Changed T5 bulbs and now acans aren’t happy

[glb]

I have a 40g breeder with an ATI 4-bulb fixture. I recently changed all four T5 bulbs at once (About two weeks ago). The old bulbs were two years old. I replaced them with 2 blue+, 1 blue actinic, and 1 coral plus. This was almost the same as the first set except I had a more white bulb instead of the blue actinic (can’t remember the exact name. My two acan colonies were happy and growing before I replaced the bulbs, but now they’re not extending their feeders or puffing out as much. I had just attached them to rocks so I can’t move them. The lights are really the only change. I’m thinking I shouldn’t have changed them all at once but this was the first time I’d done it. Will my acans eventually get used to the new lights? Below are pics that show that their color is good. Acans are my favorite and I’m hoping if I leave them alone they’ll adjust, but I could sure use some advice! Thanks in advance for your help!
Here are some pics. In the bottom one the blue green one is more retracted than usual because I tried to pry it loose from the rock but it won’t budge because I used putty. Thanks again!!!

 

[Flippers4pups]

I have a 40g breeder with an ATI 4-bulb fixture. I recently changed all four T5 bulbs at once (About two weeks ago). The old bulbs were two years old. I replaced them with 2 blue+, 1 blue actinic, and 1 coral plus. This was almost the same as the first set except I had a more white bulb instead of the blue actinic (can’t remember the exact name. My two acan colonies were happy and growing before I replaced the bulbs, but now they’re not extending their feeders or puffing out as much. I had just attached them to rocks so I can’t move them. The lights are really the only change. I’m thinking I shouldn’t have changed them all at once but this was the first time I’d done it. Will my acans eventually get used to the new lights? Below are pics that show that their color is good. Acans are my favorite and I’m hoping if I leave them alone they’ll adjust, but I could sure use some advice! Thanks in advance for your help!
Here are some pics. In the bottom one the blue green one is more retracted than usual because I tried to pry it loose from the rock but it won’t budge because I used putty. Thanks again!!!

If you can raise the light fixture up 3"-4" it may help.

Old bulbs were way over do to replace.

Yes it's best to replace one a week or two, at a time till all are replaced.

Replace them around 12-18 month mark for best performance.

 

[glb]

If you can raise the light fixture up 3"-4" it may help.

Old bulbs were way over do to replace.

Yes it's best to replace one a week or two, at a time till all are replaced.

Replace them around 12-18 month mark for best performance.

Thanks!!

 

[Flippers4pups]

Thanks!!

Your welcome!

 

[glb]

Your welcome!

It’s so weird. The acans were doing great under the old lights, but I knew the lights needed to be replaced. I know acans don’t need bright light, but I never imagined that a 4-bulb unit would be too much. I’ll raise the fixture and hope that helps.

 

[AcroNem]

Performance after two years drops off quite a bit. So a 4 bulb might not be that bright compared to other systems or amounts of bulbs, but new ones are a putting out a ton more. I agree raising it or shorten the photoperiod for a time while everything adjusts.

 

[Flippers4pups]

It’s so weird. The acans were doing great under the old lights, but I knew the lights needed to be replaced. I know acans don’t need bright light, but I never imagined that a 4-bulb unit would be too much. I’ll raise the fixture and hope that helps.

The new bulbs will have much more PAR than the old bulbs. We can't always see the degradation in intensity and color spectrum shift with our naked eyes as this shift happens very slowly over time. Changing them all at once is like a shock to them.

One other thing is you could do, aside from raising the lights is shorten the photoperiod by a couple hours for a few weeks. Reverse all of this a little at a time over the course of a week or two. Will help them with light acclimation.

 

[glb]

I just decr

The new bulbs will have much more PAR than the old bulbs. We can't always see the degradation in intensity and color spectrum shift with our naked eyes as this shift happens very slowly over time. Changing them all at once is like a shock to them.

One other thing is you could do, aside from raising the lights is shorten the photoperiod by a couple hours for a few weeks. Reverse all of this a little at a time over the course of a week or two. Will help them with light acclimation.
[/QUOTE

The new bulbs will have much more PAR than the old bulbs. We can't always see the degradation in intensity and color spectrum shift with our naked eyes as this shift happens very slowly over time. Changing them all at once is like a shock to them.

One other thing is you could do, aside from raising the lights is shorten the photoperiod by a couple hours for a few weeks. Reverse all of this a little at a time over the course of a week or two. Will help them with light acclimation.

I just decreased the photoperiod by two hours per day. Let’s see what happens. Thanks again!!

 

[glb]

I raised the lights 3” and decreased the amount of time by two hours. That’s only 4 hours total. I had decreased the hours to 6 to handle an algae outbreak a while back. The corals seemed fine so I left it there. The acans looks a little puffier today. I really appreciate everyone’s help!!! I’ll post pics later