From PC to MH

so i am going to purchase a 150watt MH for my 14gal and a 250watt MH for my 29gal. I have alot of lps and soft corals in my tanks, will i have an issue with there health when i put the new lights on? I know i need to start out introducing the MH lighting slowly, but will i need to move any of my coral around? In my 14gal, i have zoas, xenia and kenya tree in the top half of the tank. Will i have to move any of these, cuz it would be hard since they are attached to the biggest LR in the tank. The other corals are in the bottom half, like GSP, Palythoas, Yellow Polyps and a couple acans.
In my 29gal, there are only a couple corals in the top half including candy cane coral, and acans. In the bottom half are zoas, palys, ricordea, yuma, acans and some red calurepa?
So of the bat should i really consider moving anything, or just slowly transition the MH lighting?
thanks,
crusty

 

That's a huge jump and it will be hard to move your corals far enough away to not have them get burnt. You may want to shield them from the light by using some sort of light screen. Try bedding plant material in layers over the tank. over time remove a layer until it 100% MH

J

 

That is a huge jump in lighting. You will definitely want to acclimate them to the new lights.


The screening material Jason mentions is by far the easiest to do as it requires no raising or lowering of your lights.

 

Why not do just 2 150s?

 

guitarman i was thinking that, it would be alot cheaper and less expensive to run! What is your reasoning behind getting the same size lights for two different size tanks. Curious!
and also where would i get some of this "bedding plant material"?

 

i think guitarman was saying that 150w should be fine for a 29 gallon tank. There's no reason to spend extra money on 250w if your tank isn't deep enough to require it. Plus you would have to go even slower on the acclimation. 250w is more for deeper tanks. I'm assuming your 29g is a typical shape with this.

 

A 70w or 100w MH over the 14G would be more than enough. I have an extra 250w MH that was going over my 20G, but I think that is a bit too much for it. (I may size it down to 175w)
Whatever you decide to use, acclimate them as stated above, and limit your photocycle each day as well. Start off at 4 hours and gradually build it up.

 

I just switched to MH lights 3x400 from T-5's 54x8. It was a major jump. I started the period at 4 hrs, and continued the actinics as a normal 12 hr. I have been adding 1/2 hr every 2 days. I have not moved anything. I have not used screens. So far everything is doing great. They even look healthier than ever before. I got this idea from Otty. My target will be 8-9 hrs.

 

i dont think i will be having any actinic or supplemental lighting though?

 

Bedding Plant Material" huh not finding anything really when i search for it?