RubenD wrote:
Watts per gallon is the worst measurement for light just because of the
reasons you list. It does not take into account the depth of the tank
or where in the tank you are putting the creatures.

What is the best measurement for lighting then?

There is no good measurement for hobbiests. If you had the equipment
you could measure the par in different places in your tank and then see
if the coral you were looking at would survive with that amount of par.


I supposed the coral under the bulb is the winner regardless of the
watts/gallon rule or the size of the tank, but how much light would be
acceptable? If I place the coral under the 30watts bulb, he'll be getting
not 6w but 30w, right?

Close but not quite. If the light was a point light source, with a
perfect reflector then yes the coral would be getting all 30watts of light


The best thing I can say is post on here what size of a tank you are
setting up and what specific corals you want to keep and where at in the
tank you want to keep them.




What you think?




Kim