Wattage

[carl page]

Is going from a weak 48 watts to 250 watts of led lighting too much too quick overnight in a 75 gallon reef?

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Yes

Acclimation is Key.

Take it slowly and never judge a LED by watts. Its apple and oranges between fixtures.

Bill

 

[carl page]

If LED not dimmable...best to start couple hrs each day and gradually build time?

 

[cdness]

Layers of window screen... Remove one layer per week as the corals get used to the light.

 

[carl page]

Layers of window screen... U messing with me? Lol

 

[Bow]

Window screen or start the light high over tank and slowly lower over a few weeks. Window screen used to be key for new bulbs in mh or t5.

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Window screen or start the light high over tank and slowly lower over a few weeks. Window screen used to be key for new bulbs in mh or t5.

Works perfect for non dimmable LED acclimation

Bill

 

[carl page]

I'll be darn...you learn new tricks of trade everyday... Thanks

 

[OceanRevive]

Carl, given what is out in the market these days, dimmable leds are almost a must have feature. Are you looking to buy a non-dimmable led fixture or do you already have one?

 

[carl page]

I have a dimmable but was looking to add the more reasonably priced nonndimmable without all bells and whistles to supplement lighting I have

 

[Feathers&Frags]

LED is the new trend in reef lighting it seems. In my opinion I think the way to go is fully programmable. A good friend of mine has tanks covered with dimmable lights on timers. I have fully programmable fixtures over all my tanks. My corals grow better and respond better to the ramping up and down cycle of the programmables. I think the better we can mimic what nature itself provides the more successful our tanks will be.

 

[carl page]

My dimmable fixture ramps up and down and I was planning using the nondimmable from about 10-4....when all lights are on anyway....

 

[OceanRevive]

LED is the new trend in reef lighting it seems. In my opinion I think the way to go is fully programmable. A good friend of mine has tanks covered with dimmable lights on timers. I have fully programmable fixtures over all my tanks. My corals grow better and respond better to the ramping up and down cycle of the programmables. I think the better we can mimic what nature itself provides the more successful our tanks will be.

I'm not trying to pick a fight here, but simple offer up the other side of the discussion.

I have fixtures that ramp up and down over 2 DT's and simple dimmable fixtures over 2 working tanks. The fixtures aren't the same, but have huge similarities. They share the same water and corals get moved from one to another on occasion. I see no difference in the coral's health or their growth rate.

My personal opinion is, corals could care less about lights ramping up and down. It takes some time for the light to get photosynthesis started in the zoanthellae and then that process runs for about 4 to 6 hours, as I understand it. So sunrise and sunset make very little if any difference in how corals react. But that's my opinion.

Your example of 2 very separate systems run by 2 different people has the potential to have so many differences that could explain coral health and growth that sunrise and sunset are almost irrelevant.