gear-head
Aquarium Advice Freak
Perplexed about something :?
I have a 55g tank, 48" long, 20 something inches high.
I see rules of thumb for reef tanks of 3-5 watts per gal.
I see PowerCompacts from CustomSeaLife and others with 4x96w bulbs, for a total of 376 watts, or 6.8 watts per gallon, way above the rule of thumb.
Yet everywhere I read that you must have Metal Halides for a reef tank.
So is it the spectrum of MH that is required for reef tanks, not watts per gallon?
I have a 55g tank, 48" long, 20 something inches high.
I see rules of thumb for reef tanks of 3-5 watts per gal.
I see PowerCompacts from CustomSeaLife and others with 4x96w bulbs, for a total of 376 watts, or 6.8 watts per gallon, way above the rule of thumb.
Yet everywhere I read that you must have Metal Halides for a reef tank.
So is it the spectrum of MH that is required for reef tanks, not watts per gallon?