New halide bulb - coral retraction?

Wow, I am really sorry about this Matt, that really sucks. I tried looking up Coralife's website and it's down.
Coralife Aqualight
Once my little zoas heal up and grow, I'd be happy to send you some frags to help you rebuild your tank.

 

NT it is a first generation Coralife Aqualight Advanced Mount fixture. I am not sure how the new ones are different.

Thanks all for the kind words.

I just spoke to Coralife and urged them to address this UV issue in their manuals and design. They told me that the new fixtures have this on the packaging and manuals so I will take them at their word. I would like to see them go further with this and made that clear to them, but it is up to them obviously.

That said, Coralife is doing what they can to rectify this situation for me personally so I will continue to say that their customer service is to be commended. They have already replaced a bum fan at no charge and it looks like I am getting a new bulb out of this.


@tigermike74 - thank you for the offer - I might take you up on that down the road! (I don't want to put anything in this tank for a while now)

@inwall - I did not realize that about pods, glad to hear that.

I need to read this. Some of my corals have changed color now from this incident.

 

there are 9 others, one on each color...

 

You bet, let me know. Are you going to MAX this year? I'll be there on Sunday.

 

I will. I will look at for you at the show!



UPDATE - Looks like I lost a couple corals due to this, but others are bouncing back.

I want to say that I ultimately take responsibility for this accident. I know I couple posts back I got pretty emotional and got on my soapbox a bit, but as much as this experience has been traumatic and I would like to see coralife and others warn about UV protection in their lighting manuals, I was the one that changed the bulb. I should have done due diligence when researching for a new bulb.

I did not look at UV ratings and I should have. I will always do so in the future and will make a point of spreading awareness of this issue where and when I can to help prevent future loss of life due to exposure to UV light.


matt

 

Matt, UV glass can be obtained from most Picture framing shops. It usually comes in 2 thickness's not quite sure what the measurements are but they usually call it single and double strength.

As far as getting it tempered this can be done rather easily as long as you have access to a Ceramic Kiln, which I did not so I went to my local ceramic shop and they helped me. I was making 2 diamond shped rear windows for my fathers custom van and they had to be tempered.

It actually took me several attempts to get it done without cracking the glass but we got it. One secret is to use a spatula Brick or ceramic plate which the ceramic shop should have something like it, warm it slightly before setting the Glass on it. To cool it I uses a shop Vac with the hose reversed.

There is also another option, you can get made to order tempered glas from this company
One Day Glass, sure wish they were around when we did ours!

Here are some basic directions on how to temper glass.

Things You'll Need:
Oven or kiln
safety glasses
Heavy gloves Tongs or special spatula Brick or concrete counter top
Polarized glasses

Step 1: Shape or drill any holes in your glass before tempering. Once your glass is tempered it cannot be cut or drilled without shattering into small thumbnail-sized pieces.

Step 2: Heat the glass you wish to temper to a temperature of at least 600 degrees Fahrenheit in an oven or a kiln.

Step 3: Remove the glass from the oven or kiln (carefully, using tongs or a special paddle made for handling hot glass) and set it on a brick or cement surface and allow it to cool quickly by fanning it with cool (but not cold) air. It is the quick cooling of the outside surface of the glass that causes the molecular changes that make the glass tempered. Allow the glass to cool completely.

Step 4: Check to see if your glass has been properly tempered by looking at it with polarized glasses and shinning light through it. Tempered glass will have patterns of shadows (sometimes called "quench marks") visible with polarized lenses