lighting

[bertha]

hi have been keeping marines for some time now but have just changed my whole tank to an aqua one reef tank and have at the moment the standard t5 system but have changed the tubes to one marine hybride 24 watt one marine white 24 watt and one marine blue actinic also 24 watt would like to know how many more tubes i need to add to keep anenomes happy display section is about 30 in long by 12 in deep by 18 in high also what is an ideal par value to be having at the bottom of the tank ? the lighting aspect is so so confusing also if i were to change to a metal haide what recomendations could you make any help would be most appreciated bertha [not my real name ]

[ReefGod]

Well, I am pretty new to the hobby but from all my lighting research, if you are planning on keeping corals you need somewhere around 150 PAR at the bottom of the tank.. I could be wrong though. I dont think anemonies need that much. Just hard corals and clams.... My buddy has a couple anemonies under a 250w Metal Halide and they have split 3 or 4 times! This is one of the threads I found awhile ago, may help you a little.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1634188

[ReefGod]

I am new to the hobby but I think if you are keeping corals, 250 to 300 is a good number to aim for at the bottom. Metal halides are the easiest to hit these numbers with. Here is a thread I found while I was researching lighting. Target PAR values for SPS tank? - Reef Central Online Community They compare Metal Halide PAR with T8's I believe. I personally am in the middle of building an LED fixture. But my second choice would have been the MH. My buddy has an anemonie that split 3 times in less than a year under a 250W MH lighting.