Lighting changes!

[Submaweiner]

I have a 65 gallon tank with live rock and a few zoanthids. Currently using two basic strip lights 40w each, 10K and the other 50/50 acitinc. I just recieved a outer orbit 150w hqi and (2) 96w acitinc setup. Can someone help me with what I should do when introducing my new lights. Going from 80w to 342w I heard can shock my system if introduced all at once.

I was also wondering how I should mount my lighting. It comes with a suspension/hanging kit and legs for mounting. I want to avoid getting a chiller if I can, was hoping I could use cooling fans.

I appreciate any hints or help that can be provided.

 

[mr_X]

i wouldn't worry about the zoos. if you are going to use the legs, you could put a couple 2 x 4's one either side to raise the fixture up a few more inches and/or start with a shorter photo period. if you can, i would suggest mounting from the ceiling. you probably already know how often you have your hands in your tank. those legs give you no room, and you'll be removing the fixture often.
with the hanging hardware, all you do is push it out of the way.

 

[Anonymous]

Submaweiner,

:welcome:

I had that same fixture, and found I got the best heat dissipation by hanging it from the ceiling. I tried the legs but didn't like them, they made the tank harder to maintain as MrX said.

As far as the new lights I would just reduce the lighting period by half and bring it back up over a two week period.

 

[Submaweiner]

Thanks for the help with my lights, I suspended it from the ceiling and it looks and operates great. My zoanthids/sea mats really opened up after a day or two with the new light. My tank is a bit warmer now, it got up to 81 degrees, I placed a frozen bottled water in the sump to help slowly cool my tank back down. Can that hurt my tank? I also installed (Temporarily) a desk fan blowing across the top of my tank. I ordered a aquatek 6 fan tank cooling fans does anyone have experience with this?

 

[Entacmaea]

Hey there, yes, fans and evaporative cooling are great if you don't have a chiller. You can also have them blow across your sump in stead of, or in addition to, blowing across your tank. Just make sure you have some automatic top off system in place, as they will increase evaporation and needed freshwater replacement quite a bit. You can also get a temperature controller and hook it up to your fans (or just hook the fan to your MH light, so they go on at the same time) so the fans turn on at a high temperature point.

As you saw, your zoos and other corals will love the extra light!

Best, Peter

 

[Submaweiner]

Now that my lights are all set-up and my cooling issues seem to be in check. I was wondering what reccomendations you guys have for run times for my lights. They are on timers now but what is the recommended kick on/kick off times you use? Right now I have my acitinics come on first at 0900 and then the halides come on at 1130 until 1500 then the acitinics turn off at 1800. I would appreciate it if I can get some experienced info on this.

I have a 3 clusters of Zoanthids, 2 sand anemones and some live rock with a few tangs and clowns.

 

[Anonymous]

Time of day doesn't matter really. I used to set mine so that the tank would be "awake" when I was home to look at it, i.e. in the evenings. I had the lights coming on in the afternoon, and shutting off just about bedtime.