Light acclimation

[kevin95695]

This one's for edsimmons and those of you who've done something similar:

So when you get the new goody for the tank you layer several sheets of light diffusing/absorbing material and gradually remove them until the critter is acclimated to the full lighting regimen.

A few questions on that: What is the material? Where do you get it? What is your logic and timetable for the removal of each successive sheet?

Thanks!

 

[maxdout]

i haven't used any material for my new MH addition. i've been running it at 1 hour last week and this week 2 hrs, and adding 1 hr to each additional week untill i get to 7 hr goal. then again my mh light sux and isn't very bright.

 

[loup]

You can use eggcrate that you'll find at homedepot in the lighting section. I will do the same as maxdout when I replace my MH bulbs but I'm starting out 3 hrs up to my usual 5 hrs over the 2 week.

 

[edsimmons]

Kev i used Nylon screen from Home Depot(i have a bunch extra if you want some).The reason I need to do the screen diffusion was I had a establishes tank and upgraded to a lighting system that was 2x brighter and did not want to move everything to the bottom of the tank for re-acclamation .Kevin if you are starting out new maybe just start the corals @ the bottom of the tank and move them up over a period of time?

 

[norcal99]

I think people have successfully used screen door material. Something that is mesh like-will work. Home depot, lowes, etc. should have what you're looking for.

 

[kevin95695]

Thanks everybody. It'll be a while before I get to that point, but the questions been bouncing around my head for a while.

 

[Justin74]

People usually only use screen mesh when they're in the same boat as Ed described, already established but changing light source/output, but when your just adding 1 or 2 animals at a time you just acclimate them by either shading them or putting them down at the bottom before working them up; no need to acclimate the whole tank


-Justin