Raised up my T5s last night

[weiky]

I had them sitting only about 4" over the water and everything high up was bleaching a bit. i finally got to home depot and ridded up a fixture to hang the lights and now they are about 10"12" above the water. lets hope the colors start returning to all the corals that lost them...

 

[ktrandc]

I'm just wondering how high everyone else places there T5's above the water level. I use a ATI PM and I have it about 6" above. What about everyone else?

 

[solitude127]

i have my 8 bulb PM about 8" above my tank. I was @ 6" but everything started bleaching. @ 8", everything is coloring up again.

 

[ktrandc]

6" used to bleach everything but after a while the corals got adjusted to the light and everything was fine.

 

[boodlefish]

when i change a bulb it goes up to 8+ but after a couple of weeks i lower back down to 6 then about 4" off the water i have 8x54w PM

 

[mike810]

you guys are stating how high or low you keep your fixtures from the water line but what about your tank height? How high is that? I keep my PM about 8" from my water line and my tank is 18"high.

 

[kikireef]

I keep my 6 bulb 80w retro about 6" above the water line in a 24" deep tank. Everything grows great 75% sps 25% softies

 

[weiky]

i had mine at about 4" but raised them to about 11", tank is 22" deep. i will see how my clam on the bottom reacts and adjust them accordingly if needed

 

[Rockin Reefer]

Doesn't it make a differance on what your alk level is at? if your alk is high you dont want your light to low

 

[s2k]

corals have to get acclimated to new light. So it's a good idea to raise your light when changing bulbs or use an eggcrate to block some light for a week or two. Also a good idea to start new corals at the bottom of your tank to get acclimated to your lights before putting them at a desired place.

 

[weiky]

yeah, i acclimated all my corals by starting them low and raising them but over the course of a month or so, they would all start bleaching out, i lower them, color sarts coming back. i tried acclimating them for even longer, same thing so i raised my lights a little and we will be what happens.

 

[mnml]

I have my 8 bulb PM 10" above the water line on a 20" high tank. I still get bleaching on SPS if I run my lights for more than 5 hours. Currently running 2 bulbs for 6 hours and all 8 for 4 hours. Combo 6 blue+, 1 fiji purple, 1 aquablue special.

 

[mike810]

hey Tran, I have the same bulb combo as you do but i have 2 blue special, 5 blue+ and 1 fiji purple. Is your light more on the blue side with that extra blue+? I think I might switch out one of the blue special for another blue+ or maybe a fiji purple. My tank looks a little on the white side, kinda like the blue special is washing out the colors.

 

[b16drag]

Get a PAR meter and call it a day.

 

[mike810]

not worried about the par...i'm thinking the two aqua blue special i have is washing out the color from the rest of the bulbs.

 

[llmrbluell]

hey i had the same problem instead i just decrease my photo period. so i always keep 2 actinic on for 12 hours but the other lights i will slowly increment the time so for example
day 1 - 1 hour
day 2 - 1.5 hour
day 3 - 2 hours
and so on...
and mine is actually 4" above water too.

 

[mnml]

hey Tran, I have the same bulb combo as you do but i have 2 blue special, 5 blue+ and 1 fiji purple. Is your light more on the blue side with that extra blue+? I think I might switch out one of the blue special for another blue+ or maybe a fiji purple. My tank looks a little on the white side, kinda like the blue special is washing out the colors.

I use to run 2 AB but thought it was too white. It's has a blue tint but imo, it's balanced.

Get a PAR meter and call it a day.

Got one I can borrow/rent?