Did I install my lights correctly?

So if I add one 175 watt MH to it then it would be fine?

 

Don't ever let a LFS talk you into anything. Do YOUR research first then take your money to purchase. You just learn a variable lesson....research, research, research!

 

With individual reflectors on the t-5's they put out more light than the pc's. It's not a wattage thing. They are brighter than the pc's.

 

What are you planning on keeping in this tank ? That is key. We could suggest things all day long , but without your plan we are just throwing darts at the wall. ;D Soft corals and fish t-5's , Sps and other's Metal halide's with vho actinic supplemental lighting. Jmo. Good luck! Keep us posted.

 

I agree

 

T5's use a different wave length of light band than PC's which distorts less across the waters surface therefor penetrating further, not quite as good as MH but way better than PC's

I have that same tank, I didnt buy the canopy because of the exact issue you're running into now, I purchased the 36" tek lite 6x39 and have it sitting on top of it now, looks great and everything is happy in the tank,

If you want a good deal on a retro kit that will fit in that canopy PM Tangster on here he can get you prices and good recommendations on what would be needed to get you up and running on lights, and if you wanted to do a single 150w MH it shouldn't heat it up to badly, you can always just clip a fan onto the back of the canopy to blow air inside to help with surface exchange and keep the temp in check

If you just want softies, lps and even anenome's T5's work great on that tank

 

i dont agree w/some of you guys on t5 vs pc i have a 40 gal aga w/2 96 watt pc and i have several lps(galaxia,frogspawn,hammer,a huge bubble w several new pieces growing off it as well as tons of shrooms zenia leathers ect all doing very well under 2 pc 96 watt

 

WPG as we used to know it no longer applies. With the advent of T5s and MHs and the like, there is no fair comparison between the two other than things such as PAR and lumens, not watts per gallon.

For anyone who is out of the know, T5s are VERY comparable to MHs and have been documented to even color up acropora!! They use less wattage and have the same results. So where a 55w T5 might equal something like a 175w MH (this is just an example, I don't know if it's true...simply for illustration), put both of those over separate...say...20 gallon tanks. The one with T5s is going to come to 2.75 WPG whereas the one with MHs will come to 8.75 WPG.

That's not fair, considering they will both have the same results.

 

Another way I like to put the WPG argument to rest is this:

If you have a 100 watt incandescent bulb over a 10 gallon tank, thats 10 watts per gallon, right? Which by all rules of thumb is GREAT! 10wpg of MH would easily support a clam, but 10wpg of incandescent would send squishy to the clam farm in the sky.

WPG is not a good way to figure out your lighting.

 

How deep is your tank and how far under water are those corals though, I have Pc's in my nano and everything in there is doing fine but the light only has to penetrate about 6" of water to get to most all of it
as far as shrooms and xenia that stuff will grow with nearly no light