T5HO Reef lighting help

I've noticed my corals lately have been either receding or show no new growth what-so-ever, and I was curious if it was because of my lighting. I have 4 T5 bulbs fitted into my canopy, each have their own reflector and connected to GLO ballasts. I have two 10k 54 watt bulbs and two atinic 39 watt bulbs. The tank is 2 feet tall, is this tank too deep for the lights?

 

It is possible that the fixture is not strong enough. How old are the bulbs and how long do you keep the lights on? How often do you do water changes?

Please list the following parameters:
Calcium
Magnesium
Alkalinity
Specific Gravity or salinity
Nitrate
Phosphate

 

I think 24" is to much for that lighting. You might try using all 4 lamps @ 10k light, using just 2 might start being an issue.

 

Some pictures of the tank and corals would be of help also.

Reefing Madness you maybe right on changing the actinics but I would go with a blue bulb to keep a similar color to the tank. I would also suggest going to ATI,Aqua Science, KZ, UVL or Geisemann bulbs when making a change.

 

might be an age thing too... T5 bulbs only last 8 months IME (folks say 9, but by 9 I have algae outbreaks, I change at 8).

 

That depends on the bulb, hours on per day and whether you have active cooling. I have 11 to 12 months on my ATI bulbs and am getting better color from my corals than every. With active cooling and 8 to 10 hours per day use actinics are good for 12 to 18 months, blues around 18 months and daylights up to 24 months. At this point they have about a 30% reduction in output if I remember right. Splash guards and glass covers have 7% and about 20% reduction in output on their own. I have neither so I suspect that is why I am seeing better "production" from my bulbs.

 

What is "active cooling". My fixture has built in fans that run when actinics come on... And that's in a house with central A/C... (only saying bc I realize not everyone here has central A/C).

I agree it depends on the bulb and how long you run it. I run my ATI's 7 and 10 hours a day. At 9 months, I got algae problems and corals that don't like to open. Replace the bulbs and the algae is gone within a couple weeks for another 8 or 9 months and the coral opens back up after a couple days.

That 12-18 month number... maybe for you... Probably some other variables in there too. (My fixture does have splash guard and reflectors; see sig for model)

 

Fans are active cooling as long as they draw air across the end of the bulbs. I don't have a splash guard so that may make all of the difference, it may allow my bulbs to run cooler than yours which extends the life.

 

Sorry for the late response and thank you for the replys, I'll have to get back to you on the tests since I'm about to leave for work unfortunately.

The lights are brand new, ZooMed lights (got them at a great price). I run all four 12 hours a day. I do 4 gallon water changes twice a week (but my hair algae never dies off). I have two cooling fans that I haven't set up yet mostly because of lack of outlets since my other four tanks are hogging up the rest.

Here is a few pictures, excuse the mess haha.

Photo Album - Imgur

(Album of a few pictures)

 

Just realized I had a few extra minutes,

Calcium 420ppm
Magnesium No test kit
Alkalinity 5 DKH
Specific Gravity or salinity 1.025
Nitrate 0, Ammonia .25 (Small re-cycle changed filters recently)
Phosphate 0