Light acclimation from LED to T5.

[szl]

Hi everyone.

I built my own custom lighting rig (kind of lol).

It consists of an 8 bulb 60" ati Powermodule, and 3 radion xr15 pros as suppliment lights.

I had an issue with my tank and for the last month shut the t5s off and had my radions peaking out at 30% intensity. Now that things are sorted I want to bring my T5s back online and am worrying about shocking corals from to much light.

My radions have been running with mostly B, RB and P, with R, G and W at low percentages. My T5s have 6 Blue plus, 1 coral plus and 1 purple plus.

I started with just letting the t5s run for an hour a day, and the corals seem to love it! (mostly sps) Im still erring on the side of caution, so what type of schedule should I set up to finish acclimation to t5?

What I mean is, something along the lines of.... Every 4 days add 1 hour to t5 schedule, or every 2 days add 1/2 hour of light. I would just like the transition to be as comfortable as possible.

I still plan to incorporate LEDs in my set up but want t5 to be main lights.

THanks!

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Tagging along since I'm about to switch from XR15s to an 8 bulb T5 ATI fixture. Curious about your combo retrofit. Can you post a couple pics?

 

[Hentz]

Quite frankly, I ran my Radion XR15w Pro with a 4-Bulb T5 Fixture in front of that just to test out the T5. I didn't acclimate like I probably should of and just ran the T5 for 5-6 hours a day while I was testing the T5 before I bought it from a friend. I didn't touch my Radion settings or anything and my Acropora loved it. Only reason I upgraded though was to get better coverage.

Ended up buying an ATI 6x24 Dimmable unit and it replaced my Radion. Needless to say, I had no acclimation period or anything and my SPS and Zoas transitioned completely fine.

As for you situation, you're probably going to be fine starting at 5 hours a day for T5, eventually moving into 7-8 hours of peak with the bulbs with a 1-2 hour sunrise/sunset with 2-4 bulbs if possible.

I did run a T5/LED combo for a while with different lights.

I ran my ATI 6x39 SunPower with my Kessil 350 (still a powerful light). While I had to lower the Kessil 350 lower than I expected, the LED was the only thing I had to adjust, only because how much of a PAR monster these ATI fixtures are.

 

[Ninja808]

Quite frankly, I ran my Radion XR15w Pro with a 4-Bulb T5 Fixture in front of that just to test out the T5. I didn't acclimate like I probably should of and just ran the T5 for 5-6 hours a day while I was testing the T5 before I bought it from a friend. I didn't touch my Radion settings or anything and my Acropora loved it. Only reason I upgraded though was to get better coverage.

Ended up buying an ATI 6x24 Dimmable unit and it replaced my Radion. Needless to say, I had no acclimation period or anything and my SPS and Zoas transitioned completely fine.

As for you situation, you're probably going to be fine starting at 5 hours a day for T5, eventually moving into 7-8 hours of peak with the bulbs with a 1-2 hour sunrise/sunset with 2-4 bulbs if possible.

I did run a T5/LED combo for a while with different lights.

I ran my ATI 6x39 SunPower with my Kessil 350 (still a powerful light). While I had to lower the Kessil 350 lower than I expected, the LED was the only thing I had to adjust, only because how much of a PAR monster these ATI fixtures are.

I'm also making the switch from Radions to a T5 6 bulb. I also have a a360w lying around. Is there a reason why you went with a kessil instead of the radion for supp?

 

[Hentz]

I'm also making the switch from Radions to a T5 6 bulb. I also have a a360w lying around. Is there a reason why you went with a kessil instead of the radion for supp?

At the point I had my ATI 6x24, I sold the Radion. I had the Kessil 150 hang over in front of the 6x24 only because I paid next to nothing for it.

Then as I upgraded to the 6x39, I had the 360 laying around. Definitely added a nice shimmer to the tank with the T5's.

 

[szl]

Tagging along since I'm about to switch from XR15s to an 8 bulb T5 ATI fixture. Curious about your combo retrofit. Can you post a couple pics?

Nothing really special, just made it out of some odds and ends i got from home depot

 

[szl]

Whoops....

Hope this works.

 

[Ninja808]

At the point I had my ATI 6x24, I sold the Radion. I had the Kessil 150 hang over in front of the 6x24 only because I paid next to nothing for it.

Then as I upgraded to the 6x39, I had the 360 laying around. Definitely added a nice shimmer to the tank with the T5's.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Whoops....

Hope this works.

Very interesting. Thanks for posting the picture!

 

[rtparty]

I would be worried long term for the Radions like that personally. LEDs HATE heat and the T5s will add heat. Also, have you removed the acrylic shield from the Sunpower? That hurts the performace quite a bit since the bulbs won't be properly cooled and salt splash can corrode the reflectors and other internals.