New MH bulb-My coral's hate it
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- Thread starter Ramses66
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When you replace old bulbs, you should always go through an acclimation process. New bulbs are brighter and have a different spectrum than old, worn out bulbs. That's why you're replacing them. They're worn out and not delivering sufficient light. If you don't acclimate your corals, you risk light shock. Shorten up your light cycle considerably and slowly increase the amount of time lights are on over the next two to three weeks until you get back to your regular cycle. It sounds like you've shocked your corals to some degree. Back off on your cycle to maybe two or three hours a day for a few days to give the corals a chance to recover. Be patient.
Gary
Gary
Yeah they may need to adjust to the light.
+1 you should def. always acclimate your corals to new lighting. personally i think not only would i shorten my light cycle but i would also move up the light height.
Ramses66
Community Member
So far so good. I'm running the light 4 hours a day and ramping the time up. I got a peice of eggcrate acroos the top for shade. 1 hour on and 1 hour off. I'll start to increase the time on gradually
xrayrider
Active Member
I found a way around aclimating to new lights. I got a ballast with a dimmer switch. I borrow our local reef clubs PAR meter. Check PAR of old bulbs. Install new ones, and set dimmer to match PAR of old bulbs. Gradually over time increase brightness to desired level. As bulbs age, keep increasing brightness until at maximum brightness.
smiley28
Hectorj
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Sifting through old threads and thought this one is a good example of dealing with light acclimation pre led take over. I think newer reefers need to see things like this to clear up the notion that acclimation to light is now a big thing only due to technology advancement.
