Breaking In 400W MH's

[Jaws]

I just upgraded to 3 400W MH's from 4 250W MH's. What kind of lighting schedule would you recommend so my corals don't bleach?

[Tarolisol]

Its not really a question of time but intensity. You should find some way to slowly every couple off days to acclimate the corals. Some people raise the lights and slowly lower them to the proper level. Or you could use layers of windowscreen over the tank and remove each layer slowly. Use a sheet of eggrate to hold the screen above the tank.

The last method has worked for me in the past.

[SuperFudge]

Its Hard to guess what time your corals need for the zoe`s to produce what the corals need over what they were getting before.

I would say put them at about 2/3`s of the time you had them on before, and ramp them up for say, a week or two or until you see the desired results.

In a way, you want them to bleach a bit, this will make the coral expell some Zoe`s but expose bright pigments....but needs to be slowly and carefully done.

Marc.

[Jaws]

They've been on for about 5 days now. I started them on 3 hours then bumped them up to 4 hours on day three now they're at 5 hours. I haven't noticed anything severe. The tips on a couple corals closer to the surface have been turning a little whiter and some have been coloring up a little more so I might continue like this and see how it goes. How many inches above the water do you guys run your bulbs now?

[kwirky]

i used window screening for my T5 setup to prevent bleaching.

well... I didn't. I just used some spare nets on top of egg crate, but hey it worked :D

any algae that wasn't covered by the screening material bleached almost overnight, but that was going from zero lighting (at the LFS), to intense T5 lighting.