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Found my Problem??

S

Singlemalt

Well I think my problem may be solved. Been having lots of trouble getting most corals to grow - they live but don't flourish even though my parameters and flow are fine. Last year when I started in the hobby I bought an Oddysea dual MH 250w light fixture. It also has 4 compact flourecent bulbs and moonlights. The price was so good, $319 I think, that I couldn't resist. I knew it wasn't the ideal fixture but it's been working fine so I thought my problem was elsewhere.

After trying everything else I decided that the lights were the problem after all. After reading a few very long threads on RC I saw that many people who bought the fixture upgraded the ballast. So I bought a Bluewave Dual ballast in the PA group buy. Of course I forgot the lamp cords so I ordered them separately and they arrived yesterday. Last night after work I re-wired the lamp to accept the new lampcords. When I plugged everything in it seemed I had a brand new tank!! I don't have light metering equipment but I bet the tank is at least 150% brighter than before!! Now if the cheap piece of junk doesn't burst into flames I may be able to get some growth goin on!!!!

So if anyone else has the Oddysea fixture I would strongly recommend replacing the ballast.
 
JohnS_323

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
That's great Lou! One thing to keep an eye on is any bleaching due to the increased light. As a matter of fact, you may want to start off by reducing your light cycle and then slowly bring it back up. This may help avoid any problems resulting from your new found "brightness" :)
 
qwik

qwik

I would take john323 advice and either cut back on lighting hours or raise fixture . If the unit is a year old it is about time for a bulb change . Good Luck
 
S

Singlemalt

Thanks to all!
Currently have the Halides on for 8 hours - do you think cutting back to 6 for a week, then to 7 and finally back to 8 will be safe?

Alk is varies between 7.9 and 8.5 Dkh.

I replaced the cheap bulbs that came with the fixture in August with Phoenix 14k's so I should have a few months left on them
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
You could try that to start but at the first sight of lightening drop 2 more hours per day from the schedule (so if you're at 6 drop back to 4 etc). Not sure if one week is enough time to acclimate to the longer duration, especially since the intensity during the those 6 hours would be amplified. So if you're saying it is now 2x as bright then 1/2 time would be good.

An even better solution would be multiple layers of screen over the tank returning it to its dimness and removing one per week (but leaving the duration at 8 hrs) until you're back to no screen.
 
S

Singlemalt

Hmmm like the screening idea - That way the corals won't be subjected to the full light at all right away. Sounds like the way to go!! Thanks Phyl. I'll turn down the photo period till the weekend when I'll have some time to go buy some screening. Do you think the plastic window screen material they sell in Lowes and Home depot would do the trick?
 
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