Lighting Calculations

[slyyy]

My question is how to figure the correct way to set-up a lighting timer scedule? If you have this many coral how long should each lighting series be? I am going to buy a Aquapro Metal Halide system I'm using power compacts now, the lighting that I have on now is 8hrs. of blue lighting and 10 1/2 hrs of combo. Everything in my tank is fine now but will Metall Halides goof with them?

Thanx,Slyyy

[Brent RH]

bleaching is needed to be kept in mind I would say. Just bleached my coraline algae

[jon99]

I'm not 100% clear on what your asking, but here is some advice...
Your new mh lights will be MUCH brighter than your pc's. Your corals will have to adjust to the brighter light over several weeks. What you will want to do is 1. Keep the new lights on for only a few (maybe 3-4) hours a day at first. Slowly over the course of 2-3 weeks bump it up 30 min a day. 2. It would also be good if you could block some of the light coming from the mh's at the beginning. Screens (like the ones on windows) are great for this. Layer 4 or 5 screens ontop of each other and place on glass top just below mh bulb's. Again slowly over several weeks remove the screens one by one slowly increasing the amount of light going into the tank. It's better to have too little light for a few weeks than too much, so don't worry about your tank looking a little dark with the screens blocking the light. Hope that answers what you were asking.