Acclimating Corals to new MH

[jgoal55]

I finally got all the lights running on my new 160 and I want to begin transferring corals from my old tank (now my brothers) to my new tank....

In his tank they are under 6 x 54w T5's on icecap 660s and individual reflectors....all the corals are growing like weeds with great color.

The new tank however (because i wanted shimmer) has 3 x 250w 12ks....the tank is only 22" deep so there is not really a low spot to start them off in.

I imagine the best solution is to frag the colonies and then place the frags in the new tank. Once I know they do well, I can then move the colony over....

The question is...how should I acclimate the frags....should I only have the lights on for a few hours a day? If so, how long? How often should I increase the time that they are on?

Thanks.

 

[ricksconnected]

wow 3 250's on a 22in deep tank.
how many gal?
just my opinion here but you will want a
low light area because some corals dont require
as much light as others.
i would shorten your photo period to 5 hrs a day and work
up from there adding a hour each week.
you might even start out with just 2 of those 250's
too. then when youve reached your photo period with the 2
start the 3rd and leave it on 2 hrs a day
adding a hour a week until you reach full photo period.
you might find that you like using just 2 250's.
again this is just my opinion, doesnt mean im right.

 

[glxtrix]

Shoulda gone 175's...tisk tisk tisk. One way seeing how you have 3. Is turn the side two off...and put the frags on the outside endge of the middle light. And move them in slowly. I'd say after a week or two, you can turn on the other lights. Then slowly move the corals up the rock work to where you want them. Or you could just place them where you want and only run the lights 2 hrs for a few days, and increase an hour every 4 days. That's what I did when I switched to the LB reflectors back in the day and had pretty good results.

 

[jgoal55]

those 175w are shenanigans..though i have to say that the 175w cheapy aquamaxx bulb I have over my sump has an awesome color to it....(actually its a 150).

Idk.....man...still missing my t5's a bit.

rick....my idea was to have a highly sps dominant tank and keep the "lower light" corals under shaded areas (ie - sort of caves).....but yeah you are right, maybe 2 MH's would work better.....

Id prefer the last method you mentioned Lee and that way I dont have to move the corals again and again.....

 

[smoothie]

I think the 250's are a smarter buy.
I do like Lee's acclimation tip on this

 

[jgoal55]

HA..told you Lee!!!

 

[glxtrix]

IDK, to me, going 250 is a waste of power and added heat. There are 3 really good 175W bulbs out there that are on point or beat 250's. But to each is their own. It's all about aesthetics and how they look to you...now I do know there are some more flavors of 250's...but only a few are actually good for performance.

 

[jgoal55]

but a couple of those good 175s are DE right? I prefer the SE overall , just cuz im lazy and i dont wanna be cleaning class.

But yeah....overall so far i havent gotten the color i want yet......i loved my t5s color.

One guy suggested that I use these 12ks for a year to grow the corals out quicker and then switch over to the Radium 20ks for that nicer blue.

 

[glxtrix]

No 175 that I know of is DE.

 

[jgoal55]

o i thought they were....oh well.....i guess i cant ever say that i dont have enough lighht.....lol

Back on topic, will keeping the lights on for only 2hrs a day be too much of a light deficit for the corals....currently they are under the growth t5s for 6hrs a day....the other 2 under actinics.

I guess I could turn the halides on only two hrs per day and then leave the T5s on the rest of the time.....????

 

[ricksconnected]

i would try with the 2 250's first.
cutting back 1 250 would save on the power bill
and give you some shade w/o cluttering up your caves and over hangs.
you could actually put some away from the rock on the sand.