watts/gallon

[acroporaman]

what is the absolute maximum wattage/gallon for a reef tank housing sps and lps corals? i heard 5 but would like other opinions. thanks

[BrokeColoReefer]

i have ran up to twice that much, with no ill effects. I had a 400 MH on a 46 gallon bow. Proper aclimation and things should be fine. I was a newbie at that point and i thought it would be like plants... the more the better. Now i think i was wasting electricity.

[Fiziksgeek]

The old watts/gallon is not really a good judge of lighting. Its a bit more complicated...you must factor in spread and depth....!

[Reefmaniac1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8653147#post8653147 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by acroporaman
what is the absolute maximum wattage/gallon for a reef tank housing sps and lps corals? i heard 5 but would like other opinions. thanks

On a reef? 5 would be kind of a mid-to-low range...depending on what you are keeping: Acros and other reef-building stonies need A LOT of light, non reef-building corals less and soft corals less than that (in general...as always, there are exceptions). But as stated above, the rule is pretty outdated.

[jag1979]

depends on the type of light...5 watts/gallon of t5 or mh is a LOT more light then 5 watts/gallon of pc or vho

[DrBDC]

You really can't figure it out this way but if I HAD to put a numbering on it I would say 10 wpg sps/clams, 6-8 lps, softies and some sps, 4-6 softies and some lps. So many other things go into it though. i.e. on a 175 watt mh if you put an XM15,000K bulb on vs an Iwasaki 15,000K bulb there is a difference in par of 3X depending on the ballast used. Even on my softie tank with pc's, a coralife bulb isn't anywhere near as bright as another brand I found to use.

[Reefmaniac1]

Which is all why the "wpg" rule is such a bad measurement.