UPgrading? Need advice

[Ms. K]

History: I have been running a 4 x 96 watt PC fixture on my 6-ft 125 gallon tank. The bulbs were old and needed changing.

Today, I got my new fixture, a 8 x 96 watt PC fixture. It has two actinic, 2 50/50, and 4 10,000K bulbs. The actinic and 50/50 are on the same switch. The 10,000K are on one switch.

I don't want to stress my livestock. What do you recommend? I know I need to start off with a shorter photoperiod, even if I just run the actinic and 50/50 because they're new. How many hours do you think? At what rate should I increase the photoperiod? When should I turn on the 10,000K? How long should the overall process take?

FYI, I have mostly softies, a few LPS.

Thanks!

[xaoss23]

You wont have to worry about "burning" the corals with the actinics as they dont have enough PAR to have an affect. You could either use a couple sheets of screen (like window screen) and keep the same photoperiod, removing a sheet at a time every week (conservative).

or cut lights back to 3 hours, then move up in 30min increments every 4-5days.

I prefer the screen so that the tank is still viewable during normal "daytime"

-Just my opinion

[xaoss23]

just make sure youre keeping an eye on whats going on in the tank. If something is showing signs of stress, youre moving too fast.