New halide bulbs

happyvalley · 12/18/2018, 11:25 AM

I have three new 400 watt halide bulbs i need to install and I have heard that I need to find a way to ease the coral as
Into the new light.

I cannot easily raise the lights so
I am thinking some type of diffuser.

Possibly add a screen on the top of the tank or light diffusers of some type.

Any thoughts on best process for this?

What does everyone else do?

Thanks!

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moondoggy4 · 12/18/2018, 12:39 PM

You can start with a hour run time and go from there, I raised mine 1/4 hour every month but I also had a low light corals as well.

tkeracer619 · 12/18/2018, 02:30 PM

Are they the same as the bulbs you used before? If so what are they and how old are the current bulbs?

Ideally you change them frequently enough there is little degradation and no acclimation is required. If they're different or more powerful than what you had before screen mesh or time based acclimation will also work.

happyvalley · 12/18/2018, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

Are they the same as the bulbs you used before? If so what are they and how old are the current bulbs?

Ideally you change them frequently enough there is little degradation and no acclimation is required. If they're different or more powerful than what you had before screen mesh or time based acclimation will also work.

Embarrassingly I think they are three years old.

I think 4 hours a day seems low to me but I typically make lots of mistakes and kill things often so my default thoughts are usually wrong.

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pecan2phat · 12/18/2018, 10:10 PM

In the old days we use to put a few layers of window screening over the tank and remove 1 layer every 7 days or so to acclimate the new bulbs.
Only did this if I was neglecting and didn't change the same type of bulb for like in your case, 3 years or if I was going to a much higher PAR bulb say like from a 16k to 10k temp bulb.
If I did my yearly changeout with the same brand bulb, then no acclimation was needed and never had a problem doing so.

12/18/2018, 11:25 AM	#1
happyvalley Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 42	New halide bulbs I have three new 400 watt halide bulbs i need to install and I have heard that I need to find a way to ease the coral as Into the new light. I cannot easily raise the lights so I am thinking some type of diffuser. Possibly add a screen on the top of the tank or light diffusers of some type. Any thoughts on best process for this? What does everyone else do? Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

12/18/2018, 02:30 PM	#3
tkeracer619 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Westminster, CO Posts: 17,289	Are they the same as the bulbs you used before? If so what are they and how old are the current bulbs? Ideally you change them frequently enough there is little degradation and no acclimation is required. If they're different or more powerful than what you had before screen mesh or time based acclimation will also work. __________________ Hobby Experience: 9200ish gallons, 26 skimmers, and a handful of Kent Scrapers. Current Tank: Vortech Powered 600G SPS Tank w/ 100gal frag tank & 100g Sump. RK2-RK10 Skimmer. ReefAngel. Radium 20k.

12/18/2018, 12:39 PM	#2
moondoggy4 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: menifee So cal Posts: 11,042	You can start with a hour run time and go from there, I raised mine 1/4 hour every month but I also had a low light corals as well.

12/18/2018, 10:10 PM	#5
pecan2phat Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Wallingford, CT Posts: 4,990	In the old days we use to put a few layers of window screening over the tank and remove 1 layer every 7 days or so to acclimate the new bulbs. Only did this if I was neglecting and didn't change the same type of bulb for like in your case, 3 years or if I was going to a much higher PAR bulb say like from a 16k to 10k temp bulb. If I did my yearly changeout with the same brand bulb, then no acclimation was needed and never had a problem doing so.