Lighting for a 30 gallon reef tank?

[myst]

Not sure if this should be in the DIY forum.

My cousin had an old 30 gallon freshwater tank that he decided to turn into a reef tank. He has the hood that came with it, but there is only one bulb in it. We are both new to reefkeeping, but we are pretty handy, should we make/buy another hood with more lighting for his tank?

What type of lighting should we use, how many bulbs? We are basically starting from scratch.

 

[JetCat USA]

get a T5 retro and build your own canopy. the number of bulbs would depend on what you wanted to keep and how many you can cram into the hood.

 

[avp]

If you are handy at building stuff, I'd build a canopy and install 4 36" t-5 lights with reflectors. Various rc sponsors (reefgeek.com as an example) sell retro-fit kits just for this type of application.

If you want to buy something, look at the Aquactinics tx-5 series of lights. They work well on a 30 gallon 'long". You could go with metal halides as well, either as retro-fits or as a light fixture. It all depends on what type of livestock you want to keep.

-avp

 

[myst]

Thanks, he wants to keep some corals and fish, nothing too fancy or hard to maintain, the easy to moderate stuff.

So the Aquactinics tx-5 series comes pre-made as a hood and you just slap it on?

 

[avp]

yep, that's it. Plug it in, turn it on, and its party time.

Insert your own "sounds like my old girlfrend" joke here.

-avp.

 

[kysard1]

A 30G is 36x18x12 ? Tough size to light with a Metal Halide. T5 would be a good option.