New MH's upgraded from PC's. Question!

[nickb]

Ok, so we just upgraded our lights to a 175w MH and 2x65 compact flourescents. We were only using a 50/50 compact flourescent and a 30w actinic before.
Right now only the MH is on (Something is wrong with the actinics, not sure what). It seems somewhat dark right now, but I heard it takes a few hours atleast for those lights to get to full strength?
How long should we leave this higher light on? I dont want it to be harmful to the fish who are used to much less light. Also, they seem a bit sluggish. But that might be because its slightly darker?
Help~

 

[fromoe]

your halides should be up to full strength after 5-10 minutes or so. you could cut down on the time that the lights are up and then gradually increase it if you wish. i believe that to be more important to do with anemones and corals. good luck with the new lights

 

[nickb]

We do have two anemone's and some soft corals in the take. What now?
Also, if this is full strength, that's weird. Because it seems like they are more dim than the lights we had previously.
Nick

 

[hagfish]

What is the Kelvin rating? White or yellowish PC's can appear brighter to the human eye than blueish MH's. But the PAR is certainly going to be better on your MH's and that's what matters to the livestock. Plus the light penetrates deeper.
I would cut the photo-period down to maybe 3-4 hours for a day or two and gradually bump it up from there until you get to 8 or maybe a little more. I think mine run for about 10 hours right now.
I would get the actinics working and I'd say it's ok to leave those on as long as you had been leaving your PC's on.