LED light help

[Metrontech]

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

Originally Posted by crimper

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.

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

[crimper]

The Watts/Gallon rule is obsolete, it is just a guideline but might not be accurate.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.