Lighting acclimation

[rjarnold]

I was reading over the lighting acclimation and have a quick question...

I just picked up a couple of clams at the wonderful Barrier Reef sale. I hadn't intended on getting them but my husband really wanted to try his hands at them. Currently I only have power compacts on my tank, so I'm ordering an orbit fixture that has 2 250watt mh and 4 T5's for a total of 716 watts (75G). This should arrive by the end of next week...so for now the clams are sitting near the top under the compact fluorescents...

1 - Are they going to be fine for a week with these lights?
2 - When the MH's arrive, should I put the clams down on the bottom so they're not suddenly bombarded with really bright light, then slowly move them up? What if they've attached themselves to the rock?

 

[chris&barb]

they should be fine for a week under the light you have now. when you get your new lights i would move them down, if they attach its pretty easy to remove them(let us know when the time comes) i would still acclimate the whole tank to the new lighting. cut 5 or 6 pieces of fiberglass screening to the size of the top of your tank and lay them between the new light and the water, every few days remove one piece untill they are gone. if anything starts to look funky add one piece back and wait a few days. you can also start the lights out 12" or 15" above the water and lower them an inch every 4 or 5 days untill you have them at the height you want.

 

[rjarnold]

Got the lights - fiberglass screening underneath to acclimate the entire tank. Clams weren't attached so they were easy to move down. However - beneath the lights 'smoke' is rising... There's the fiberglass and the glass cover for the tank...the cover has some salt on it, of course. What's smoking? It doesn't seem like it's the fiberglass...I'm thinking the salt?

 

[NaH2O]

Yikes - I have no idea what the smoke could be from. Did it stop smoking?

 

[rjarnold]

Yikes - I have no idea what the smoke could be from. Did it stop smoking?

Nope...I just watched it for a few hours while in my office. Turned it off at 10pm and went home. *shrugs*