Even a chance?

Hello all...well i have been thinking about upgrading my light to make future (want to get some more) sps corals more happy....they do fine under the pc lighting but...i know it would be better...my only worry is my large population of soft corals...namely my colt coral colony...should i not even think about doing this? thanks

 

get another tank for sps

 

Bruce, I have 2 400w MH & 2 110w VHO actinics on my 75 gallon tank and my colt coral and Leather corals did fantastic under the new lighting, Just make sure that you acclimate your corals to the new lighting ( All of them even your SPS ) ................................................................................John

 

i would get another tank...but im going away to college next sept and dont really think it would be smart...the only thing is is that my colt coral has grown right up to the top of the water....i gues i could hang it higher... fletch how high is ur mhs?

 

where does this http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=13974&ref=3532&subref=AY&N=2004 113352 need to be mounted? in the ceiling? hmm...i wonder if i have a strong ceiling

 

also, if i decide not to do this, i think im going to tear down my 12 gal lol...just because i havent done anything to it...and it crashed and its just getting alot of algae w00t...im gona donate my rock and sand to my school and start from scratch! lol ill put a 1000w mh over that! jk jk

 

Mine are about 10" above the water

My colt was almost up to the top of the tank also and it was doing fantastic until I forgot to turn on my Air conditioner before going to work one hot summer day and my temp went up to 90 with the help of my MH, Now I have a chiller so no problems there now, But I still have my white spaghetti leather and it is now almost as big as the colt was and it is doing great................ John
Here is a picture (not a good one but my camera sucks ):-[

 

hmm ic, did you always have mhs? if not how did u acclimate...also do you think that my colt will be burned or...well any of my corals because for 2 years they have been under pc lighting....also because i have 2 air conditioning sorces do you think i will still need a chiller? lol...a chiller will be alot of $$

 

No I started off with PC lighting, And if you have Air Conditioning you should be ok without a chiller.

Here are some options for acclimating your corals

Photo-Acclimation of Corals​

1) Raise the bulbs

One of the best methods, although not always practical, is to simply raise
the height of the lighting 8-12 inches from the target height. This can usually
be accomplished easily with pendant fixtures but can be troublesome with
lighting contained within a canopy. With a pendant, simply raise the light the
desired amount and lower it 1 inch per week until the target height is reached.
With canopies, you can use 1 X 4's stacked across the top edges of your tank to
raise the lighting and remove 1 layer of 1 X 4 per week until the target height
is reached.


2) Diffuse the light

Another popular method is to diffuse the new light or dim it. This can be
accomplished by placing several layers of plastic window screen between the tank
and the light. This can easily be done by cutting a piece of eggcrate (lighting
diffuser) to fit the top of your aquarium, lay several layers ( 6-8 ) on top of
the eggcrate and remove one layer per week or every few days until there is no
screen left between the bulbs and the tank. If your lighting is very close to
the surface of the water, you need to be careful, some lighting gets VERY hot
and could melt the window screen.


3) Reduce the photoperiod

Another method for acclimation is to simply reduce the photoperiod to a few
hours per day and increase over the period of a few weeks until the target
photoperiod is reached. There is evidence that shows corals must
"ramp" up to bleaching due to increased lighting intensity and you can
run your lights for 4 hours, turn them off for one, and then turn them back on
for another 4 hours. If changing bulbs and using the same manufacturer,
and model this will work fine. If changing K temps, or going with a different
manufacturer, I would recommend more caution. UV does not need alot of time to
burn the corals. Another photo-acclimation method is to reduce the
photoperiod to 4 hours per day, 2 hours in the morning and two hours in the
evening (the first two and last two of your target photoperiod), increase
lighting by one hour per week until target photoperiod is reached. When using
this method I like to increase the AM photoperiod by 1/2 hour on Mondays and the
PM photoperiod by 1/2 hour on Thursdays.

From http://aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=37

 

yes i was thinking about doing this:

Because i will be hanging the lights, i thought about

For the first 6 weeks i will put the lighting 2 feet above the tank, every 5 days (or so...) i will add another 1 hour of light untill the mhs are on from 10-8 , then after the lights are on the max time. i will slowly lower the lighting untill it is about 1 foot above the tank...how does that sound