Lighting for a 29 Gal softie tank.

[twintrades]

Ok im going to start a 29 gallon softie tank. Should i use the 70 watt MH light or a 130 watt CF ??

There will be NPS corals in there also.

It will have many differnt types of softies. SO what would you use ??

And i also have a 75gal lps/sps tank so thats the resaon for a softie only.

 

[tahammo]

Howdy,

I started in this hobby 3 yrs ago with a 29 gallon. I used 2 65w power compacts and was able to even keep an enemoe(misspelled I know) for two years. Had other softies also with no problems, however tank temp was always a problem till I set up a sump for it. Therefore I would shy away from the halide.

Hope this helps,

Thomas

 

[potterjon]

I would think metal halides would be overkill also, but if you like the look, I understand. I would probably just try a HO t5 two bulb fixture.

 

[twintrades]

reason for the 2 fixtures is because i have the 2 sitting around. No t-5

 

[potterjon]

then I guess I would go with the metal halide. I couldn't grow anything but algae when I had cf.

 

[tdwright1971]

is there anyway you could combine the two? I used the two 65 over a 36 bowfront It was sufficient for maybe the top 1/3, i added some t5's and that helped alot, Now i am using a single 250watt mh. But I have a sump and a controller.

 

[Alunai]

I'm using a 30" Nova Extreme SLR T5HO fixture. I'm hoping my softies will like that light.

 

[Soundtrigger]

T5HO will work fine for a 29 I had a 30 with power compacts they worked fine t5s are even better get some T5HOs

 

[Misled]

Personal opinion, I'd go with the halide. Something like a 14k bulb. That's what I'd do anyway.

 

[Radar1]

I don’t have many softies anymore but have always had great color and growth with high lighting, but your NPS might suffer for sure.

My first tank was a 20 gallon with a 150 halide and then a 56 gallon with a 400 watt halide + 2 VHO's and all the soft corals I had grew like crazy.

 

[amanofego]

i'm using one of these

 

[twintrades]

Well i only have the choice of the PC or Mh.

 

[rayn]

I'd go MH if you can. Sure PC might work, but you'll be able to do more will the MH. If it is too much could you just hang it and have it higher off the surface?

 

[twintrades]

The Mh is just a 70 watt. So ill have to play with the distance to get the coverage and par i want. More light is better. Butt with it being smaller the light dosnt have the expance id like. Well weel see. I might even do a post of the par readings i get.

 

[manycolors]

I have a couple softies (mushrooms and zoas) in my sump under a florescent bulb and they are retaining color, sure it's not good color, but they are living. It's surprising how little light some softies need to grow. Throw the MH on there and if it covers the whole tank, You should be good.