H mag light acclimation

[ezuc]

Saw a pretty healthy looking mag at the LFS so decided to take the leap. It was under poor lighting, but not bleached. Will try to get some pics tonight.

I'm running Radion XR30W about 9" above tank, but at relatively low intensity right now, which leads to 2 questions.

1) Does anyone have recommendations for light intensity/spectrum?
2) Should I acclimate to the light? If so, over what period of time?

 

[Swayze27]

I would just gradually increase it over a week or two. A mag will about handle all the light you can give it.

 

[ezuc]

A couple of pics



Top down

 

[Swayze27]

Hard to tell color under lighting but looks healthy otherwise

 

[Mad Marine]

My mag got 'burnt' directly under LED's (at 50%), so be careful. When moved to another less intensive lighting position, it recovered after approx. 7-10 days.

 

[ezuc]

My mag got 'burnt' directly under LED's (at 50%), so be careful. When moved to another less intensive lighting position, it recovered after approx. 7-10 days.

Interesting, I've had a rough time with the LEDs in the past - either frying corals or massive algae growth...Lately, I've been at 10-15% with whites on for only a few hours a day and all has been good. Been increasing the intensity a couple percent per day for the mag, but I'm really nervous about cooking everything...

How could tell your mag was was getting "burnt"?

I'm also wondering what is more important, light intensity or photoperiod (with the whites) or both?

 

[Ghlreefer]

I've had a lot of mags that are light sensitive after treatment or during acclimation.

I'd start out at 40% and ramp up slowly from there. If you see it deflate, you'll know you went too fast. I cover mine up when it happens. Some can't handle the intensity, and others can't handle the duration. Just depends.

 

[Mad Marine]

Keep it simple, start off with everything at 50% and increase white by 5% per week bringing it up to 70% and leave white at 70% (even 60% will do just fine). You can do the same with the other colours but they can be increased to -

118% (UV)
118% (Violet)
140% (Royal)
116% (Blue)

Of course every system is different, so a little tweaking can be expected. Percentage increases should take up to 4-6 weeks before reaching max intensity.

You can also move corals from lower down and gradually move to higher levels in the tank before you glue them down.

MM

 

[Mad Marine]

P.s.

Leave red and green spectrum at 0% as these colours can cause unwanted algae.

 

[Ghlreefer]

Can we see that nem in white light please. So much blue.

 

[ezuc]

GHLReefer - thanks for the advice. My whites are currently at 25%, so nervous about going straight to 50%, been increasing a couple of percent every couple days.

Here's a couple of pics with the whites. I'm still trying to figure out how to take pics, but these are pretty close to how it looks in person - light purple color. It was definitely more brownish in the store so hoping that's a sign that it's going the right direction.

 

[ezuc]

Sorry, thanks Mad Marine! But thanks to everyone! It really is nice to have a resource like the folks on RC.

 

[ezuc]

BTW - is it strange that my perc won't go anywhere near the nem?