Acclimating to metal halides

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aquanaut

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Mar 1, 2005
Messages
227
Location
Brockton Ma USA
Hi all

Do you have to acclimate corals to MH lights. Ive heard people say they screen them and remove over time.. with what? How long?

My xenia love the light might be a bit much for polyps ???


150 mh
2 x 55 watt 03 actinics


30 gallon long reef tank
 
Its only 150w so just use the MH alone for a week, then add one PC light to the mix the next week, and the other in another week. Acclimation is really more for those going from like 160w of PC to two 250w MH, more than tripling the total wattage. Just be weary of heat ;)

Some might suggest screens, but it shouldn't be too big of an issue. Xenia might retract a tad for the first couple of days. You could also try running your PC the entire day and turning the MH during the peak hours and extending the time you keep it on day-by-day.
 
I would suggest using the screen method. FWIW, You can also just slowly introduce the tank to the MH starting at 2-3 hours a day on up to a full day-8+hours-gradually over a period of weeks while running the PC on their normal schedule. This is much more stressful on coral/inverts though as compared to the screening method . MH is much more intense than fluorescent. It has very little to do with wattage. Comparing MH to fluorescents is like comparing apples to oranges :wink: Good luck
 
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