Pc to MH

[mad_dog01]

New to this forum...looks nice with alot of info. Question is i have a 170 gal reef tank. My LFS sold me 396 watt 72 inch pc coral life fixture, it definately did not do anything for me, can't even keep an anemone with 2.1 WPG. I'm installing a coral life 72 inch MH/pc combo tommorow. Total watts is 834 watts. Usually how much increase do you get from MH's? I will be taking off the glass top to disapate more heat from the tank, right now with the pc's and the hood on my tank is running 78 degrees-80 degrees.

[charlie]

New to this forum...looks nice with alot of info. Question is i have a 170 gal reef tank. My LFS sold me 396 watt 72 inch pc coral life fixture, it definately did not do anything for me, can't even keep an anemone with 2.1 WPG. I'm installing a coral life 72 inch MH/pc combo tommorow. Total watts is 834 watts. Usually how much increase do you get from MH's? I will be taking off the glass top to disapate more heat from the tank, right now with the pc's and the hood on my tank is running 78 degrees-80 degrees.

First off, welcome to Reefland!!!!
What do you have in the tank right now, as far as corals are concerned? If you do have corals now, I would definitly watch the amount of time that you run the halides, you don't want to shock your critters to much. Could you give us a little more info on your system?
Secondly, the watts per gallon is not a good way to judge anything, IMO. What you are looking for is the amount of light penetration that you are getting to the lower levels of your tank.
You will definitly notice a little more heat given off by that fixture, and you are on the right track by taking the glass tops off. I would start running the halides 4 hours, and gradually increase them to 8 hours over a 3-4 weeks period. HTH.

[mad_dog01]

Sure Charlie...more info...right now in the tank is 150 lbs of live rock, 2 colt corals, hairy mushroom, pipe organ...at least thats what my LFS called it, by the way its not doing good....hardly opens at all...needs more light I suspect. Xenia...also not doing good....light issue i hope, clown tang, yellow tang, 6-line wrass, and two clown fish....and a big cleanup crew. UV sterilizer, protien skimmer, 40 gal sump, and tank is 170 gals

[charlie]

How long have you been set up?

[mad_dog01]

The tank came with the house i bought.....at least 7 months....when i moved in it had 4 damsels no rock and just regular freshwater aquarium lighting, so probally not much longer, the tank has cycled but the previous owner had no clue about saltwater tanks....my learning curve has been huge in the last 7 months as i was a freshwater fish guy

[charlie]

The tank came with the house i bought.....at least 7 months....when i moved in it had 4 damsels no rock and just regular freshwater aquarium lighting, so probally not much longer, the tank has cycled but the previous owner had no clue about saltwater tanks....my learning curve has been huge in the last 7 months as i was a freshwater fish guy

I was a freshwater guy too!!! I would try to do a little research on what you called the pipe organ. Do you have any pics of it, that you could post? It sounds like you are headed in the right direction tho, just keep up the research, it seems to be a never ending thing!!!!


I owe, I owe, so off to work I go........................ talk to you later.

[mad_dog01]

After I install the lighting later today, I'll take a pic of it....hopefully it will open a bit more, thanks for all the info!

[Reefland]

Hi mad_dog01,

[mad_dog01]

Hi Reef,

Very nice forum you have here! Glad I joined

[mad_dog01]

Charlie,

Medal Halide fixture is installed....been running 3 hours and not anything major with the heat. I'm going to install small fans at the end of the tank to disapate more heat just to be sure. I have about a half inch clerance over half my tank with the new fiture to the ceiling in the basement. The fans on top suck air in so the heat comes out the sides of the fixture. Lights definately make a huge difference in lighting quality!!!

[Reefland]

Glad to hear you got them installed. Pretty big change from PC to MH. Definitely watch how long the lights run as the change in intensity can play a role in the health of your corals. If possible, it would be best to have the new lighting about 16" from the water surface, and slowly lower it to 9" over the next week or two.

[mad_dog01]

I hear ya reefland, my issue was space, the tank is up on the back of a bar in my basement, the previous owner did not take into account for lighting space when he built the bar and then decided to put a 170 gal tank on top of it. I had to buy a coral life pro fixture with the legs which puts the lights around 7 inches from the water. Half the tank has only about an inch from the top of fixture to the top of basement ceiling due to the way they drywalled the heating and A/C ducting in, the other half had plenty of space. I tested the lights before i put that fixture up and the fan units on top suck the air so heat is disapating pretty good, I imagine i will be installing a chiller in the near future thou. Reef I see you are from KY, I just moved here from Florida

[Reefland]

I am not sure where erlanger is?

You should consider running the lights on reduced photo periods for a few weeks while the corals adjust.

[mad_dog01]

Erlanger is about 10 minutes south of Cincinnati, I am only running the lights for 6 hours a day, down from 11 hours of PC lighting, should i reduce more?

[Reefland]

I would reduce a bit more, perhaps start out with 4 hours and slowly increase it to 11 hours over the next 2 weeks.

[mad_dog01]

But still keep the actinics on correct, the fixture has 4-96watt bulbs

[Reefland]

That is correct.

[mad_dog01]

Will do that, just an update, after putting light up and taking the glass off the top of the aquarium.....temps went down 1 degree even with MH on for 5 hours. Hopefully that stays that way....chillers are very exspensive!

[charlie]

Good to hear you got them on your tank. We will be waiting for some update pics of your corals saying thank you!!