Increasing lighting....

[Curgan]

I currently have about 100 watts of florescent light above my 55 gallon... i have an icecap 660 4 bulb 4 foot retro kit on the way. my question is the best way to ramp up the light... I've read the posts on using screens to diffuse the light and take a screen off every week.
My question is this... What if i just put two of the bulbs in the setup at first and start at 6-7 hours of light a day and add 15 minutes of light a day for 2 weeks, then add a third bulb, go back to 7 hours of light a day and add 15 minutes of light a day for two weeks, then add the forth bulb, and repeat the process? is this possible? would this work?

 

[reef dummy]

Or you could just put them all in and start with very little light and slowly work it up over a couple weeks.

 

[BigAl07]

Normally I wouldn't jump in and disagree but even very short amounts of time with highly intense lighting can shock the coral. It's similar (in a VERY abstract way) to when you walk outside in the bright sunshine from a darkened room. It doesn't take but a moment for your eyes to "shock".

Also think about it like a fair skinned child going out into the sun at the beach *near the equator* for the first time. I don't care if they are only in the sun a couple of hours their skin will burn.

You need to approximate the brightness of your existing lights with screen material and remove some weekly. I've done it both ways and have yet to have any "burning" from the screen method.

Just my 2 cents

 

[Curgan]

Normally I wouldn't jump in and disagree but even very short amounts of time with highly intense lighting can shock the coral. It's similar (in a VERY abstract way) to when you walk outside in the bright sunshine from a darkened room. It doesn't take but a moment for your eyes to "shock".

Also think about it like a fair skinned child going out into the sun at the beach *near the equator* for the first time. I don't care if they are only in the sun a couple of hours their skin will burn.

You need to approximate the brightness of your existing lights with screen material and remove some weekly. I've done it both ways and have yet to have any "burning" from the screen method.

Just my 2 cents

That is why i was wondering if i start out with one or two of the bulbs in at first would work to keep the intensity down, then add a bulb in every two weeks...

 

[Clownfish518]

I have done it both ways, vary photo period and use screens. Screens yield better results IME

Also the material is dirt cheap

 

[Curgan]

aight ill do the screen method... i have a canopy on the tank.. should i just tape the screen to the inside of the canopy?

 

[Curgan]

My lights should be coming sometime this week. so im starting to prepare for the upgrade... i have the screen ready to go. Is there any reason to move corals to the substrate to reduce the light to them even though im going to be putting screen on there to reduce light?

 

[SoccerBum474]

the screen should be enough put as many as you can without blocking too much light and remove one each week.

 

[Curgan]

i have 6 screens cut and ready to go, im just waiting on the lights to get here... How many screens have people used in the past, do you think 6 will be enough for a 4 bulb 48" icecap setup?