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

[BlueTang<3]

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.

[sphelps]

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.

[The Grizz]

Originally Posted by sphelps

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.

Every tank and LFS I have seen the clams are wide open and impressive with high light levels. When my lights are ramping up and shutting down my clams don't open more so I don't think this is the case.

[The Grizz]

Levi, Lorenzo, John and Doug:

Hey fellow's what brand of fixture's and bulbs are you all using. I would search all your tank builds but I don't have much down time ATM, big job on the go working 7 days a week up to 18 hrs a day. Thanks in advance guys for your time.

[lobsterboy]

Originally Posted by fencer

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 am using the same as Wes, 8x80wt ATI PM

A great investment IMO

[fencer]

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.

[The Grizz]

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.

[phi delt reefer]

How far off the sandbed are your lights? If they are t5's you should probably just rest them on the rim of the tank - from what i read (could be wrong) t5's max out at a depth of 20-24".

The Powermodules have much higher PAR than all other t5ho fixtures so they still work well at those depths.

Reefgeek has 10% of this weekend on the sunpower models.

[The Grizz]

Originally Posted by phi delt reefer

How far off the sandbed are your lights? If they are t5's you should probably just rest them on the rim of the tank - from what i read (could be wrong) t5's max out at a depth of 20-24".

The Powermodules have much higher PAR than all other t5ho fixtures so they still work well at those depths.

Reefgeek has 10% of this weekend on the sunpower models.

My tank is only 18" deep and 2 of 3 clams are about mid-tank.

[Skimmerking]

Originally Posted by fencer

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.

Fencer ok are you saying that just 2 400's are enough for his tank. the reason im asking is my new tank is 96x24x24 and its going to have about 2-3 " bed and what i have now os 2x400w 20k xm's i thought about going to a higher kelvin like xm's 10-15k or should 3 be enough on a 8 footer ....