How high should I place the lights

[hal9000]

I'm in the process of building a new canopy and I was wondering How High I should keep the lights. I going to have 2 250watt moguls and 4 65 watts power compacts. I want to get into more hard corals and clams. Is this enough light is it too much where should I place it? I'm a real newb when it comes to reef stuff, I would appreciate any help I can get.

[mbbuna]

most people place 250w mh between 8" and 12" above the water

[papagimp]

If you are unsure, stick em way up high and slowly acclimate the corals to the lights being lowered. Take a couple weeks getting them used to it, which is a pretty good idea to do with any new corals. Unless you know what lighting they were under originally.

fwiw, you may get some heat issues with that amount and type of lighting over a 55g tank. May wanna integrate some cooling fans into that canopy of yours. My 55g would heat up with just 4 x 65 watts of lighting. I've since replaced them with 6 x 54watt T5's and the heat isn't as bad. But 760 watts over a 55g... keep an eye on temp.