Don't know what to do, some input on lighting please.....
 

Well I have had the 8 footer running for awhile now but don't know if my lighting is working.

A little back ground on the tank:

tank dimensions: 96"L x 22"W x 18"D

lighting: 4 - 4 bulb T5HO fixtures, all KZ bulbs (Fuji Purple, Coral Light, Super Blue and New Gen) Lighting on timers to come on starting at 9am. Full lighting by noon and start to go off at 6pm. All lights off at 9pm when night LEDS come on until 5am

Coral stock: LPS, leathers, Mushroom, Zoa's, Clams

Most of the coral are happy and growing great but the clams don't seem to be opening as much as others I have seen in other tanks. So my question is should I change 2 of my fixture's out for MH/T5 combo's are is there a better T5 bulb combination.

What are your thoughts??

I'm not personally a fan of the fixtures you are running, they have REALLLLLYYY bad reflectors. Tek 5 fixtures are cheep, why not upgrade to 2 4' 6-8 bulbers?

That could be a possibility Levi, I had to do with what I could afford at the time but I could upgrade now.

I'm with levi on this one. For sure will make a huge difference in your tank

Hey Greg,

yeah I am with the guys on this one too.

you have an awesome tank, but imagine with a killer fixture like the tek E or an ATI

+4........but you could also try swapping out those fiji purps for a bulb that will actually benefit your coral, not just make them appear pretty:wink:

Stay away from the tek elite. Nothing but problems they are burning peoples hoses down. Guy in the city bought it and for the price and all the upgrades he had to do it was not worth it. I would go with 2 6 or 8 bulb Ati powermodules. Depending it you plan to keep sps or not.

I'd say you've got more than enough light, whether the reflectors are crappy or not considering that the tank is 22” wide and 18” deep 16 bulbs is tones for what you have. And you run them for a pretty decent amount of time. In fact clams open up more when light levels are low and tend to not open as much when light levels are high. If you want your clams to open more try decreasing your light. Slowly cut back your lighting duty cycle first to see if that makes a difference or eliminate some bulbs all together. Either way, make sure you try cutting your lighting back before spending money on a new fixture which will do the opposite and possibly make things worse.

Irrespective of the brand. Look at what the kind of wattage the people who replied to this post are using.

8x80 t5 ati powermodule
2x tek 6x39w HOT5s
I think John is using the same setup as Doug
I am using 8x 54watt T5HO's

IMHO you need more light. MH are a good choice too. 2 x 400 watt MH ights on that tank should just about do it.

I have a MH fixture that I borrowed from a buddy and I will try it out for a short spell when I get a chance. Have to go to work now but will reply to some of your posts when I get home, I have questions?? about your input.