Question regarding light set up

[bampi]

I'm getting to the point that I really need to decide on lighting for my new tank. It's a 4x2 tank. I have two kessil A360W and 2 retrofit t5 fixtures. I was thinking:


blue+
Coral+
kessil kessil
purple+
blue+

Then running something like
kessil ramp 15-25 for 2 hours
kick on blue+ lights and jump kessils to 40% for 2 hours
kick on coral+/purple+ and kessil to 50% for 8 hours
drop and knock kessil to 40
drop and kessil to 25
ramp kessil from 25 to 15

see any issues with that? Or have recommendations for other bulb choices?

 

[mcarroll]

I can't give guidance on what you'll like in terms of colored bulbs (have you looked at ATI's guide?), but I can offer some more general advice...

You probably want a 12 hour day, inlcuding about an hour total for sunrise/sunset.

I would acquire and use some kind of light meter so you can ***** your lights in terms other than xx%.

A lux meter app is a good place to start because the price is right – free. It uses the light meter in your smartphone's camera to compute a regular lux reading. It's great because you can download it now and measure your lights immediately.

Better is a handheld lux meter like the "lx-1010b" that I use. It's got a bigger sensor and will give better readings, plus at less than $15, it's a lot safer to use over your aquarium! :)