Just got some new MH lights, have a few Q's

[stewie24]

I bought a hood with MH lights in it this past week.
It houses 4x 65 watt pc's and 2x 175 watt metal halide bulbs.
My old fixture was just 4x 65 watt pc's.

Its going to be going over a 55 gallon tank with alot of sofites, some shrooms, and zoos, candy cane, and 1 sps coral.
I'm assuming now would be the right time to redo my aquascape and probably put the sofites/shrooms near the bottom of the tank correct?

How should I go about acclimating the tank to the new lights?
I've heard several ways, such as increasing the MH lighting period, gradually lowering the lights, window screens, etc..

I'd like to go the winow screen route. The lights will be around 8-9 inches off the tank (is that a good idea?). How many peices of screening should i use and how often should I take a layer off? (assuming i can keep the mh's on for the full photo period - not messing with the extending the photo period route or lowering the lights route).

Also, What would be a good photo period? I'd like to keep the electric bill as low as possible. So I was thinkng something like using the MH's for 7 hours a day, have (not sure if i'm going to use all 4 pcs or not) pcs come on 1 hr before mh's come on, and then go out 1 hr after the mh's go off.
That would be a total of 7 hrs mh, 9 hrs pcs (prob all actintic).
Would that photoperiod be alright?

One other question is this:
THe bulbs are SE's, and the fixture needs a splash guard over it. What would be good to use? (plexiglass, lexan, glass?) I'm assuming it doesn't need to be UV protected since the SE bulbs already have an outer coating correct?

Thanks
Stewie

 

[HippieFish]

You are correct about he splash guard not being needed for UV, but still need it. Hot lights and a splash of water could crack the bulb.

For the photo period, that sounds like a good starting point, once everything is acclimated. But in the end, you will can adjust it to your viewing needs, and to how your tank is reacting.

 

[mfinn]

I would use a piece of eggcrate over the tank to support the window screen material.
Use atleast 4 layers of screen material and approx. every 4 days remove one layer. You can run a full daylight schedule.
8-9 inches from the water to the bottom of the bulb is good.
I have two different tanks that have had mh lights on them for almost 2 years and with the lights 9 inches from the water, I have had no problems with splashes that high.
I mean how is water going to splash that high??
My actinics come on around 10:30 and my mh's come on at 11:30 and go off at 7:30 and the actinics go off at 9.
The single ended bulbs have uv protection.

 

[stewie24]

Thanks for the replies guys.
So mfinn - are you saying that if i keep the bulbs 9 inches from the top of the tank i could get away with no splash guard?
I think unless my corals look unhappy, i'll just go w/ my original photoperiod.
Only thing that is going to suck is that while i'm changing my lights, i'm also going to be removing the 3 ph's in the tank and actually plumbing the mag 9.5 return pump. (its plumbed now, but i have 2 outputs just blasting a piece of rock to help difuse the flow).
So not only might the lights make the corals unhappy, it'll be a new game w/ the flow as well.

Stewie

 

[mfinn]

I am saying that I have been doing it that way for a couple years and haven't seen a need for a splash guard.
If you had some really frisky fish that jumped at the surface alot?
I'm sure someone will flame for for that.
If you increase you photoperiod, do it in small doses.
And look for a way to get the flow back in your tank. Flow is good.