Upgradeing lights

Well I finally did it. I'm upgradeing my 4X 55W PC to MH. you know a fool and his money....
I went for the PFO 2X 250W and 2X110 VHO That's a heck of a change that's about 3.5 X the light.
I plan on cutting my photo period down from 10 hours to 4 hours for the MH but operate the VHOs as normal 12 hours

Any tips or suggestions would be great

Thanks
Jason

 

Alright another halide head! [smiley=thumbs_up.gif]

Cool. I started with halide, but I hear when you do such a big switch it's helpful to shade or lower your corals for a while to get them adjusted to the new light so they don't get stressed or burned. Food for thought.

I think that's a good idea to have a short light cycle with halide initiallly. [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

 

I Get my lights today. I'm pritty pumped. I've moved alot around to lower my softies. I just hope they DO come today. It's been almost a month

J

 

[glow=red, 2, 100%]You'll love those MHs!  Here comes the sun![/glow]

;D 8)

 

Jason,

That's a big leap in lighting intensity ;D

What we do over here is use a layer of "shade cloth" ( not sure what you call it ) which is like a knitted nylon fabric, over the top of the tank for a few days. Even several layers if the upgrade is large. Then take a layer off every few days as the corals in particular acclimatise.

John

 

Very good Idea John
I was thinking of just running the MH for about 3 hours for the first 2 weeks then 4 hours one week, 5 hours two weeks and so on

Will this be ok?

J

 

Jason,

I guess the biggest differnce between fluro lighting and MH is that MH is "point source" lighting.

What this means is that 250W of fluro and 250W of MH will give out the same amount ( approx ) of light volume, disregarding inefficiencies. The difference is the fluros give out that amount of light over the whole surface of the tube while MH gives that amount of light from a single point. Therefore the light that is emitted from the MH is more intense and in some ways focussed.

My understanding is that the corals will react to an increase in intensity not volume of light. For example if you simply added more floros to your existing set up you probably wouldn't notice much reaction from the coral at all, but now with a single point of light they will probably react.

Now, reducing the photo period will probably help but that doesn't reduce the intensity of the light just the period it is on, so if the coral polyps don't want to open because of the light they are not being acclimatised. I hope this is making sense because it is ifficult for me to explain

However if you use some sort of blocking device ( shade cloth ) there is a good chance the coral will acclimatise more quickly because you are increaing theintensity in small steps.

Whew

John

 

Got ya,
What is the material and how do you mount it. I have a glass top and was planing on removing it and placing the lights about 12" from the water surface. I could leave the glass on for a bit and lay the shade cloth on the glass. Good Idea or Bad?
Your explanation makes a lot of sence. Thank you. Both photo period and intensity should be increase gradually, Right?

Thats what I love about this site so many people willing to help

John and everyone THANKS YOU ROCK

J

 

Not to intrude on John's most excellent advice, but yes to your question Jakets.  Both intensity and photo period should be increased gradually.

;D 8)

 

Jason,

Shade cloth is common and you should be able to get it at most hardware stores.
Here's a link that shows what it is that I am writing about

http://www.thenaturalhome.com/shadecloth.htm

Get enough 25% reduction cloth to make it 4 layers thick, and then remove one layer per week ( or every few days, you be the judge )

It should lay pretty flat on the cover glass so no problems there, but once you get up to full light ( and photo period ) I would suggest removing the cover glass completely.

John