Lighting help for newbie

[VenturaSteve]

I have a 60 gl. tank. 18' high with a 4" sand bed. I have 4- 48" X 54w HO T-5s, + 1 24" t-5. 2 blues come on at 9:30 A.M. and run until 9 P.M., 2 days come on at 11 and stay on until 6:30 P.M., the remaining 24" daylight is on for about 8 hours during the day.
I figured the watts per gallon to be about 6 to 7 watts.(?) My question is that I don't know if this is adequate for a reef system with mostly soft, and some hard corals. I'm new, so I don't know what color things should be, or how fast things should grow. I have room for 2 more T-5s under the hood when money permits. Any suggestions.

[wizardgus®]

Steve,
I'm not real familiar with the T-5s, but I might help some.

First, don't get real hung-up on the watts/gal thing. It is only a guideline used in this hobby, and for the most part a meaningless one.

But, my Softie tank is a 40B (36X18X16) I have 2X96W PC over it. All the Softies; Ricordea, Zoanthids, GSP, Anthelia, Cladiella, Sarcophyton, Sinularia and Lobophytum do very well in there. I also have a few Montipora dig. that show very good growth.

I would think you might expect similar results from your lights.

HTH