Lighting hight for my 55 gallon reef tank

[Carterjaxon2009]

Hey guys I had a few questions about my lighting that I have. I have 2 165 watt popular grow led lights 2 channel. Now I'm wondering if my lighting is to close or to high I'll send pics plus what % should I put my blues and what % for my whites thanks........

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[WatDatThing]

Mine are 6-7 inches from the water surface. Being so close means less coverage area. Mine hung inside a canopy so I have no choice.
My blue band is currently at 35% and white only at 5%. My tank is only 5 months old. I'm acclimating the inhabitants to the light setting with my BTA happiness being the main focus.


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[Ron Reefman]

The height off the water is pretty immaterial. It was an issue back in the days when leds didn't have dimmers. Now it's just about getting full tank coverage and light spill outside the tank. You'll have some spill because you have lights that get all the way to the ends of your tank, so the spread of 90 degrees down from there will spill outside the tank.

I think you have plenty of light for your tank and I'd recommend you start at about 10 to 20% white and 30 to 40% blue. It's hard to say when to quite bumping them up.

A PAR meter is the easiest way to set the power levels. Borrow one from a fellow club member, ask the LFS if they have one you can barrow or rent, and you can find them for rent online.

I'd suggest you try the 'canary in a coalmine' approach. Get a small frag of a red cap monti and set it in your tank higher than all the other corals. When you raise the light intensity too high, the red cap will start to bleach before any other corals. At that point, dial the power back a bit (5% to 10%) and you should be good to go.

[JUNBUG361]

Agree on purchasing a par meter or barrow 1. It will be easier than trying to figure out