I'm upgrading the lighting on a 55 gallon holding tank that sorely needs it. I'm replacing three 40W strip lights with a wood canopy with 3 VHO bulbs and ballast. I remember the trick in the book about using screen to diffuse the new light so as not to shock the corals and I'm prepared for that. I used the lux meter to measure the output of the old set up and the new, and the difference is not a 1:1 increase in lux. At the same measured distance, the old set up put out 500+ lux and the new lighting about 830. (about 915 under one of the two daylight bulbs, but the measuring point was in the middle of each configuration for comparitive purposes.) Still quite a jump. I plan to layer the screen to tone the new lights down to about 550 lux, and now the question: How long should I wait between each step up to the full intensity? I was thinking about two weeks per layer. [ie: four layers of screen; eight weeks of acclimation. But I left out one important thing, didn't I?
The inhabitants of this particular tank are some small corals that I've kept together until the new holding set up is completed: some Zoanthus sp., a Capnella imbricata, a Tubipora musica that probably could have used these new lights 6 months ago, a Dendronephthya, a nice cluster of Caulastrea furcata that has been developing new buds, a Sarcophyton that's doubled in size in four months, some green star polyps and an assortment of Discoma that are growing like weeds (too much so)
I don't want to shock or burn any of them, but at the same time there is a dire need for more light. Does that acclimation interval sound about right, or could I shorten it up some? Thanx as always.
Kevin.
PS: I also did a environmentally and financially responsible thing: I bit the bullet and bought a commercial grade deionizaion system to purify water for my soon-to-be-completed coral holding/farming array. The thought of putting all of the waste water from an RO unit down the drain was just too much. This way I'll control the quality, and in the long run I'm confident that this will be the most economical in the long run.
The inhabitants of this particular tank are some small corals that I've kept together until the new holding set up is completed: some Zoanthus sp., a Capnella imbricata, a Tubipora musica that probably could have used these new lights 6 months ago, a Dendronephthya, a nice cluster of Caulastrea furcata that has been developing new buds, a Sarcophyton that's doubled in size in four months, some green star polyps and an assortment of Discoma that are growing like weeds (too much so)
I don't want to shock or burn any of them, but at the same time there is a dire need for more light. Does that acclimation interval sound about right, or could I shorten it up some? Thanx as always.
Kevin.
PS: I also did a environmentally and financially responsible thing: I bit the bullet and bought a commercial grade deionizaion system to purify water for my soon-to-be-completed coral holding/farming array. The thought of putting all of the waste water from an RO unit down the drain was just too much. This way I'll control the quality, and in the long run I'm confident that this will be the most economical in the long run.
Agreed!
