Lighting Advise

[Ed Kazz]

Hi,

I have posted in the lighting section ...but no one responded so I guess I will try here.

I had bought a Coralife Aqualight Pro light used (72" 3-150 HQI's W/compact flor.).and was told that I can have grow anything (new and foolish).

The question I have is ...can these fixtures be upgraded (say to a 250W HQI electronic ballast) without too much trouble?

I am looking to change (upgrade to higher wattage) and was wondering if this could be done.

Love to hear from anyone that has this fixture. Would like to grow some hard corals (have some now and they are turning white) but afraid that the lighting is sub-par.

Can anyone recommend a fixture for a 6' long tank that looks good (I am not using a canopy). If this fixture can't be upgraded!!!

Thanks
Ed

[KRASHPD]

This fixture is similar to the aqualight pro and shows several people upgrading them:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1234358&highlight=odyssea

There are several good lighting options for a 72" tank. Depending on price, I would look at Current-USA on the low end to Geismann Infinity's or Photons on the high end. Check out Premium Aquatics.com or Marine Depot for different lighting options. Once you found one you like, come back to this site and research it for other's experience with it.

[abulgin]

How deep is your tank?

[Ed Kazz]

It's a standard 180 bow (2' deep I think?).

Thanks
Ed

[abulgin]

Why do you think that 3 x 150W won't be sufficient?

[Ed Kazz]

My corals are turning white (bluetort,matchstick...).
Tank parameters great and stable.Coras are high w/good flow.
Soft corals doing good.
Only thing left is lighting???

Thanks
Ed

[Reefbox]

How old are the bulbs?

What is the bulb spectrum? 10,000k,6500k,2200k,etc

I use mh 150's and like them.

[Ed Kazz]

I do need new lamps. They are over a year old(maybe more,bought the fixture used??). 10,000k w/actinic 03's.
I thought that I should replace with higher wattage instead of replacing lamps?
This is all new to me and don't want to do things twice.
I would like to have some hard corals...do you think 150W is OK and a bulb change would help? Looking at 12,000k reeflux from Reefexotics.

Thanks
Ed

[abulgin]

I don't think your problem is necessarily lighting. I've seen plenty of light-loving SPS do well in semi-shaded areas of tanks, such as when they fall from their resting place and sit at the bottom of the tank, etc. I would think that 3 x 150W bulbs in your tank should support SPS. Maybe they won't grow as much as they would under more lighting, but I don't think that would cause them to die.

Rather, I'll bet it has to do with water chemistry. Sometimes, SPS that look great in a dealer's tank change drastically once they are in your tank. This can be for a number of reasons, including subtle differences in alkalinity. I have purchased SPS that were maroon/green at the dealer's tank which turned cream colored or brown in my tank, sometimes in a matter of hours, and all of them grew and prospered--they just looked different permanently. Also, if you have cnidarians in your tank, like mushrooms, leathers, anemones, etc., those could be fighting with your SPS through chemical warfare. No testing would pick this up.

Although a picture would be helpful, the whiteness that you see may actually be new growth. If the whiteness is at the ends of your SPS, that's likely the case. If the entire SPS is turning white, or if the SPS is turning white from the base up, then it's definitely something that is system-related.

[Ed Kazz]

Thanks for your input...I will take a picture and post it to see what you think.

Ed

[abulgin]

Great. If your corals are high up in your tank, they should definitely do fine under 150W of MH. I would think you would run into problems only if you were placing your corals at the bottom of your tank under 150W.

Have you considered whether your corals are bleaching because of improper light acclimation? Are they new? If so, what lighting were they under when you bought them and were they in direct lighting or indirect lighting?