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View Full Version : new halides kill my reef?


wnutz
01/15/2006, 09:28 PM
i just changed my 150w coralife bulbs after 15 months withe aqualine 150w i raised the lights 3 inches and the halides are only on for 5 hours i seem to be losing corals steadily should i have changed 1 light at a time i didnt realise that new light would kill my tank. all my levels are still cool.

wnutz
01/15/2006, 09:59 PM
anyone?

eidillitih
01/15/2006, 10:05 PM
Well, I would think you should have cut the time back that you have them on. Try taking one and putting the old one back and waite a couple of weeks and put the new light back in.

Dubbin1
01/15/2006, 10:06 PM
I doubt that it is enough to "kill your reef". Things might be upset for a few days so you may want to shorten the lighting period.

BLKTANG
01/15/2006, 10:07 PM
I would have cut the photoperiod in half al least.15 months is a long time between light changes.Are you running DE,or SE bulbs,what kind of balast.I would also use some screen over the tank in layers.Move slowly 1/2 hour every 3,or 4 days,& 1 layer of screen 1x a week.It sounds like your corals were bleached pretty badly so be careful,& keep a close eye on them.

wnutz
01/15/2006, 10:09 PM
well thanks for ur imput i havent changed anthing except the lights so that is what i attribute the steady bleaching and killing of my corals mabe ill try 1 new bulb for a couple of weeks and then put the new one in.

Zoalander
01/15/2006, 10:11 PM
I replaced my 20k coralife with a 14K phoenix (also 150 watt de) and everythig on the upper half of my tank started going downhill. I started moving everything to the bottom and they are fine now. I still can't put anything on the upper half so I'm looking into getting another bulb with less par because I heard the phoenix 14K have more par then most 10K bulbs. Oh and this happened about 7 weeks ago.

BLKTANG
01/15/2006, 10:14 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6509398#post6509398 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Vetter1980
I replaced my 20k coralife with a 14K phoenix (also 150 watt de) and everythig on the upper half of my tank started going downhill. I started moving everything to the bottom and they are fine now. I still can't put anything on the upper half so I'm looking into getting another bulb with less par because I heard the phoenix 14K have more par then most 10K bulbs. Oh and this happened about 7 weeks ago.


Same thing happened to me,i have the light like 18" above the water now,and everything is ok.:D

wnutz
01/15/2006, 10:20 PM
well im glad im not the only one i thought i was doing a nice thing for my tank and ive lost lik $400 worth of corals in a week it is very upsetting but i guess u live and learn from now on i will change them much sooner. i guess i should have asked before i put them in

Zoalander
01/15/2006, 10:50 PM
I'm thinking of going back to the 20k coralife because I can't get my fixture more then 11 inches above my tank.

carloa
01/16/2006, 11:33 AM
I'm actually moving from 4 VHOs (110 watts each) to two 150 de 14 k phoenix bulbs as well. How do you like the color of the 14ks? Do they have enough blue in them?

Also do you think I still have to slowly transition the lighting change? I'm not sure since I have already been running VHOs for years now.

thank

aurorahokie
01/16/2006, 12:25 PM
I lost half of my acan after I changed my lights. Added a plastic "screen" and it made a full comeback.

You could try adding several layers of egg crate and removing one every 2-3 weeks.