Never heard that before...I always ran my 250w at 8 inches, never had any problems with the corals in there....The UV is not a problem because the glass that "should" be used with a MH lamp is also a UV filter...
acclimating corals to MH
- Thread starter salty420
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Never heard that before...I always ran my 250w at 8 inches, never had any problems with the corals in there....The UV is not a problem because the glass that "should" be used with a MH lamp is also a UV filter...
I've read about some people who have bought the HQI lights and don't use the glass. With HQI lighting you have to make sure that you have that UV glass underneath the light bulbs or it will burn corals. Most important if you do a retro kit with HQI lights. With the Mogul based bulbs the UV filter is built into the glass of the bulb. I personally have only heard that you need to keep MH lights 8 to 12 off of a tank. I keep mine at 12 because my intention was to keep lower light corals on the sandbed, but I have never gotten that sun coral yet..
I've read about some people who have bought the HQI lights and don't use the glass. With HQI lighting you have to make sure that you have that UV glass underneath the light bulbs or it will burn corals. Most important if you do a retro kit with HQI lights. With the Mogul based bulbs the UV filter is built into the glass of the bulb. I personally have only heard that you need to keep MH lights 8 to 12 off of a tank. I keep mine at 12 because my intention was to keep lower light corals on the sandbed, but I have never gotten that sun coral yet..
Yeah, i know what you mean mate....You cant buy, that i know of anyway, a MH light unit which does not have the UV filter built into it in the UK...
I'm also upgrading my 75 gallon from 260w pc's to 760w pc's and halides. My lights are also on legs and I don't really know how to safely elevate them. I'll let you know if I come up with anything, please do the same here.
the fixture actually comes with 2x420 T5's and 2x460's. maybe when it's time to change out bulbs i'll switch the 460's out but for now i'll just leave it as is.Ya, just pointing out there are different actinics. 460nm is the normal ones that comes with lights and are the usual replacement. They have 420nm ones now that make 460s look dull. Wasn't sure if you knew that or not.
i really really don't want to buy anything else so i guess another option is to put my current fixture on the tank at least over my nem while the MH is off. that should help a little bit at least...
Ah sweet! I have never seen a fixture come with 420s yet.. thought they were still a little new.. That is really going to look awsome in your tank. Can't wait to see pics of it running. With 2 420s you probably won't need to replace the 460s unless you want to just for asthetics. The 460's make the tank look more blue vs the 420s, but a mix of 2 of each will probably look perfect.
Pfft!
Just run em. I think you'll be just fine. I didn't do anything but change out my PC fixture for the MH DIY...never messed with the timer, never had an issue.
Man....700+ watts, eh? Dang...you should have just gotten a 1000w 20k bulb and stuck it about 2 feet above the middle of the tank.
Just run em. I think you'll be just fine. I didn't do anything but change out my PC fixture for the MH DIY...never messed with the timer, never had an issue.
Man....700+ watts, eh? Dang...you should have just gotten a 1000w 20k bulb and stuck it about 2 feet above the middle of the tank.
Halides can be mounted closer than 1' from the surface of the water, though there are several practical limitations:
1) splashing
2) heat (hopefully some active cooling here, regardless)
3) careful acclimation of inhabitants
4) clearance
At the LFS I currently work at, on one system we have 3 Lumenarc reflectors with 400w 10K bulbs mounted ~8 inches from the surface. Anything that requires less light gets moved to the sides and in shaded portions and carefully acclimated in the meantime. I can assure you that an immediate transition will fry things, though.
As far as UV goes, it depends upon whether or not it is a DE or SE bulb. SE bulbs are, in fact, DE bulbs with an extra glass shield around them and wired to a mogul base, negating the need for another one. DE bulbs will require an extra pane of glass to act as a shield.
1) splashing
2) heat (hopefully some active cooling here, regardless)
3) careful acclimation of inhabitants
4) clearance
At the LFS I currently work at, on one system we have 3 Lumenarc reflectors with 400w 10K bulbs mounted ~8 inches from the surface. Anything that requires less light gets moved to the sides and in shaded portions and carefully acclimated in the meantime. I can assure you that an immediate transition will fry things, though.
As far as UV goes, it depends upon whether or not it is a DE or SE bulb. SE bulbs are, in fact, DE bulbs with an extra glass shield around them and wired to a mogul base, negating the need for another one. DE bulbs will require an extra pane of glass to act as a shield.
Amp pretty much has already said what I would have. I've never heard the 12" rule before although I could see where it would be smart if it was a shallow tank and you were trying to use 400+ watt lights. Shoot, mine are about 8" over and even an open brain is up high in the tank and thriving.
Personally what I did was use 7 layers of wax paper and removed one every other day. At the end of 2 weeks they were acclimated.
Personally what I did was use 7 layers of wax paper and removed one every other day. At the end of 2 weeks they were acclimated.
