Is 5.3 watts per gallon too much.

[adivedog]

I made a light hood for my 30L and put in one 100 watt MH and two 30 watt fl. actinics. The color looks great but, noticed a couple of the sponges were getting brown ( burned), so I moved the light up to 9" from the water. Am thinking about removing the MH and going with one 30 watt actinic and one 30 watt 10K flo. ?????
I don't have any anemones, clams, or coral yet, just live rock, which is flourishing under this light. It looks like two kinds of caulerpa is taking off too. Any ideas ?

 

[reeferx]

I don't think that is too much. Some people with stonies even go up towards 10w/gal.
You did the right thing by moving it higher. I had a 30 long with a 150w mh. I kept mine high. You can see it in my sig.
Keep the mh.

 

[wamp]

Keep the halide. It is the best light you can have for a reef tnak. IMO
If a coral does not like it, move it to a shady spot or under a ledge of your LR.
You can have more diffrent types of coral with a haldie than you can with other types. After 6 months or so you might even be able to try a clam.
My .02

 

[von_rahvin]

MH are the way to fly!!! If it is generating too much heat just move it up. I do agree that if you want a reef then you need to have MH for you lighting!

 

[the fisherman]

Remember wpg is not a very good measurement for light intensity. It depends on other things like what will be in your tank, how deep is your tank, and is there glass between light and water? Just some thoughts.

 

[pbuckler]

ijji,
I have been asking the same question lately. I recently upgraded to MH and a 12000K bulb. I have found the 12000K bulb to contain more of the blue-white light that actinics produce. Many reef keepers do not use anything else with their 12000K. Some use actinics for show and a dusk-dawn effect. But with 6500K I don't know if that is in the actinic spectrum, I don't think so because people will use a 10000K bulb and still use actinics. That is my 2 cents.

 

[wamp]

If you use a 12000k or above, I would say no, you do not to supplement. The actincs have a spectrum needed by corals to grow. If you had a lower K rating than you would need supplement due to the fact that there is not enough in those bulbs.

 

[adivedog]

Thanks all, just one not on the actinics, I had just the 100 watt MH but it was kind of yellow so when I put on the actinics it really whitened the light and made the tank look a lot better.