5 watts per gallon????

[Vince272992]

I know 5 watts per gallon would be good for most lps and all softy, but give me an idea on what type of sps corals i could get, and how bout clams. I have high flow and good filtration.

[Reef Bass]

Watts per gallon is not a good measure of light intensity. It does not take into account depth. In case you weren't aware, the intensity of light follows the inverse square law, I=1/D2. And that's not D*2, that's D squared. The point is light drops off quickly the farther one is from the source.

What you have might work if your tank is 12" deep, but maybe not if it's 24".

One should be concerned with adequate par, say 150-500. If you don't have access to a par meter, that's when people start saying things like "would this acro live high up under my 4 bulb t5?"

[bamf25]

Plus, with the addition of leds which produce alot a light at lower wattage then t5's and MH, the 5 watt rule can not be applied.

[ange062]

Plus, with the addition of leds which produce alot a light at lower wattage then t5's and MH, the 5 watt rule can not be applied.

I typically use a rough estimate of 2 x LEDwatts = MH/T5watts for a conversion to get a baseline sense of the lighting you are dealing with. Granted, this can vary greatly based on LED's, drivers, optics, etc etc.

I agree with above, but WPG can still give you ballpark IMO.