Looking to understand Acclimation lighting programs better

[Oceansize]

Hi all:

So my tank is doing nicely, just added my first coral frags a few weeks ago and they are fitting in nicely with the rest of my tank denizens. I've got two Kessil 360's running on a Kessil controller and I've got my day-to-day lighting program all dialed in just the way I (and my corals) like it.

I've read here and other places about temporary lighting programs designed to help with acclimating new corals to the tank. And sure enough, my Kessil controller allows me to program Acclimation settings in addition to the normal daily programs. But since I'm new to this, I have no idea what the logic is behind an acclimation lighting program that makes it different from your normail daily program and what I should be trying to accomplish with it.

Any advice on how an Acclimation program should look is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Barry

 

[sureal00]

The logic is basically all different lights such as metal halides,t5 and led's all have different spectrum of lighting and intensity.If you were to say blast some new corals with led lighting at high intensity when they were under t5's at the previously they will most likely bleach and die.Harsh lighting on corals just add to the list of things that can go wrong(water chemistry imbalance,disease,high temperatures etc).A acclimation program can make the transition to other lights more gently on the coral

 

[Oceansize]

So an acclimation program should be less intense than a normal program?

 

[sureal00]

yes

 

[Oceansize]

And for how long typically should new corals be exposed to the acclimation program before reverting back to the normal one? And do I need to worry about this less-intense program affecting the more established coral already in the tank?

 

[WetWhistle]

It really depends on what type of coral. SPS are more sensitive to light changes then other types or corals. I personally like to do it manually, I typically lower the intensity by 10% and over the new 2 weeks raise it up slowly by a few % every few day. I watch very closely for any changes in color or a negative response. I like to add O2 into the water by using an air stone as the increased O2 helps with light saturation levels and the byproducts produced inside the coral tissue after it has reached the level of light that it needs for the day. The increased O2 helps with gas exchange and the buildup of gas and byproducts of respiration within the coral tissue and helps reduce the chance of bleaching. You can also raise the lights and slowly lower them.

I find most of the build in programs that are designed to accumulate the corals I don't trust. As they are generalized light settings and nowhere near what I have my set at. But if you are really worried you can give them a try. Keep in mind when you do change the light levels in the tank you are changing it for everything in the tank. So you have to find that fine line of what is needed for the new frag and what is needed for the original corals.