Installing higher wattage lights...

[MikeP]

I'm upgrading my MH lights from 175w to 250w. What precautions should I take. Should I just shorten the photo period for a while? Or is there any need since it's not that much more wattage? Is there anything else I need to consider when increasing the wattage?

[Delphinus]

Hmm yeah hard to say how much the impact will be. Potential things that could happen are an algae or cyano bloom (temporary - it would settle out), increased heat, and of course light shock.

Two ways to help soften the transition: 1) Keep your photoperiod the same, but cycle your lights on half hour intervals (30 minutes on/30 minutes off). After a couple days, make it 45 minutes on, 15 off; and a couple of days after that you can get rid of the off cycles.

2) Another alternative is layer sheets of eggcrate, and pull off one layer every couple of days.

[Slick Fork]

If you're using a fixture that hangs from the ceiling on adjustable cables, I would just raise it up say 6" higher, and then just gradually lower the fixture back to the desired position.

[TRIX]

Just a thought wouldn't turning your lights on and off that many time greatly reduce the life of the bulb.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

When I went from 150w DEs to 250w DEs, I shortened the photoperiod by a couple of hours & raised it back a week or so later. The increase in light didn't seem to have any negative effects on the corals. Not sure about everyone else's experience, just posting mine.

Anthony

[MikeP]

Thanks for the replies guys. 250w lights are up and runnin. We'll see how it goes.

[mark]

Might be a lot of effort and after reading Anthony's post, wondering if was necessary, but when I picked up a clam and frogspawn that was kept under 2x150W for years and placed in my tank (2x250W) placed piece of light diffuser (eggcrating) on top of the tank and over the new additions. On the diffuser did something like 15 panels of window screen and removed one every day or two.

[MikeP]

So the lights have been going for about 6 hours now. They are 250w SE 20K bulbs. One is noticeably bluer than the other. Is one of them defective? Or will they end up matching after a while?

[fkshiu]

MH bulbs often take a while to "burn in" so I'd wait a week or so before declaring them defective.

Another method of easing light stress is to place a couple layers of window screen mesh material on top of eggcrate. I started with two layers and removed one each week and waited another week to remove the eggcrate when I went from 175W to 250W MH.

[MikeP]

MH bulbs often take a while to "burn in" so I'd wait a week or so before declaring them defective.

Another method of easing light stress is to place a couple layers of window screen mesh material on top of eggcrate. I started with two layers and removed one each week and waited another week to remove the eggcrate when I went from 175W to 250W MH.

Thanks.