when upgrading lights?

[adrox88]

so i just bought some new lights for my reef tank and i was talking to the owner of the LFS and he gave me some advice that im not too sure about. i have a 20 long with a few softies and a bubble tip anemone and obviously some fish, and i had just a 36 watt T-5 fixture on the tank and i just bought a 65 watt PC fixture and have had both fixtures on the tank for 3 days now and everything seems great except some more hair algae. the owner told me i was lucky not to kill anything and when i get home i should turn the lights off and keep them off for 2 days. after the 2 days i should only have the lights on for 2 hours for 2 days, then 3 hours a day for 3 days, then 4 hours a day for 4 days, and so on and so fourth untill i got to the norm 8 hours a day. is he for serious?!?!?! i dont know about all that, im new to salt water but that seems a bit extreme.

[lunatik_69]

Why are you running both fixtures? Hold on, let me understand this a little better. You have one fixture with a(1) 36watt light and another fixture with a(1) 65watt light? Which one is the day light and the actinic's?

[coral reefer]

In my opinion he is a little extreme in his guidance! Yes he/she is correct in the whole thing of acclimating corals to new bulbs or increased lighting. However, corals will show signs of stress due to the stronger lighting, increased PAR/PUR. Polyps don't fully extend or open up as well as possible bleaching, but these occur infrequently and not at the stop of a dime unless in extreme cases. In my opinion, it is best to turn your old set of lights on first, then after a couple hours, turn the new set of lights on for a couple hours, then shut them off then after another hour or so, turn off the first lights you turned on. Turn actinics on first and last before nighttime.
That is the best way to do it with as little stress as possible to your corals, anemones and clams.

[adrox88]

the t-5 fixture is 2 18 watt bulbs, 1 is 10,000k and the other is the actinic. the PC is 1 50/50 65 watt