Tricky problem

[melev]

Thank you Pito.

 

[kmacartney]

Ok, so I am back and things look about the same. I left the 2 dawn/dusk bulbs on at 12 hours . The other 4 bulbs were cut back to 8 hours. The growth rate remained stable, that is there is clearly noticeable growth.

I will try to look into raising the light. It is kinda tough because, as it is, there is quite a bit over shine outside the tank that my better half is not real thrilled about.

I could put eggcrate up, but I would feel real stupid about that. I should not have bought so much light...

I could get new bulbs that have less output.

 

[melev]

Why can't you make a three-sided wooden trim piece to hide the lights behind? It could make made to look nice with crown or molding.

 

[Aqua Keepers]

It's only been a few days. Do you guys really think that there would have been an improvement already?

 

[mathias999us]

I'd say more like 2-4 weeks to really measure the impact. About 2 months ago I pulled out 2 out of my four bulbs, and slowly over the course of the following month, I noticed my corals color up more, then the improvement tapered off...

 

[kmacartney]

Did you put the bulbs back in?

 

[mathias999us]

Nope, I've kept them out. Everything in the tank does as good or better now, and half the lighting costs! I have high light corals in this tank too - sps, lps, and a crocea too. They all do quite well. I just wish my euphylia would expand and color more, but it's healthy and growing overall, and better than it was with all four lights.

I have a weird tank though (dimensions: 48" long, 8" tall, 12" front-to-back).

 

[Aqua Keepers]

I like the idea of raising the fixture rather than turning bulbs off for color options. Obviously a 6bulb fixture allows you to configure your colors a bit better than a 4bulb fixture.

 

[mathias999us]

I agree - I'd try raising the lights if at all possible, before removing any in your situation. For me, I was running 4 54w T5s on an 8" deep tank.

 

[kmacartney]

I was thinking about maybe switching a bulb or two.

Right now I have, front to back;

UVL Super Actinic
ATI Blue Plus
Geissman 11000K
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aqublue Special (12000K)
ATI Blue Plus

I was thinking about switching the ATI Blue Plus in the center for another UVL Super Actinic.

Any opinions?

 

[kmacartney]

Also I did an actual measurement and my light is only 4" off of the water.

Mathius99us, that is a really shallow tank! My tank is 18" I think.

 

[Aqua Keepers]

Switching to lesser Par bulbs might help, but I don't know Par levels of bulbs. So, I can't say if the bulbs you wanna switch will help. Also, keep in mind any color shift in selecting a new bulb.

 

[kmacartney]

Yeah, I really like my color now.

 

[Aqua Keepers]

What did you end up doing?

 

[kmacartney]

Nothing yet. I am broke, I work too much, and I have a two-year old. I would like to put my fixture into a conopy so I can raise it up without blinding everyone in the room. If I did that I would need to put a bunch of fans in there to keep everything cool.

 

[kmacartney]

I hope that cutting the photo-period back will help.

 

[Aqua Keepers]

Oh, You're just saying that your not too sure about switching bulbs out. I get ya. As far as raising the fixture, you really don't need to put it in a canopy. You could just build a skirt type deal to color the front and two sides.

 

[kmacartney]

I know, but I would still need to ventilate it well. Then I would also want ready access to the tank, so I am thinking a proper would be better.

 

[melev]

The beauty of a three-sided enclosure is it can be in place 23.5 hours a day and keep your eyes shielded, but when you need to access the tank, you can remove it by yourself because it isn't heavy.

 

[kmacartney]

I see. I think i will try to sketch up some plans over the weekend. I just need something for my unique situation.