4x55w pc on 55gal long good enough?

[bbreaux1]

would 4x55 pc on a 55gal long be good enough for most corals? i dont think i can deal with the heat from metal halide lights my room that the tank is in would really get hot

 

[tru conch]

that would give you about 4 watts per gallon if my math is right. i wouldnt go with any hard corals, but any softies should do alright. hth

 

[cyn]

I have 4 of the 55w pc's on my tank and am pleased with my corals. I have 2 species of candy coral, a bubble, hammer, frogspawn, torch, grape cluster, red open brain, fox, devils hand, leather, green star polyps, sea mat polyps,shrooms, and a elephant nose. All are thriving! I am very selective with what I buy and always ask what type of lighting it has been being kept under. When I buy new corals, I try to choose farmed ones that were raised with PC's, this helps me choose apropriate ones.
HTH,
cyn

 

[nm reef]

At one time I ran 4x65 watts of pc on my 55 reef and I was pleased with the performance of them. Your selection of corals will be large enough to get by......but I eventually added 2x110 watts of vho and in my opinion my selection is far better and the corals I have are much healther.Still...your choice of 4x55 watts of pc lighting will provide adaquate lighting....just research your additions prior to adding them and try to avoid corals that require high levels of lighting.

 

[mal]

I think it is fine for anything except sps and clams. A 55 is not deep enough to lose a lot of light. I have 220w pc on my 80 bow. Everything is fine. I don't keep sps or clams and my light lovers are closer to the top.