Too much light?

Hey gang--

I'm adding to my 216watt t5 set up.
I currently have the unit sitting above my 72 gallon tank.
I bought a 660 icecap ballast and 4 vho bulbs with end caps... 2 bulbs are actinic. (440 watts total)

Should I just use two vho bulbs in the front of the tank where the bow is at (220 watts with 1 actinic) and push the t5 unit to the back (216 watts) for a total of 436 watts running about 8 hours or so? That's 6 watts per gallon versus 9 watts if I use all 4 vho bulbs

I think the other two vho bulbs would be too much for the tank that's only 18 inches deep and 48 inches long, 12 inches wide.

I currently only have a flower pot coral and fish... but I am looking to add an anemone, softies and some hard corals in the future.

Any thoughts?

Ryan

 

I don't think you have a problem as long as you acclimate what you already have to that much light, can you remove some of the tubes to start with?
they normally start in pairs, just need to figure out the right spectrum that the corals you are keeping require, and on the other hand you may just be adding too much light it all depends on what you are keeping.

 

Personally I'd use all the lights but acclimate your corals as R34 said

J