Acclimating Coral to new Light

Ok so I took the plunge tonight and order my 6 bulb Tek unit for my 75 gallon. My question is how do I acclimate my corals to my new fixture? I currently have a 4 x 65 watt Coralife PC unit. I'm currently rocking zoas, torch, hammer, leather, GSP, yellow polyps, and a ricordia. Thanks.

-Brett

 

I let mine acclimate themselves. Just takes em a few days to act normal. they all go through change when you bring them home anyway. You could turn on one bulb at a time over a couple of hours.

 

The best thing to do, is use your par meter and put some layers of window screening over the tank until the light level is the same, then remove one layer every 3 days or so.

But since most people do not have a par meter, and don't want to mess with the layers of window screening... If you are going to hang the light, just hang it higher and move it down about every 3 days. If it is going to set on legs. You do want to put something under it to shade the tank a little, you don't have to get it down to the same light level but you will have about 3 times the light with the new setup. If you can cut the light in half you should be ok. Then over the next few weeks bring up the light level....

Or you can cut the photo period. Only turn the new lights on for about 4 hours a day for the first week, and add one hour a day every week until you are back to your normal light schedual.

Kim

 

^I hear about people using the screen layer method with good results, they take a screen away every 3 days.

 

How many layers of screen would you recommend? 3-4? Thanks.

 

If it where me, well when it was me

I used the method Kgross mentions - decreasing light period and then bringing it back up over a period of 4 weeks

I went from 4 x 40 watt T8s to 6 x 80watt T5 (changing from FOWLR to reef)

I had been using 12 on 12 off

new lights
week 1 - 6 hours on - 18 off
week 2 - 8 hours on - 16 off
week 3 - 10 hours on - 14 off
week 4 - 12 on - 12 off

as my 6 light unit has 3 switches - I could also have easily just used 4 lamps for a couple of weeks at 10 hours - then 6 lamps for 2 weeks at 10 hours - then finally 12 hours

the reason I prefer the above 2 options is simply - I did not want to run/ pay for lighting I was then going to filter out?

but
if you obtain a new coral in the future from a tank with inferior lighting to yours, then the screens idea , where you screen the area this new coral is in, whilst not depriving your existing corals of the light they have go used to - then thats a different situation and in that situation- screens is an excellent method

Steve