Switching to MH on 6' 125 Gallon

[Hokie125]

Here is a few pics of the setup now. I have some work to do with the wiring but I think it turned out pretty good. I may redo the mounting of the LED's. I wasn't sure how the LED brackets would orient in relation to the MH Pendants. The only way I could get them level was to lower them below the bottom of the pendant. A little concerned about heat but after running them for a few hours today I didnt notice a difference.

 

[Bpb]

Looks outstanding. Love it. I’d run the MH for 4 hours a day and increase up to 6 hour peak photoperiod by 30 minutes a week. Led on for a full 10-12 hours. Those pendants have amazingly even spread. Wish I had used those instead of lumen brights. I’d keep them at 14” for heat management. Par is nice and even it appears

 

[Hokie125]

Thanks @Bpb. I did notice a few hot spots in some places I wasnt expecting. I think that is due to the LED's though. I do have to agree with the consensus that the Orphek light bars have a much narrower cone angle than I was expecting even after reading some reviews. If you dont have room to mount them at least 10" above the surface you will have some serious spotlighting going on, but man do they give my little Acro frags some colors that I havent seen before. If you are looking for some extra "pop" look no further!

 

[A. grandis]

Go slow acclimating the system.
I would do 2 hours/day of halides for a week and 6 hours/day of LEDs first.
Increase only the halides one hour after a week, then the next week increase only the LEDs one hour and so on...
If it was halide/T5s no problem, but Halide/LEDs I think you need to go slow.
Every coral introduced should be acclimated slowly.
I'm happy for you!

 

[Kfactor]

that looks awsome!

 

[Hokie125]

Thanks @Kfactor. I am definitely excited to see how this system does. I've decided to leave the LED's on for the full 12 hours and start the MH off at 2 hours a day, working up one hour a week to 6 hours. All while keeping an eye on the Acros for any signs of stress. Anything other than paling out I should be looking for?

 

[sgrosenb]

Hey @Hokie125 it looks like you made the jump to MH from LED/T5. I'm in your exact same boat and am almost doing the exact same switch - Radions/T5 Aquatic Life hyrid to Metal Halide. But instead of LED to compliment the MH I'm using T5's.

How did the acclimation go? Any suggestions on how I should do my switch? I expect the MH's to be here next week.

Also - did you notice any difference in growth of your SPS corals?

Hopefully the switch went well and you're happy with you tank!

-Scott