New lighting acclimation question

[Jon0807]

I just replaced my cheap strip led from Petsmart with a cheap but more decent led from ViparSpectra

https://smile.amazon.com/ViparSpect...srs=14589301011&ie=UTF8&qid=1466541592&sr=8-2

My question is, what intensity and time should I keep both channels on? Before I switched, I had the old led's running 8-9 hours. I'm not even sure what the wattage was but my corals seemed to be doing ok. Right now I have the ViparSpectra at 5% intensity on both channels. 14 hours on CH1 (blue light) and 9 hours on CH2 (white light) and I have the lights 11" from the top of the tank

How fast and how much can I increase the intensity/time?

Tank info: 36g Bowfront, 1 duncan coral, 1 galaxy, 1 zoa, 2 clowns and 4 tiny hermit crabs.

 

[mcgyvr]

ramp up to 50% over 2 weeks or so..
These questions are always sort of impossible to answer with anything more than a guess..

 

[Jon0807]

ramp up to 50% over 2 weeks or so..
These questions are always sort of impossible to answer with anything more than a guess..

I can see why. I was just hoping that there were some basic guidelines to follow.

 

[mcgyvr]

I can see why. I was just hoping that there were some basic guidelines to follow.

not really anything proven/guaranteed..

turn it up.. watch how the corals respond and adjust..

 

[Ron Reefman]

Jon, it depends a lot on how deep your tank is, what kind of corals you have and how much PAR your fixture can produce.

I just tested 2 fixtures I have so I could share my PAR levels with somebody who had a question about PAR. At 100% on both channels and 12" below the fixture (in just air, no water) one fixture had a PAR of 675 and the other (a different brand) had a PAR of 420. Obviously these two fixtures would run a quite different power levels.

If you have concerns and don't have access to a PAR meter (your LFS may rent one out) try the 'Canary in a Coalmine' approach. Place a small frag of a red cap monty as high up in the tank as your highest coral. When the light gets too intense (as you ramp up) it will be the first to show signs of stress and/or bleaching.