Light Placement (Frag Tank)

[Mando77]

I am in process of finishing my frag tank set up. I am trying to figure out how high I should hang my T5 lights over my frag tank. It is about 40 gallons, (48 long, 16 wide, 7 1/2 tall) and the light fixture has 4 (54 watt) T5's. The light fixture now sits about 2 inches from the top, but it is hard or close to impossible to get you hand in tank so I wanted to raise 5-6 inches. I wondered if this would be a bad thing?

 

I also was thinking about the lighting mixture? This tank is for mainly SPS and soley to grow corals. Should I use a 50/50 mixture of blue/white or a 25/75 mixture of blue/white. I want to optimize growth and still retain some color.

 

Any help would be greatly appeciated.

[FearTheTerps]

You will be fine having the fixture that high, with a shallow frag tank theres not as much water for the light to penetrate, so you will get better PAR compared to a "normal tank". I keep my t5 fixture on my DT about 8 inches above the waterline with no problems.

[Mando77]

Thanks, that puts my mind at ease.