Lighting

I am wondering if this lighting system would be suitable for a 90 gallon reef tank.

2x 150 watt 20 000K HQI metal halide

I read alot of stuff about lighting and think it would be prefectly suitable..but I would like a second opinion!

Bunner

 

it should be enough but it might also be on the lower side

 

you need about 5watts per gal. The gurus will chime in pretty quick

 

ahhh ic well the main thing i was worried about was how far it would penetrate....but from my reading it would be ok.

 

what are you trying to keep?

 

I'm not sure. what will i be able to keep if this light is insufficient? nothing?

 

there is always something you can keep, a good rule is 4 to 6 watts a gallon 4 being low light needing items and 6 being high light needing, but as with what ever you keep the needs with be different not just light. 20k is more on the blue side of the spectrum, it is good for slow growth and intense color

 

watts per gallon is no way to determine lighting efficiency, i will tell you that you will be able to keep softies, LPS (if near the top) but no SPS. With 250 watt halides you could keep everything

 

150 watts, it depends on your reflectors. If you used lumenarc reflectors you could keep just about anything with 150's but with standard set up you could do lps and softies of all sorts with no problems. People put lps in a step up from softies but there are lps that are lower light than softies. If I were you dude I would do a couple of 250's so you aren't restricted on what you can have. BTW NEVER NEVER listen to "watts per gallon" My best friend has 3 watts per gallon and it's the best looking sps tank i have ever seen, in person or on the threads.

 

ic ok thanks for your input!