new halides bother fishies?

[laurabolyard]

I just got 500w of metal halides, upgrading from about 100w in a 50gl. Is this going to 'shock' anyone? I have a minimum in the tank, clown, wrass, crabs, snails (lots of bristle worms :)

Anything I should know or do to acclimate?

Laura

[laurabolyard]

BTW, that anemone went back to the shop until I could aquire better lighting!! I was too worries about him. Clown didnt seem to care!!

[CarmieJo]

Hi Laura,

I think you would want to ramp up to the full potential of the lights.

[thesaent14]

500w or 400w ??

[laurabolyard]

2x 250=500w

Ramp up to the full potential? Help carmie:)

[lReef lKeeper]

i am guessing these are 2 x 250w lights ?? as long as you have no corals you should be fine with the fish. just be sure to keep an eye on the tank temp. that much light over a such a small volume of water could heat it up very fast.

[thesaent14]

i guest i will say the same like bobby

[laurabolyard]

I am a bit concerned about heating up, but no bother to anything 'upping'' the wattage so much so fast?

[thesaent14]

i use 3X400W on lumermax reflectors on my 180g and my temp don't go over 80 i am using 2 fans blowing to the tank

[laurabolyard]

Im hoping to need one small fan under the hood-whatever happened to walmarts small fans????? Cant find one!! What do you think is the max temp I should allow?

[lReef lKeeper]

mine use to get to 82 in the summer, before i added the second fan on the sump. that would be where i would set the limit.

wal marts fans are seasonal. they only have them when the weather is good for sales. i bought 4 last year just to be safe. there are usually some small fans on ebay, but i am going to say that 1 fan will likely not be enough (in the summer) if the lights are lass than 8" above the water. do you have a sump ??

[thesaent14]

i am coming up with a fan moint for sumps it use 4 pc fans in what part of florida are you

[laurabolyard]

I do have a sump. One fan above, and one below?
I guess I should have realized winter isnt a good time to be looking, but this is west palm beach!
I am hoping it will be enough, I worry about boiling them. The tank stays between 78 and 80 as it is.

[lReef lKeeper]

i would put both fans on the sump. it WILL create more evaporation, but an Auto Top Off will solve that problem for you. i would also have the second fan ready just in case the temp get up there fast. then you can just turn the halides off and the second fan on.

[laurabolyard]

I dont want to sound dumb, BUT :) 2 on the sump, and a third one ready? why is the sump a better place? I actually like the idea, kinda out of my way.

[lReef lKeeper]

just 2 fans ... one on the sump and on ... one on the sump and ready to be turned on. that is why i say on the sump ... they are out of the way and there will be more surface area of water for the fans to cool (usually).

[laurabolyard]

Thank you!! If I can find a fan(or 2), lights go on for fishies tomorrow!!

[lReef lKeeper]

i only paid about $5 per fan , but here are some on ebay right now ...

clip on fans, Heating, Cooling Air, Vintage, Antique items on eBay.com (http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&dfsp=1&from=R10&_trksid=m37&satitle=clip+on+fans&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=ZIP%2FPostal&sabfmts=1&saobfmts=insif&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1%26fsoo%3D1&fgtp=)

[laurabolyard]

Thank you sooo much, I just ordered 2!!! Lights go on today, I might have to keep one at a time on until I get the fans!

[lReef lKeeper]

keep us posted on how they effect the temp.

[laurabolyard]

Thanx, Lights are on!!! Looks great! I found a fan that will do for now. LFS said keep new lights on only about 6 hrs/day till everyone gets used to it. Thoughts? Why not keep just one 250w on for 12hrs. Thoughts please!!

[poppin_fresh]

running one 250 for now, shouldn't cause any issues. I dont think you need 12 hrs though, which is why most people use PCs or T5s for supplimentation. IE, run the T5s for 12 hours, but only run the MH for 6 hours of the day.

With the high power lighting, it sounds like you need to upgrade to 120 gal or bigger now! :D

[laurabolyard]

personally, I think its a bit over the top on the lighting, I did kick up a bit of a fuss that neighbor convinced husband that these were the lights that I NEEDED and hr NEEDED to buy them from Hello Lights, and he NEEDED to spend the extra $50 to express them here for christmas (note, they are just on TODAY) and then I NEEDED to transfer some of my savings to cover the cost:love!: Well, I actually had those lights cancelled after that, but then HE kicked up such a fuss that I went ahead with it. Im glad to have them now, but it feels over the top. Now it seems that I should have other lighting as well (help me here poppin fresh) is 12 hrs of these lights going to be too much?

[lReef lKeeper]

yes, my halides only run for 8 hours per day and the actinics run for 12. what are the dimensions of the 50 ??

[laurabolyard]

dimentions are about 20" deep x35"long x 18"wide. Its actually a 55gl, my bad-too much light for 12hrs?

[lReef lKeeper]

yeah, i would just run them for about 8 hours max.

[CarmieJo]

You could also buy a temp controller that would turn the 2nd fan on if the temp gets over 82 (or whatever you are comfortable with). I have the Solaris LED's so heat isn't an issue for me. But before I had my controller programmed to turn the chiller on at 82 and the heat on at 79.

BTW, my Solaris is programed to mimic the sun and right now the "days" are pretty short. So, I have time shifted six hours so it is noon on the reef when I get home from work around 6 and the lights stay on a few hours for our viewing pleasure.

[laurabolyard]

what are the negative effects of them being on for 12 hrs?

My house gets very little light, is that a problem for when the lights are off?

Leave the little bit of natural light in the first part of the day, lights come on from 1pm to 8pm maybe?

One halide for a few hours, both for a few, then back to one?

What would y'all do???

[lReef lKeeper]

my actinics come on at 10am
halide 1 at 11:45am
halide 2 at 12pm
halise 3 at 12:30pm

halide 1 off at 7:30pm
halide 2 off at 7:45pm
halide 3 off at 8pm
actinics off at 10pm

[laurabolyard]

WOW, my brain may have been on the right track? What is my BEST case? Natural light until 11am
1 halide at 11am
both halides at 2pm
1 halide at 6 pm
lights out and moon lights on at 9pm

3 hrs with 1
4 hrs both
3 hrs with 1

I could program (I think) so that the one on alone alternates, that way I have the same # of hrs on them

help tweak! Please:mrgreen:

[lReef lKeeper]

i think that i would turn 1 on at 11:30am and the other on at 12pm

first one on ... off at 7:30pm
second one on ... off at 8pm

are there any actinics on this setup ??

[laurabolyard]

That sounds good, I'll give it a try
all I have now are these halides and 2 sets of moon lights

[lReef lKeeper]

well since corals do most of thier photosynthesis within the first few hours of the lighing being on ... i think that you will be fine with that setup, and maybe even less. but only time will really tell what is going to work for your set up.