new lighting acclimation

[Craig]

I switched from a 5 x39W T5 setup to a 2x250W w/ 2x39W T5 today. A fellow reefer gave me a great suggestion on how to acclimate my corals to the new lights.

I have the hood a bit high over the tank, and i've also placed a dozen layers of window screening over the tank. the light will run for 4 hours a day for the 1st week. Everday one more layer of screening will be removed until none is left. Then the light will come down a half inch a day intil it's only 8 inches above the tank.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

how much window screen do u have on there all u need is 4 pieces... take one off once a week... ur lights do not need to be that high as well... u could keep it 6 inches with the 4 window screens in place with no problem....

 

[fritz]

Being extra cautious won't hurt, especially since you're going from what is essentially 117 watts of T5 to 650 watts of MH and T5. Dual 250s on a 3 foot tank is no joke. In fact you may be best served extending your acclimation period from 3 weeks to 4 weeks. Corals don't have an eyelid and freak out when you change up too quickly on them. You wouldn't want to bleach them over a few days acclimation. With reefs it's all about stability, any rapid change is bad.

 

[Tim]

Better to be safe than sorry....

 

[Tonyscoots84]

the reason why i mention 12 screens being a bit to much the tank does not look like its gettin much light at all ... but as everyone says better safe then sorry i guess

 

[Craig]

I overboard since i've jut upped the lighting so much. time to play sps with the big boys! the light is just over 12 inches above the surface. it's one long sheet of screening. i picked up a rolll from homedepot. On the bottom is one extending window screen in a wood frame, I have it doubled over multiple times and then clamped onto the wood frame. There are 13 layers of screen total. I call this method "the fritz". :thrash:

I'm paranoid about bleaching everything. Starting to think a month's acclimation will be the safest bet.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

yes a month will def. be a good thing for everything in the tank...

me personally i would cut the amount of sheets u have in half.... especially with the lights up so high... ...