Overhang
 

So because my tank is 13" deep and the fixture is 19"

The back and front bulb of the 6 aren't really doing much

Can I get away with 4 or will the extra 2 really do much?

Thanks

Mike

You can get away with two if you really needed to:)

Uh?
 

What do you mean only 2?

After days of research and input everyone says at least 4 54W HO bulbs for this tank...

What do you mean?

Did they not grow under your first 2 bulb?

2 bulbs aren't ideal , 4 bulbs are better , 6 bulbs better agin etc.

At the end of the day 2 bulbs will get you out of the red zone.....like I say there's a diff in surviving and thriving , they will survive under 2 bulbs but thrive when there's more than enough light;)

If you only intend to grow leather and GSP, then the existing 2 T5 bulb fixture you have maybe good enough to grow those softies. :mrgreen:

Your 6 bulb combo will grow SPS. I have grown a few sps on my T5 x 4 Bulb TEK fixture. :biggrin:

Oh boy...
 

I was told leathers wouldn't grow with 2 bulbs...which is why I started down this path of expanding my lighting

I was running 2 bulbs and seeing no growth. With the 3W rule (I know its not the end all be all) I was only at 108W, so around 2W/gallon.

Now I have doubled that, I am at 216W which in theory should allow for deeper light penetration, right?

I have already in 3 hours seen massive amounts of polyps coming out of the leathers...thats more than I have seen in 3 weeks.

I have taken out the "yellow" bulbs and will see what happens

The problem is the 1 and 6 bulb aren't directly over the tank. So I am not sure if that would really help having 2 more in there. Or maybe should I raise the light up allowing for a broader cover?

Thanks

The Watts/Gallon rule is obsolete, it is just a guideline but might not be accurate. The Ballast/Bulb/Reflector combination plays a vital role on the light directed to your corals.

If you can borrow a PAR/PUR meter, (at least PAR meter is very accessible these days). That's how you can exactly tell wether your light is enough for specific corals.

Those are hard to come by...but that would be awesome to finally get to the bottom of all the opinions. Maybe I'll buy one and post my findings

you should be just fine with softies and even some LPS (closer to the surface) with 4 bulbs.

Don't even bother running the other 2 bulbs if they are not even over your tank.

Honestly, there has been enough reefers and manufacturers taking par readings and your desired corals are such low light specimens that buying a par meter is overkill.

Ask how many reefers own one and you will find not many.

Probably not even the ones who suggested you get one do.

just run your 4 T5HO's and you will be just fine with the corals you specified.