55gal reef lighting

[nbologna12]

I have a 48" Coralife 4 bulb (4x21") light, back row is 2 Actinic bulbs and was wondering if I should go with the front row 10000k or go with 50/50 combo. I like a little bluer look to bring out the coral colors but will that be enough 10k light for coral growth?

 

[nbologna12]

Any lighting gurus out there.....?

 

[Jack22]

I wouldn't consider myself a lighting guru but I also have a 55 with an Aquatic life 4 bulb T5 HO fixture. I run 2 10000k bulbs and 2 actinic and do a 50/50 split. 1 of each in the front and 1 of each in the back. I have mostly soft and LPS so I don't have a huge light demand but they all seem to do really well under this set up. It also depends how the fixture is wired up. I'm not familiar with how the coral life fixture works. Does it have a timer or 2 power cords?

 

[blert]

Look into ATI Blue+ and AquaBlue Special bulbs. You won't be disappointed.

 

[nbologna12]

It has two cords and I have them on separate timers. The light has only two rows. The lights are the four pin dual bulb 21". Kind of sets up like this:

===== ===== (back are blue)
===== ===== (front 10k or 50/50)

 

[blert]

Look into ATI Blue+ and AquaBlue Special bulbs. You won't be disappointed.

Oh, PC bulbs. You are kind of stuck for color output. You can disregard the above, sorry.

 

[Jack22]

Yes, that's very different from the AL fixture I run. If you have a standard 55 its only 12in wide so you should get good coverage either way you go.

 

[nbologna12]

It is a standard 55....I can order a 4 bulb lot on eBay for $39.99. Thinking about getting the 2 actinic (spares) and 2 50/50. Not sure how long the life is of these bulbs so nice to have back ups.