Advice Needed Acclimating Corals to New Lighting

[ethornton3rd]

Hello,

I have had a 75 Gallon Reef tank and have been using power compact, 4 X 65 watt, 2 Blue 2 White JBL Fixture. I decided to upgrade to an Outer Orbit 2 X 150 Watt HQI Metal Halide and 2 X 130 Watt Dual Actinic Blue Fixture.

I have hung the fixture and it is about 8 inches above the surface of the water. I used to keep the previous fixture on about 12 hours or from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. How many hours should I keep the new fixture on initially and on what schedule should I increase. For example the LFS told me to turn on the Metal Halides only for 4 hours the first week and gradually increase the number of hours. What do you think? What should the eventual maximum be?

I was also told that I need to remove all my coral from the middle to upper portion of the tank and place it on the bottom. Then later start to move it back up or it all will bleach. Does this sound accurate also?

[Julio]

If they are new bulbs then just increase the photoperiod by one hour everyother day until you reach the desire level.

[ethornton3rd]

Thanks,

What about the coral move to the bottom, is that still something I have to do?

[Julio]

I would not move them to the bottom, just leave them where they are.

[duerr]

Get about 3-4 'light diffusers' (commonly used as a tops for a lot of tanks) and place them on top of eachother.

Remove on layer of diffuser about every 7-8 days.

Your lights sit still, and you are gradually increasing the light for acclimation.

I suppose you could use sheets of acrylic with window tint on them, or something else creative.