tank deapth relevance in watt/gallon

[jrsatx20]

read here.
http://www.melevsreef.com/par_readings.html
this might help a lot. marc is a great guy knows his stuff.

[justahobby]

4 T5's over a softie tank sounds fine. You may think about raising your rock work to make them happier since your tank is semi deep. You could keep the bottom open for non-photos like sun coral.

There is much debate about if and what actinics do for coral. I have read everything from "just for looks" to " that's what they are most dependent on". Personally, I take a middle ground since I witness my coral responding to the light when I turn on actinics.

Again, there will be plenty more people that (hopefully) will come along and give you more accurate answers to your lightning questions.

[Big_Pun]

i run a single 250w hqi in a sunlight supply pendant about 6 inches above water, tank is 36lx24hx18d, and i have a lil of all types of coral only thing ive noticed is key is the flow softies usually dont like alot but .some of my zoas like good flow