How Should I Acclimate??

[szeth13]

i have a 130 watt pc fixture on my tank now and am ordering a 250 watt mh pendant sunday. the tank is 16" high. how sould i acclimate the corals to such an increase in light (almost double) ?

[scarletknight06]

wow, thats a big jump but you will love the MH's. There are several ways to do it. Is there a way you can raise and lower the pendant by alot? If so, start it severl feet above the tank and maybe only on for 3-4 hours a day, then just lower it a little every week and increase the photoperiod as well.
If you cant do that, start with a similarly short photoperiod and put 3 window screens on top of the tank. Take one screen off per week and then after that increase the photoperiod by an hour each week until you get to the length you want.

If stuff starts to lighten up/bleach you are going to fast and need to slow down.

[szeth13]

ok ill try a mixture of both. i'll have to put a cardboard box around the light if it is going to be a couple of feet above the tank (i don't want another sun in my room).
should i also move the corals to the bottom of the tank? and gradually move them where i want them?

[ruden]

Szeth I agree with Scarletknight; as far as lowering the corals they maybe a good idea depending on how high/low you start with the pendant.

The corals that you have that require high light you should obiviously leave higher in the tank.

Which light did you end up going with?

Bob

Bob

[szeth13]

well all the corals i have don't really need alot of light. i have some rics, a leather, green starburst, zoos, kenya tree, and colt. i went with the aqua medic 250 watt HQI since hellolights has it on sale for 240. i was tired of seeing things i wanted sooo badly only to find out i didn't have enough light. why 250? i might want to upgrade in the future. how high should the pendant be from the tank in the end?