A lot more light for corals. Need advice

[lawman]

I posted this in the lighting section and only got one response.(thanks NYCbob) After some thought I should have posted it here as I am concerned about not harming my corals. My toadstool is pretty high in the tank and attached to a large rock, therefore moving it is not really an option.
Hello all, I have a 55 gal tank with leathers, LPS, mushrooms and Zoas. Currently I have a 260 watt PC fixture and have most of the corals fairly high in the tank except the mushrooms. I will be upgrading to 492 total watts, 300 watts HQI along with two 96 watt PC. (actinic). I'm looking for opinions and ideas on how to acclimate my tank/corals to the new light. Should I cover some of the top of the tank? Run the lights less hours? Move everything to the bottom of the tank? etc. etc.
Thanks for any input.

Tom
P.S. I have the PC fixture on a 9 hour time schedule with the actinics coming on an hour before the daylight and staying on for an hour after the daylight.

 

[trippkid]

Originally Posted by lawman
My toadstool is pretty high in the tank and attached to a large rock, therefore moving it is not really an option.
You just sort of answered part of your question. I would probably use some window screening, a couple of layers, remove layers one at a time over the course of a week or two. You can also reduce the photoperiod too, increase to your normal schedule during the same time. I'd keep the lights on for at least 4 or 5 hrs. a day and increase to 9 or 10 over the course of the two weeks. Pretty much same advice as Nycob, and you had the right idea to start off with in your original post, you already knew what to do. Good luck, I hope you like your new lights, I am upgrading to 250wt system soon, I am excited too.

Matt

 

[drtito]

whats a good price for light setup ?

 

[nycbob]

like trip said above, ur best bet is use window screens to shield ur mh the 1st week or so. i'd use 3 of them and run the mh for 5-6 hours each day. after each week or so, rmv a layer of screen and increase ur hour by 1. this light acclimation should tk about 4-6 weeks total if not a bit longer.