Too much light for my softies and Lps corals??

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tsdpurdue

tsdpurdue

tsdpurdue
Feb 25, 2007
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Indiana
I have a 55 gallon reef tank with a few soft corals and Lps. I have a t-5 6x54 324watts light fixture. I was wondering if this is to much light. The other day I was cleaning the tank and I switched off two bulbs. I forgot to turn them back on, and later that day I went back to look at the tank and my corals (espically my leather toadstool) looked bigger and better than before. I just wanted to know what every one thinks.

Corals I have:
Hammer coral
Leathertoadstool
Miscellaneous zoos
Xenia
 
fsn77

fsn77

AC Moderators
Staff member
Feb 22, 2006
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Depending on your bulb selection and coral placement, 6 T5s could be a little much for the corals you have listed. I ran 5 T5s on my 90g and most of the corals you have listed I kept no higher than 3/4 of the way up the tank in order to keep them happy.

If you want to experiment a little, monitor the corals while only running 4 bulbs for a couple of weeks, or pick a coral or two and move it into a part of the tank that's getting less light.
 
greech

greech

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May 13, 2009
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Real Name
Graham
^Agreed. You could also replace 2 of the bulbs with actinics which won't put out as much PAR.
 
Khemul

Khemul

Sea Bunny
Oct 14, 2010
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South Florida
While I think you could get by on 4 bulbs, there may be another angle to this.

Your corals were used to a certain light level. They were adapted to it. Soft corals don't always expand to their fullest potential when they get more then enough light. They'll even start growing in ways that cut down the efficiency of their energy absorption, because there is no need for them to maximize efficiency if they are getting more then enough. You cut their lighting down. Probably enough for them to live on, but now they have to maximize efficiency, or at least reach a new equilibrium. So they use some of that extension they've been holding in reserve. To your eyes what you get is biggest corals that look happier.

You could wait and see. They could go back to their old look when they re-adapt to the lower light levels.
 
tsdpurdue

tsdpurdue

tsdpurdue
Feb 25, 2007
131
0
0
35
Indiana
That's interesting (Never really thought about that). I'm still going to run the four bulbs for a couple weeks just to see how things look. I will report back in a couple weeks
 
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