29g lighting for sps coral..is this enough?

[phuntoon]

For a 29g reef I'm currently setting up, the lighting I planned on using was the coralife aqualight 150w 14,000k MH bulb. Would this be enough to handle sps coral? Could the placement of the sps coral be anywhere or should it be near the top, or do I also need supplemental lighting?

Thanks

 

[lgoins]

I have a 29 gallon with a coralife 150 watt light with a phoenix 14k bulb and have noticed that I'm only able to keep bright acro's near the top. However with that being said one of the previous tank of the month's used only 150 watters and had acros growing and keeping color almost on the bottom of the tank. I would suggest keeping easier sps first like digitata's and see how they keep their color under your lighting and general tank conditions.

 

[LBCBJ]

I'd recommend a 250w. I have a 150w on my 18g and its only a moderate light level.

 

[lgoins]

If I had it all over to do again, I would also recommend a 250.

 

[duec22]

I think it kind of depends on how heavy you want to go into acros, and where you live. In my neck of the woods it gets far too hot to run a 250w over a 29gal without running AC 24/7 durring the summer or haveing a chiller for a 29gal tank. I know this because I bought a 250w to put over mine, and now it just stis in a box. I had to go with T-5s to keep the heat down, but they come with their own set of problems.

 

[lgoins]

Yeah, if it's hot enough in your house/apt, a 150 can overheat your tank easily. I have a fan pointing directly at my pendent which keeps the tank around 81-83 during the summer, 78-82 during the winter. If I don't keep a fan on it in the summer, it get's up to 86!

 

[Nathan4Wvu]

I have a 250 on my 29 plus 130 watts of pc. I don't have any sps yet because the tank has not completly cycled yet but I think I should be ok with 13 watts per gallon!! lol Mine stays cool but i have a 7 inch high cfm cooler fan in the back thats hooked to a temp sensor that kicks it on and off. If i keep the house ac on 72 it does not kick on very often

 

[10" Red Devil]

my 2 nuts. Get a 150 DE setup with a nice bulb. A lot of people will tell you need a 250, not true. There are plenty of good examples of people running 150s on much larger tanks then yours with great results. If anything have that much light could potentially bleach your tank, causing you to have to raise the light which will put you back to a 150. There is a guy on here, cant think of his name off hand, has a 50 gallon with 2 150s, most amazing colors I have seen in an sps system.

I like the recommendation for a set of T-5s very energy efficient and a lot less heat.

Good-luck with whatever you decide!

 

[mister crabs]

what problems you have with t-5's duec22?

 

[hahnmeister]

I love my T5s. They rock. I would suggest a 250wattDE though for a 29g...too short for 3' T5s, and 2' T5s arent worth the cost. If you switched to a 30L, then you could use a 4x39wattT5...easily more light than a 250watt halide for less watts.

 

[easye123]

I totally agree with 10''

 

[gfk]

i plan on getting a 175 watt 14k mh and supplimenting it with t5's
although you can only get t5's in 24" i plan to get 2 blue and 2 white and stagger them in the front and back.

 

[hahnmeister]

250watt vs 150watt depends alot on what K bulb you want. If you go 20,000K, then you should go 250watt since most 20,000K bulbs have 1/2 the output of their 10,000K cousins...so a 20,000K 250watter has about the same output as a 150watt 10,000K. If you go 10,000K, then 150watts is fine...but most dont like 10,000Ks alone, and you will prolly want to add some actinic bulbs...which adds watts, and bulbs... so you might as well just get a 20,000K 250watter and have an all in one solution right off the bat.

 

[gjuarez3]

My 29g has a 250w mh with reeflux bulb, and 2 x 75w vho for supplimentation. i couldnt be happier. Here are some old pics when it first began.

10k no VHO

10k and vho on

 

[gjuarez3]

In the second pic, my tank doesnt look as blue as it does in the pic. need to adjust the balance on it.

 

[hahnmeister]

OMG, that 29g has a Tunze stream and 400watts of lighting...WOW. SPS heaven...heck...that might be too much for many SPS even.

 

[wayne in norway]

I would bear in mind that when you're 150, 250, whatever, that a DE 150 gives as much light as 250 mogul - don't just go for watts as a guide.

 

[hahnmeister]

The only way that a 150wattDE gives you just as much light as a 250 mogul is if the 150 is a 10,000K and the 250 is a 20,000K.

 

[Victoria]

Here's a pic of my 29 gal with 150w MH DE 10,000k + 2 65 w PC

Victoria

 

[10" Red Devil]

Victoria,

Wha, wha wow! That is what Im talking about man! Thanks for sharing that with us!