Upgrading my lighting

[lawman]

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 496 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 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.

 

[nycbob]

when i converted mine from t5 to mh, i started off with 3 hours the 1st few days. then add an hour every 3 days after.

 

[lawman]

Should I expect any kind of algae bloom?

 

[trippkid]

Originally Posted by lawman
Should I expect any kind of algae bloom?
That really depends on the nutrient levels in your tank, nitrate and phosphate, mainly. You probably will notice some more growth for a little while, hard to say for sure. With the higher light source, even small amts of excess nutrient can be enough to get it growing.
Matt