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Thanks for all the responses. Chip and Gary, what is the advantage of doing one bulb at a time? My impression was that the acclimation was to protect corals from going from an old, weak bulb to a new, bright one. If I replace one without acclimation, won't the corals under that bulb be shocked? Why would one at a time be any different than all three at once? Miller, unfortunately my bulbs are in a canopy and I can't raise and lower them. Don, I will do a search on RC abd see if I can find that thread. Thanks again everyone.

Hi all, The bulbs on my 125 are somewhere between 9 and 10 months old and I am going to replace them this weekend. Last year I had a disaster when I went through the same process; I never truly figured out why but I assume it was the fact that I used the Coralvue bulbs when they were manufactured with the glass too thin, coupled with the fact I did not acclimate the new bulbs at all. I am currently using XMs, two 10k and one 20k and will replace with same. My plan is to replace them Friday night, I will run them three days for fours hours; the next three days for 6 hours; three more days at 8 hours and finally move up to 10. Does that sound appropriate? Should I split the hours between morning and afternoon (2 and 2 the first three days, 3 and 3 the next three and so on...) or does that matter? Any other suggestions? Thanks.

Any follow up on this? Did the clam make it?

If you have had it for two years, unless you have introduced anything new lately, your livestock should not be bothering it. Do not remove it form the rock, you will likely rip the foot and end up killing it. Do you know what type of clam it is? Does it react to movement? When you say it only opens upon one end, does that mean the mantle is fully retracted inside the shell, or not as expanded as the other end? You can try a freshwater dip, which does help. If you do that, when you remove it examine it closely all over and see if you see any small snails. Pyramid snails are known for attacking clams. However, the sad truth is that once clams start to go, it is very hard to save them. Sorry.

Sorry David, did not mean to scare you. Mike, yeah those pictures are coming. Really. Well.... maybe. DcDeacon, ask and Howard shall deliver. However, with all due respect to Patrick, please check the rock carefully. I am not sure how well he has kept it over the past several weeks.

Patrick Riddlemoser, the one who gave away his leaking 240 gallon tank a while ago, has decided not to set up a new tank and is leaving the hobby. He has quite a bit of rock left, I am not sure whether it is live or not, as well as 400W lighting equipment and odds and ends. If you are interested in seeing what he has please give him a call at 703.830.1987. Thanks.

George, You are completely out of control! However, they are simply gorgeous. Check your PM.

George, I need to get up there and check out your system. Sent you a PM.

Mike, I have a MAG 24 running my 125. I have it teed off to two 1" returns. I am not sure what you mean by having back the pump down. If you mean use a valve to reduce thw flow, the answer is no. The pump is running at full blast.

Chip, I use XM 250W 20k on both of my tanks. The one on the 125 is the one that went bad so I replaced it with an old one, but I still have two on my other tank. I have read up on the various opinions on length of use; my philosophy is not to change unless I see something wrong (algae, less polyp extension or color). May not be the most proactive way, but when you have to replace as many bulbs as I do you tend to try to maximize use. Or at least I do. You are welcome to come over and see the bulbs when you want or wait until our order comes in late next week.

George, That is quite an impressive collection! I saw John's tanks and he has quite the display as well. A little too steep for me, but beautiful pieces. For those interested, check out reefermadness today, but do it quickly....

I have placed the order for the bulbs. There was an issue with the over 10 quantity discount, he claimed it did not apply to sale prices (the 250W 10k bulbs are on sale). We agreed to meet in the middle and he gave me the bulbs for $45. So, here is the order: Krish: 2 XM 250W 10k - $90 Simon: 2 XM 250W 10k - $90 Chip: 3 XM 250W 10k - $135 Byron: 2 XM 175W 20k - $87.90 2 XM 250W 10k - $90 2 Toyo 76 Fan Kits - $67.90 Tri Bui: 2 XM 250W 10k - $90 Phil: 2 XM 250W 10k - $90 Eddi: 5 XM 250W 10k - $225 4 XM 250W 20k - $192 Ground shipping should be around $20, the order is scheduled to go out on Friday and be here before next weekend (11/20-11/21). Thanks.

Krish, That is interesting. Mine were from last April so hopefully they have improved their QM. Michael, mine are 250W as well and another thing I noticed was that they would look yellow one day, then white the next just to go back to yellow the next before finally 'burning in'. I don't recall if they were at different times in the day and therefore at different burn periods.

Michael, I also did see a slight yellow tinge for a while. It completely dissapeared within a couple of weeks, if memory serves me right.

OK folks, I called the company and was told that they did not have a large supply on hand so they will need 48 hours once they get our order to restock. I will place our order tomorrow at 1:00 PM, if anyone else would like to join in. I will have the bulbs delivered to my house and then we can make arrangements for pick up. I'll put the order on my credit card, I will PM everyone with their total once I have a final count and find out how much shipping will be. Thanks.

Very nice, CJ!

Tri Bui, I don't see why a PFO ballast would not light a XM 10k or 20k bulb.

I would like to have the order delievered by the weekend so I will call the company today and see whether I have to place the order today or I can wait until tomorrow. Here is what I have so far, in addition to mine: 1) Krish - 2 XM 250W 10k 2) Simon - 2 XM 250W 10K 3) Chip - 3 250W 10K (you did not specify XM, please confirm) Byron, so have you made up your mind? What do you want to order, if anything? Phil, Premiun Aquatics has PRO retro kits but not HQI. Take a look here: http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchan....de=PFOr Do you want to order bulbs now? Thanks.

Simon, What wattage do you need?

Hi all, I lost a bulb yesterday and since I will need to replace the ones over one of my tanks next month I figured I would do a large purchase and see if I could get a discount. I use 250W XM bulbs, both 10k and 20k, and so far Inreef.com has the best prices I have found. I plan on placing an order on Monday or Tuesday at the latest, let me know if you want in. Thanks. Update: I found thise site with much better prices. In addition to their XM being on sale, they are offering a $6 per bulb discount for quantities over 10: http://www.coralreefecosystems.com/ltg_bul....20Bulbs

Thanks to everyone that has responded, apparently the new kalk is not the culpruit. Good to know. Krish, this is my fault. Just last Monday someone asked me how my tanks were and I replied that they had been doing really well for several months now. It never fails. Eddi

Michael, Yes, so far it has only been Acros. In that tank I also have a bunch of clams, three large brains, a couple montis, a few stags, several millies and assorted other frags. All seem to be doing well as polyps extension is fine. The problem seems to be similar to bleaching, there is no skin peeling off, it just seems to die and spread. Dave, I spent my morning making a water change and cutting the colonies, I did not have time to run any tests. I will tonight. Chip, I was going to do 50/50 as well, but I ran out of Mrs. Ball's. One thing I noticed is that after mixing, the water is not as opaque as with Mrs. Ball's and that I did not have nearly as much residue at the bottom of my drip bucket. Any others?

I am trying to find out if anyone has started using the kalk we group purchased last month. I started about 1.5 - 2 weeks ago and have experienced a significant loss of corals all of a sudden. I have lost 2 frags and have had to cut almost in half my two largest colonies, including a simply beautiful deep water bali acro that had been doing very well. I am afraid I have lost this one. One colony started showing dead skeleton from the bottom and moving up, the other from the tips and moving down. The two frags were dead by the time I saw them. I have changed nothing, added nothing other or done anything out of the ordinary other than switch from Mrs. Ball's to the new lime. I am using the same amount as before, still adding vinegar, still dripping at the same rate. The only variable has been the kalk. Just coincidence??? I would be very interested in hearing from anyone that has started using it.

Lee, Yes, I made a very rough DIY one and tried it but with no effect. I don't think I currently have enough flow to really see a banefit so I am making some changes that will hopefully help. Once I am done I will let you know whether it was worth it or not.

Is there a device that allows you to measure how much flow you are actually getting? Thanks.