TankIt Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Ok I have 2 29 gallon reefs......... What harm besides heat can come from using 400 watt MH on each? I know its over board for light but its what I got and what I'm running since my PC ballast just took a crap the other day. I spent a day and a half contemplating but due to the obvious lack of light my colar and anemones were pretty pissed off at me and I had to do something quick!!!! All I was running was this little PC reading lamp I have over the tank for a day. not sure what is going on with the PC balast yet, I do not think its bulbs because what are the chances a dual balast has both bulbs blow on the same day??? On inspection they look fine....... Any opinions.................(scary) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Too much light too quickly can do damage to corals/anemones. Use some window screen or some sort of diffuser to lessen the amount of light. Also reduce the photoperiod will help not burn your animals. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Agreed, if you've gone from PC to 400W MH you've probably increased your PAR by close to an order of magnitude. You'll need to do something to soften the blow or critters are going to have a really rough time, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defigart Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Think of it like this. If your used to going outside only in the evening, and then you start going outside at noon, your going to get a BAD sunburn. However if you put a barrier on your skin (aka sunscreen) your skin will adjust overtime to the new wavelengths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankIt Posted July 12, 2008 Author Share Posted July 12, 2008 MH What I have done is basicly raised the light way above my tank!!! More than a foot above the water line and most of my corals are twards the bottom of my tank. This is the seacond day with the MH and all corals seem to be doing great! My anemones have more than doubled in size too, they are open to their max and loving it!!! I was aware of the corals burning which is why I took the top off my canopy and raised the light box up above my canopy with 2x4's. Like I said so far so good, nothing seems to be affected in a bad way. My main concern was with heat and what affects can be caused by to much light: ie algae and stuff. I may just continue to run the 400watt if I do not have any problems with it............ Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankIt Posted July 12, 2008 Author Share Posted July 12, 2008 oh ya And I am soooo much happier with the amazing change in the light my tank has shown!!!!! Gota love MH I think its a 15 or 18 K bulb that is on it........ SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL!!!! I have not noticed much heat increase since my tank has no top and I have a small fan pointed toward my tank light...... So we will have to wait and see I guess..........(scary) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdadof2 Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 I recently switched from PC to MH lighting (150W 14k bulb) in my 15 gallon nano and I have had no issues with any of the corals. The first week I cut the photo period to about 5 hours and slowly ramped up from there. I have noticed my corals are growing faster and things look very good now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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