer who can't tinker at work.

 

[stingythingy45]

Oddly enough I'm a project engineer.
But,I've been tinkering away here at work.

 

[dgmanny]

if you were buying a new fixture now for sps and lps, would you consider LED versus MH? Do you think the technology is where it needs to be? Thanks

 

[stingythingy45]

Technology is there.
But the price is not......

 

[JayM]

if you were buying a new fixture now for sps and lps, would you consider LED versus MH? Do you think the technology is where it needs to be? Thanks

We're in the process of scheduling a speaker on LED technology for our September meeting.

Hopefully you can attend, and find out.