Lighting for 24" tall 30 gallon

C

CTaylor

Active member
Hi,
I'm getting back into keeping seahorses. Though I need to get a good light. My tank is 30 gallon tall: 24" tall, 24" wide 12" front to back (I think it's 12).

i'm looking at : http://www.petsolutions.com/C/Aquarium-LED-Lighting/I/Marineland-Reef-LED-Aquarium-Strip-Lights.aspx

It would be just seahorses in the tank, maybe some zooanthids, but no real corals.

I would get the 18' that expands to 24". As it's a lot less than a full 24" model. It's 32 watts blue + white together. LED

Thoughts?

Thanks!
 
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funny... i just ordered mine. as I was pretty sure it would be fine. Because I had 2x32watt PC fluorescents on it before and macros grew like crazy. This one is 30 watts LED, but LEDs have much more of a directional light, so it should be at least as much light as what I had before hitting though the water. And less power, and pretty much never change them. So can't be bad!

The one in your link is different though. If you're getting that one, it's 8 watts. I'm sure thats fine as it's for seahorses, and not a reef.

Nice price though!
 
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Unless they have changed the design, the Marinelands won't last on a saltwater tank. I bought a dozen of them when they first came out. Only one made it past a year. They all ended up having corrosion develop inside of them.

Dan
 
I would ask around for reliability. We mostly use overhead lighting and few clip on lamps with a cheap LED bulb replacement where needed. I tried the marinelands when they first came out and were on sale. I loved having them when they worked. LED lighting on a tank is much nicer than fluorescents. The seahorses are not overly particular, most folks will set up their lighting to their own likes or based on other inhabitants such as macros or corals.

Dan
 
the marineland is on it's way :-/ ... ordered it before any replies. It shouldnt get much if any salt spray on it, since I won't have anything in the tank to make bubbles. Plus it has a decent out put of 30+ watt LED. **I have a fine Fuge ray on my refuge for my reef tank, and i do like it. But premium aquatics, my main place doesn't carry the 24" anymore. And the other finnex they have didn't look so good for what I want. So I saw this marineland one on sale (maybe on sale for a reason :-/ ). I'll give it a go, if I get a bad feeling about it I'll see about returning it, esp if the warranty is < 1 year.
 
I found a finnex Fuge ray 2 LED 24" for about $85 on Amazon. 20 watts is pretty low. I like a fairly bright tank, and mine is 24" tall. So, what do others think about the marine land -- it is 30 watts. I just don't see how it can fail if there is little or no salt spray on it.

thanks
 
not the fuge ray 2 as far as what? It is 20 watts for a 24" . If you mean the wattage, it is less than the 30w on the marineland I'm about to receive.
 
Good point. But there will be a urchin pro protein skimmer on it.. .millions of tiny bubbles.. huge surface area for gas exchange :)
Also I have a 10 gallon sump below the tank without a cover on it.
 
Actually, this is a common misconception that skimmers are good gas exchangers when in fact, large bubbles that promote surface agitation work MUCH better. If the output of the skimmer is placed to disturb the surface of the tank, it helps more than the tiny bubbles do.
If your skimmer is set up correctly, it doesn't have a lot of surface area for gas exchange because the bubble's surface becomes coated with dissolved organics that it was designed to do.
Also, bubbles are experiencing a greater tension below the surface than what the air at the waters surface is exposed to. You can get some idea of this by reading at http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/surten2.html
Because pH is affected by the gas exchange, you can prove it for yourself by stopping the skimming for about 3 days and reading the pH before you stop it and again after you stop it, taking the readings at the same time of day each time. Then, after the skimmer is turned back on, read again for a few days at the same time of day the other readings were done. pH will be relatively unchanged when readings are taken at the same time of day.
Now if you stopped water flow in the tank enough to not have surface disruption, the pH (lower) will be affected more than a skimmer will. I don't recommend doing this as the pH change possibly can get to be too severe.
Your tank, a 30g 24" tall tank already has less surface area than a standard 30 and the 10g sump doesn't have a great area but it does augment what the tall 30 is lacking.
 
I'll try the pH test with no skimmer running. Assuming it will not be a difference, I can add surface agitation to the actual sump by a power head pointed over the surface of the water there, or at an angle, etc.
I'll have to check this on my reef tank also, could be why the pH is rarely above 8.07.
Thanks :-D
 
Just a reminder to always test at the same time of day as the pH rises slowly through the day and then goes down after lights are out.
If you test at differing times, the result is definitely going to be different.
 
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