http://www.reefland.com/ubb/Forum16/HTML/000902.html

I started the above thread to try and get some information on acclimation to 400w Iwasaki bulbs. I have read everything I can get a hold of on these and frankly the more I read the more ominous the task at hand seems. I bought them because they were supposed to be the best. Now I am reading that they are the best. Claims of 50% more intensity than 400W competitors make me nervous.

I posted the names of some of the outspoken on lighting and users of these bulbs in hopes to draw your attention to my plight. I am also hoping to create a thread that can be referenced to by others in the future who make the jump to more intense lighting. I have recieved some good advice, but I would like to see some veterans get into this and give their $.02 on acclimating. At this point everyone has a different black magic formula for acclimation. Some have poor results others show no ill effects.

For those like me who are finding the SPS corals more interesting as we progress (or digress) it becomes necessary to up the anty and put up the 250+ watt metal halides. We already have a fair amount of animals in our tank that we don't want to damage in the upgrade. Let's put our collective brain to work and get a methodology to do this.

Ninong: How are you planning to acclimate to your HQI setup? This is second only to the 400W iwasaki. Granted yours is a new tank, but what are you plans for new introductions and bulb replacements down the road??

Hope I am not overstepping the boundaries by calling you guys individually. Your replies are appreciated.

Thanks



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Doug

"Wait a minute. There's no Shamus McCloud in North Kilt Town" Homer

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Doug, here is my .02 worth. And I am speaking from assumption only, but I will try and get you some good help.

I would start out with a minimul photo period, maybe 2 hrs a day then progress slowly up to full photoperiod. I would do this by 15-30min imcrements every 3rd or 4th day. Just like Personifer suggested in your first post.

You are correct these are strong bulbs, I cant remember reading what size tank this is going over. I assume its your 72g listed on your profile.

I will email a freind that is a real reef expert for his .02 worth [img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

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Paul C
Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler.
Einstein

I don't realy like the drastic reduction of photo-period. I really think what has worked best for me is "shading - via the use of a "screen sandwich" as follows:
Cut a pice of eggcrate the size of the tank. Then get two pieces of fibreglass screening the size of the tank.
Place a piece of screening on one side of the eggcrate (remember eggcrate either focuses or diffuses light - dependant on which side is faced up )and on the other side of the eggcrate, place the other piece of screen. You may want to sew the "bottom" piece of screen to the corners of the eggcrate w/ monofilament fishing line.
Place it on the tank. This will reduce the light by more than 50%. Light the tank for the normal photo-period.Corals and other photo-synthetic creatures stiil need the balance "lightson/lights off" period to regulate far more of their biologic processes other than the food sugars/oxygen produced.
After a week to 10 days,I would remove one piec of the screening. Another week or so, remove the other. Another week - remove the eggcrate.
That is it.
Hope this helps
Please visit our club website, where several of us have our tank pics: www.carolinareef.com/masc.htm
Tim Tucker

Doug,
Tim is the real reef expert I was refering to. He has a 650g system, and it is VERY nice. He uses 400w Iwasaki's.

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Paul C
Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler.
Einstein

Wow, a real reef expert instead of just us pretend experts. [img]/ubb/lol.gif[/img] Seriously though, that sounds like a great way to do it.

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Jeff

http://www.homestead.com/jeffsreef/index1.html

[This message has been edited by Personifer (edited 03-22-2001).]

Doug

I wish I could be of some help but I have never upgraded lighting I have always had 400w Iwasaki's. I have light acclimated corals by placing egg crate under the lamps to cut down the light, it works. You can slowly move the crate out from under the light over several days to a week.

I hope this helps some.

BTW watch out for the lovely RED SLIME, it likes to creep up on us when we upgrade lights!

Jamey[img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

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"If at first you don't succeed, well so much for skydiving"

Check out my reef at REAL BIG FISH'S REEF

Doug,

Well, I'm certainly no reef expert but I've moved up in lighting a few times so I'll share my experience with you. One was with a tank that I could not raise the lights so that might be of interest to you. [img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

On the tank that I could not raise the lights due to physical limitations in its location, what I did was run the the stronger lighting for a shorter period but I also ran the old lighting (on this tank, I went from 2x175w MHs to 3x250w MHs on a 90 gal tank) on the flip side. What I did was run the 175s in the morning and then the 250s turned on when the 175s turned off in the afternoon and after only an hour or so, the 250s turned off and the 175s turned back on about an hour later. The 250s were not on with the 175s. I gradually (over about six weeks or so) would lengthen the amount of time that the 250s were on and respectively shortened the time that the 175s were on until I had only the 250s on. I am proud to say that none of the corals in the tank ever bleached.

I just recently upgraded the lighting on another tank from the 3-250s and 2-175s to 400w MHs. I raised the lights about 4" and staggered the lighting so that there was a reduced photoperiod and the increase in height helped a bunch. I gradually lowered the lights to their normal position and increased the light cycle. FWIW, I ran the lights for 2 or 2 1/2 hrs in the morning (I forget!) and they were off for a bit and they turned back on in the late afternoon for the same amount of time. I would add a 1/2 to the morning and afternoon cycle every week until they got to the point where the morning/afternoon were on with no break - i.e., continuous photoperiod. The VHOs were always on during this cycling.

I had very good success with both routines but the latter seemed easier since I didn't have to have the "temporary lights" like in the first setup (this is an issue if space is cramped in your canopy).

Whichever way you decide to go, best of luck to ya,

Randy

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Come meet the gang!
http://www.homestead.com/reefengineer/homepage.html

Hey Sorry, didnt mean to insult anyone out there on the BB. [img]/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

This guy just really impresses me with his reefing knowledge. I guess since I am so used to the LFS's telling me that the mh will burn things up that anybody who has a tank locally and is successful just really impresses me. This guy has really been helping me out setting up for my new tank.

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Paul C
Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler.
Einstein

[This message has been edited by Ltspd (edited 03-23-2001).]

Thanks for the help. Between the two posts on this as well as a couple of other forums I have gathered a lot of opinions and experiences. I will be compiling these in the next couple of days into one post that can serve as a reference in the future.

I think I am going to try a little bit of a spin on the reduced photoperiod. Here is what I am thinking. Two actinics as normal on the VHO plus one daylight for esthetics and to support LPS & softies. Start the MH out at 2.5 hours and bump 15 minutes every three days. I know this is a slow acclimation, but I don't want any acclimation related casualties. I figure that it will take about two months to finish this cycle, hopefully giving everyone time to adjust. I will update everyone at the end of this period.

Again thank you for chiming in on this one.



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Doug

"Wait a minute. There's no Shamus McCloud in North Kilt Town" Homer

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