29 Gal WIP with T5 lighting?

[saab340pilot]

I currently have a 29 with a 20g sump/fuge 600gph overflow that is burning a hole in my pocket in more ways than one. My question relates to the lighting I have yet to purchase. I have my heart set on some T'5s but have heard lots of things concerning how many watts should be used with t5s vs. MH or PC. shopping around i saw the "Nova Extreme" on foster and smith that was putting out 156 W w/ 4 39 W bulbs giving me around the standard of 4W/gal. I was also instructed at a local fish store that a 24'' Reef Geek with 2 24 W bulbs 'would be sufficient to grow softies, much less than 4W/gal. In my reasearh of T5s it would seem that what makes or breaks the fixture is in the ballast and the reflector and since the bulb is smaller there is more room for a parabolic reflector which in turn uses the available light more efficiently. My question is two fold for the light; does 24W provide enough light in your opinions for a standard 29, AND are units like the tek 5 from reef geek worth the extra coin because they have a better ballast? It would seem that the tek 5 has a HO and a VHO version with the VHO boasting an ice cap ballast that overdrives the light.

 

[GoingPostal]

Honestly I wouldn't bother with t5 unless they have the individual reflectors, with them they rock, without, not so great. I would go for more than two bulbs because 29's are kind of a deeper tank and you will always want more light IME. Watts per gallon is unless, the corals don't know how big of a tank they are in, only how far they are from the light and how powerful your light is. For example I have about 9 watts per gallon but it's not killing anything because my halides are pretty far off the water, my tank's only 12" deep.

 

[Mr James]

Re: 29 Gal WIP with T5 lighting?

by saab340pilot
...My question is two fold for the light; does 24W provide enough light in your opinions for a standard 29,

You haven't given us information on what the contents of the tank will be. Lighting has everything to do withwhat you plan to keep under those lights. I once had a 20H with a 250w MH over it. It was an SPS tank. My ignorant LFS said I would boil the water with that light over it. When I showed him pics of the corals darn near growing out of the water, he retracted his statement. Later he put 150w MH's over his show tanks. I use MH for main lighting and VHO's for actinic supplementation. T5's are great, I just haven't used them yet, but plan to soon.

by saab340pilot
...AND are units like the tek 5 from reef geek worth the extra coin because they have a better ballast? It would seem that the tek 5 has a HO and a VHO version with the VHO boasting an ice cap ballast that overdrives the light.

I am a fan of Ice Cap products. I plan to use the IC660 with the appropriate bulbs. I am not a fan of pendants. I prefer retro fit systems as you can determine what bulb, ballast and reflector you want to use. Make sense??

 

[saab340pilot]

I think just soft corals simple stuff like frog swawn and mushrooms ect... I appreciate the help and agree about the individual reflectors I think im siding with the Tek 5 4x24 would give me enough ligh, or at least the option to

 

[benihana]

With the Tek fixture you would be fine to keep most anything in the 29g.

If you haven't yet, check out www.tcmas.org - that is most of us Minneapolis/St. Paul reefers hang out

 

[kylesmoney]

the t5's might even be overkill for a lot of soft corals, though you would be set for most things in the future.

 

[FastFish720]

I would go with 4x24 T5 watts. Remember that watts per gallon is not a good indicator of intensity. So in comparison to PC, say a 2x65w fixture at 130w and 4x24w T5 at 96w you are going to use less electricity with the T5 and have greater intensity.

P.S. a 29 gallon tank is 30" long, so 39w bulbs won't work as they are 36" long.