is this high lighting?

Hi. I have a 90 gallon tank (24 inches high, 4 feet long). I bought one PC fixture which is 4x65W (2 10,000K, 2 actinic), with another T5 fixture (4x55 W). So this is 260+220 = 480W.

Is this classified as high lighting for corals? I don't want metal halide lights since I don't want to deal with heat issues.

Thanks!

 

Its medium lighting at best.. the T5 are carrying the majority of the load the P/C are not adding much at all may want to consider getting more T5 depending on coral types you want to keep low in the tank.. 90's are hard to light all the way to the bottom I tried 2. 175 mogul M/H 's and wound up with 2 .250's D.E to do the job for clams on the very bottom .

 

MH don't cause as many heat issues as some people think. I have little to none and my halides are now - since the addition of my canopy - about 3 or 4 inches off the surface of the water. I have been watching my temp closely and it hasn't gone above 80. Of course, I keep the canopy lid open all day...

 

Really can't answer the question without more info. Your T5 fixture could put out quite a bit of light, or just a moderate amount. Does it have good reflectors?

On the PC setup, are there good reflectors on it as well (not as good as t5, but can still increase light output by 20% or more).

I will say a good T5 fixture with 6 or 8 bulbs will let you keep lots of sps in that tank. I replaced 2 400 watt halides on a 75 with a 8x54 watt T5 setup with good reflectors and most of the tank has twice the par and all of it has 50% more par.
But without good reflectors you loose a lot of light.

Kim