Do I have to much light?

[DANE MFG]

Been reading books and these boards and I'm a little confused. My tank is a 20gal long 12x12x30 I have an Icecap 440 with 2 24" VHO bulbs one 50/50 and an Atintic 150 watts total. I have a canopy I made that holds the lights about 5" above the water (get a nice ripple effect). Now I don't want to keep corals that are difficult, I was thinking the Mushroom route. I've read on the nano board that they basically go with low watted PC lights and barley ever go above 60-80 watts for a tank of the same height, although a do have an additional 5". So to my question, is my lighting to much for Mushroom corals and what corals would you recommend for this lighting scheme? Thanks, John

 

[Ben1]

Mushrooms prefer low current and lighting to expand fully. I have some growing under my 400 watt halides (which I will destroy soon) and some under my PC's. The go crazy under my 165 watts of PC lighting. FWIW PC's are basically equal to VHO's. 150 watts is in no way too much light, it really isnt that much but perfect for softies and lps.

 

[GateKeep]

For what it's worth, I've got a 20H with a 250MH bulb about 6" over the water surface. I've had little problems that I'd attribute to the light, other than heat. Be ready for a fair amount of evap (I get about 1g a day.)

Also, you might have more of an algae problem, but only if there's excess nutrients or phosphates in the water to feed to algae.