lighting question

[jdb1984]

upgrading to 55 standard. bought a 216watt t5 fixture. should i supplement it with more light. maybe one more strip light. im just shy of 4 watts per gallon. im not planning on many sps, but many lps and a few fish.

[aquasport24]

That' should be enough, if you add more light then you will have more heat issues to deal with.

[jdb1984]

what about the sps. there is a few im seriously considering. would the lighting i have be enough for those as well?

[marcusgonzales210]

what kind of sps were you looking at? Montipora? Acropora?

[Salty]

Place them high and you might get by, but, I doubt the growth would be anything to write home about.

[jdb1984]

acropora was more what i wanted. there would have to be some cicuits added to get mh light. so i wanted to stay with t5 lighting. how many more watts would need to be added for good healthy growth? im at 216watts now.

[Salty]

IMO, 2 more bulbs, preferrably with high quality lamps in them.

[Firstman]

i run t5 they get the job done its not as explosive as mh but youll be fine.

[ballardjr2000]

I would start with what you got place the sps up high then is no or little growth add the 2 strip fixutre at 54w bulbs with what you got will give you 5.8w per gallon thats way plenty if you add a single 54w strip your sitting at 4.9w per gallon which would be pleny without heat issues. I am running 2 (4blub) fixtures for a total of 432w or 4.8w per gallon no heat issues even under a canopy and have sps/lps and softies. and all are doing good.