Lighting the front of corals

[FarmerTy]

I got 2 problems here:

1) My large reflectors are blocking my actinics from reaching all areas of the tank

2) With the metal halide setup, the corals in front of the centerline of the metal halides are darker due to no direct light hitting their front sides.

My setup is 3 large reflectors, with two VHOs front and back, but above the reflectors.

Questions:

1) Should I try to mount the VHOs below the reflectors? Space is going to be really tight to reach into the tank from the front if I do that.

2) Do you think this will help light the fronts of the corals with just the superactinic, or should I swap that out for a full spectrum bulb (T-5 or VHO, and if so, what color/spectrum/type... I know nothing of T-5 bulbs). I would like to be able to keep the actinics so I still have my dawn to dusk effect. Perhaps switch out the front one for a full spectrum and keep the back one actinic? Would one 5' actinic bulb in the back of the tank be enough for a 125-gallon tank?

Any advice is appreciated. I just want as much color on the fronts of my corals as I see with the one's behind the centerline of the metal halides (towards the back of the tank). I know with an all T-5/VHO setup you wouldn't even have this issue.

-Ty

[Juiceman]

I had my VHO's in the back of the tank and my halides in the front and they worked well. Right now I have my VHO's on the front and back, it's alot more even. Would you be able to raise the halides at all, like remove the top of the canopy? That would remove some of you're problem too. I think if you did move it down in from of the halides the way you have now, you can keep the actinic and it should shine through fine.

[FarmerTy]

Yeah, I was thinking of having an open top canopy and having the reflectors sitting on wood beams (the edges) and then mounting the VHO's underneath the wood beams. I'm just curious if the actinic will light the front of the coral adequately or if I need to swap to a full spectrum bulb.

[Juiceman]

When I had them set up that way with the halides sitting above the canopy and the VHO's in the front and back, they lit up well.

Worst case senario, move the halides up and see if it does the trick. You can always change the bulb in the front for a different spectrum and keep the old actinic as a replacement for you're back.

[FarmerTy]

That's true. The VHOs actually need to be replaced anyways so I'll test it out and if it doesn't light it up well, in the trash you go and I'll buy one actinic and one full spectrum to replace. Thanks for the advice.