lighting......

[beb7071]

Greetings fellow reef addicts........... I have a question........ I have a 30 gal reef set up that has been going for about 10 or 11 months now. All is well w/tests. I have a 150w MH JBJ. I am wondering if a 250w would be a bit better ? I have Brain Coral [lobophyllia] Open Brain, Button Coral. Several Zoanthus. Dersa and Crocea Clams. And a few Mushrooms. So would I be better off putting my 250w/MH on ? Can I over do the lighting to the point of being harmful ? Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.....Bill

[Parrothead]

Greetings fellow reef addicts........... I have a question........ I have a 30 gal reef set up that has been going for about 10 or 11 months now. All is well w/tests. I have a 150w MH JBJ. I am wondering if a 250w would be a bit better ? I have Brain Coral [lobophyllia] Open Brain, Button Coral. Several Zoanthus. Dersa and Crocea Clams. And a few Mushrooms. So would I be better off putting my 250w/MH on ? Can I over do the lighting to the point of being harmful ? Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.....Bill

My first concern with the 250 would be heat, on a 30 gallon a 250 might very well warm things up a bit to much

[beb7071]

Naw, I don't think heat will be a factor. The 250 has a super great fan on it and the 150 I have on the tank now does too. I have never had to use the fan. And I keep the house cool too. So heat is not my big worry. I am mainly concerned as to weather or not I could hurt the corals with a 250w. I guess I will give it a try. I'll change to the 250 tonight when the light goes off. I guess I can keep a close eye on the corals and hopefully catch any problem. And I will definetly keep my eyer on the temp. Thanks for the advice.....Bill

[Parrothead]

Naw, I don't think heat will be a factor. The 250 has a super great fan on it and the 150 I have on the tank now does too. I have never had to use the fan. And I keep the house cool too. So heat is not my big worry. I am mainly concerned as to weather or not I could hurt the corals with a 250w. I guess I will give it a try. I'll change to the 250 tonight when the light goes off. I guess I can keep a close eye on the corals and hopefully catch any problem. And I will definetly keep my eyer on the temp. Thanks for the advice.....Bill

Start slow with the photo period, your corals are use to one type of light, and you are gonna install a different type, adjust accordingly, I'd start slow but, that is just me.

[beb7071]

Good advice.... ok so how slow or fast do I do it. I have been running the 150w from 7am til 7pm. So maybe cut that in half ? Say on at 7 am and off at 2 pm. For how long and then when do I go to full time with the new 250w ? I can use all the advice I can get here.....Thanks.........Bill

[Parrothead]

Good advice.... ok so how slow or fast do I do it. I have been running the 150w from 7am til 7pm. So maybe cut that in half ? Say on at 7 am and off at 2 pm. For how long and then when do I go to full time with the new 250w ? I can use all the advice I can get here.....Thanks.........Bill

Depends on when you're home, I prefer to enjoy my hard earned money, so if I was you I would def. cut it in half, have it come on when home and then over the course of a couple weeks increase it slowly couple of hours a week till back to full photo cycle

[beb7071]

Ok, sounds like a plan. I'll start tomorrow. 6 hrs. on for a week then 8 hrs for 4 days then 10 hrs for 4 days and so forth. All in all I'll work it up to full 12 hrs over a 3 week span...... Thanks for the help. Will let you know what's happening here as it goes.........

[Ninong]

I think the 150w lamp is a better size for your tank but if you do switch to the 250, you should allow three weeks for the transition period.

Ideally you would leave the photoperiod unchanged and simply adjust the distance between the lamp and the water. Position the 250 higher above the water and then gradually lower it every few days. The goal is to start out with the intensity of light reaching the corals to be unchanged and then gradually increasing it by lowering the light.

Good luck!

[beb7071]

Ninong, Makes absolute sense what you are saying, but I have no way to raise the light and gradually lower it. It is a clamp-on. So I am going to try reducing the time the light is on and gradually extend the time. I have moved some of the corals down in the tank and will slowly rasie them back up. I turned the 250w on for 2 hours before lights off tonight and saw a very significant response in some of the corals. The polyps opened more and seemed to like the brighter light. I am going to be home all day90% of the time so I will beable to notice any changes, good or bad. Thanks for the help. If you have any other suggestions, please send them....... I can use all the help I can get...... And not just in the world of reef keeping !!! Thanks alot guys............ Bill

[Ninong]

In that case, I would start out with about half the previous photoperiod and then gradually increase it over the next three weeks.

Good luck!

[beb7071]

Ok, I have come to the conclusion the 250w is a bit too much for some of the corals in my tank. The mushrooms would not fully open. But the Brains ,Zoanthus, and Starburst seemed to really like it. But in the long run feel it may have hurt them... So I have went back to the 150w. Thanks for the help on this. And I have posted the lamp for sale on this site. Thanks Bill.

[Ninong]

Here is a 173-gallon tank (51" x 28" x 28") that is lit with only two 150w 10,000K HQI DE lamps (BLV brand) with two little 24w actinic compact fluorescent lamps in the middle. That's an Aqua-Medic fixture. And that's a 28" tall tank with SPS corals all the way down to the bottom of the tank.

[beb7071]

That's one beautiful thing. I guess I just am expecting too much too soon. I am begining to understand the value of patience in this hobby. Thanks for the great picture.