How do YOU acclimate corals to higher PAR?

beesnreefs

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Howdy R/R community!

I’m looking for advice (or what’s worked for you) in acclimating corals to higher PAR.

Id like to start putting some corals at the top third of my aquascape. PAR there is in the 150-300 range depending on the spot. My hope is to put some LPS (perhaps chalice, Favia/favites, maybe Leptastrea if possible) up there along with a few SPS.

My LFS keeps their frag racks at around 50-75 PAR. So I’ll need to slowly acclimate the corals to the higher PAR. I’m a bit of a newbie so I could use some advice/guidance.

Im planning on getting a magnetic frag rack for my tank and putting the frags low in the tank to start (to match the PAR they are used to). Then, over time, moving them up higher and higher. Is this a good plan? How much time do I give them at each level? How do YOU acclimate your corals to higher PAR?

Thanks!
 

Boostable

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Howdy R/R community!

I’m looking for advice (or what’s worked for you) in acclimating corals to higher PAR.

Id like to start putting some corals at the top third of my aquascape. PAR there is in the 150-300 range depending on the spot. My hope is to put some LPS (perhaps chalice, Favia/favites, maybe Leptastrea if possible) up there along with a few SPS.

My LFS keeps their frag racks at around 50-75 PAR. So I’ll need to slowly acclimate the corals to the higher PAR. I’m a bit of a newbie so I could use some advice/guidance.

Im planning on getting a magnetic frag rack for my tank and putting the frags low in the tank to start (to match the PAR they are used to). Then, over time, moving them up higher and higher. Is this a good plan? How much time do I give them at each level? How do YOU acclimate your corals to higher PAR?

Thanks!
You are on the right track and honestly that’s about the only method. Depending on the lights you use they might also have an acclimation cycle you can run that ramps your lights up over time.

Most importantly take it slow, perhaps 30 days. Find the distance from your current par to your desired par and divide by 4, adjust that distance weekly.

Also, keep in mind you may have things that just won’t do well at a higher par. Keep an eye on them and make your placement decisions accordingly,
 

Billdogg

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If there's a specific spot you want to place a coral, there is a easy way to do it if you have some sort of screen top.

What I do is place the coral and then take several layers of window screen about 6x6 on top of my DIY screen top to create shade. If you layer them so that they criss-cross you will get the best effect. I usually start with 4-6 layers and remove one each week. That way the rest of the tank isn't adversely affected by changing the lighting.
 

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