Different lighting question

[Aquattro]

I got a bunch of colonies of acropora today and have to store them in my 20g. How long do you think they're OK under an OLD 18w NO light? Ya, I know, not very long. I need to build a canopy to hold the 175w MH, which could be a day or two. Opinions?

[Delphinus]

IMO: A day or two, no problem. But they will need to be acclimated back to the higher intensities or they can be unrecoverably burned. I've seen corals get burned after just 24 hours in darkness being placed back in direct intense light. You will either have to start with a smaller photoperiod, or a smaller intensity (the better option). Either raise the light if you can, or perhaps layer some eggcrate and remove a layer of eggcrate, wait a day or two, remove another layer, wait a day or two, and etc.

So, under that light for not much longer than a few days, I would think. Hmmm. An old 18W light. They're not going to do much under that. The quicker you can get the permanent setup going, the better.

Not to lecture or anything, but I haven't had the best of luck in times where I've "gotten a good deal I couldn't pass up" and I've temporarily housed stuff while waiting to get their permanent homes ready. I once lost a number of SPS frags, acros mostly, because I put them in a frag tray hanging on the side of my tank. One of them, a pavona or cactus coral, had sweepers I didn't know about, and stung the heck out the others. Of that batch, I still have that one coral. But the others all melted into coral rubble. Once they were stung that was it, I just couldn't stop the tissue recession. I tried refragging, didn't help. :( So my $0.02... it's better to have the home ready before taking the corals home. Otherwise it's a little bit of "putting the cart before the horse." So good luck, and speedy working. ;)

PS. Don't forget your water movement, too. Acros need it or they will wither.

[ 28 June 2002, 18:50: Message edited by: delphinus ]

[Aquattro]

Thanks Tony. Kinda my thoughts also. As for the home being ready, for the most part it was. Most of the "deal" went in the reef, but I had a few colonies that didn't quite fit. The 20 is plumbed into the main system so WQ is fine. I should have the regular light ready tomorow night.

[Delphinus]

Sounds good, post some pictures when you're done! :D