new lighting question.

[nasotang00]

I just recently upgraded the lighting on my 55g reef.
HAD:
2 96w smartlights
1 65w blue actinic
NOW HAVE
2 175w MH @ 55k
1 96w smartlight
1 65 blue actinic
The wierd thing is that the tank looks like it has less light now than it did with half the lighting. Is this ok? I want to get some small clams and some other light needy corals.
I keep seeing that certain corals need "intense" light. What exactly is "intense". The lighting that I have now is almost 10 watts per gallon. That to me is intense.
Your help and input is much appreciated.
Naso

 

[q]

It will vary as to who you will talk to. I would call it moderate bright light.
I have 2 175W MH and 4 VHO but consider it still in the moderate range. If I upgrade to 250 then I would consider it intense. You could probalby keep the more demanding corals but why keep them if their color is going to fade. The same colors come in the lower light levels too. Just different species.
Small clams need to be fed. The larger ones are easier to keep alive.

 

[nasotang00]

Ok then, here is what I did last night. To the existing set up I added my other 96w smartlight to the mix so I now have:
2 175w MH
2 96w 50/50 smartlights
1 65w blue actinic
= 607 Watts
= 11 watts per gallon on a standard 55 gallon.
Would this be considered "intense" or still "moderate" lighting?

 

[reeferx]

IMO, I would consider that 'intense' maybe even 'crazy.'
You might find yourself scraping that glass a lot more...
Personally I think that is waaaaaayyy too much light. If the algae isn't a problem, the heat may be.
If you can get away with it, well... I don't know. I would be surprised frankly.

 

[nasotang00]

Well, I am not worried about the heat. I built an open back canopy the is about 12.5 inches. The MH bulbls are 8 inches away and the PCs about 10 inches away along with two very nice fans. In fact, the temp inside the canopy has not broke 80 degrees. Pretty sweet! I have a thermo in the canopy just for that reason. I haven;t had it up long enough to see what it will do to the algea yet but we'll see.

 

[reeferx]

At the very least, I would stagger the timers on those lights and not have it going full blast for more than a few hours.
I still your on the high side of watts/gallon if you go by that. Or your just high.

 

[reeferx]

I just realized you got 5.5k halide bulbs. That explains your brightness comment. 10k bulbs would have appeared brighter.
I just checked out your pics, nice schematic work!