need experts help .

[juniorjose]

hey everyone.

i currently have a 29 gallon that 30by12by18. i have 130 watts of pc lighting and was told this would not be enough to keep sps corals or any hard corals. soon im in the hoped of upgrading into a 175watt mh to get the diversity out of this hobby. i was just interested in some advices from some of u as to how much flow and if these lighting would be good? would a koralia 1 be good in the tank or do i need more flow?

let me know

thanks. jose:dance:

 

[jakester]

I would at least do a 250 watt If you want to do sps , although a 175 would be sufficient. I also started a 29 a while back ago and the koralias just were not enough. got a vortech mp10 and worked out great. everything is doing great. hope this helps

 

[Jabrams]

I agree with jakester, I had a 175 in the begining and it was poor.

I didnt get good growth and the colors were not would they could be. A 250 is really not much more money but will allow you to keep great sps with great growth and color.

The MP10 is a wonderful pump/wavemaker, I have one of my 14g

 

[ihavtats29]

i think the 250 would be too much for a 29 gal . i have a 56 gal 30x18x24 i was running a 150 de on one side and a 250 de on the other. only reason for the diferant wattage and useing 2 halides is because of the center brace and the lighting is what i had laying around, ive lost all my sps from up grading to the 56 from a 20 used to have 4)24 w ho t-5's , i let the tank settle for a month and a half made sure everything was stable and in check and added 2 new sps to the tank . 1 ora green birdsnest and 1 green stylo that came from large healthy colonys from a local reefer keept under 400 de's ,in a 180, only been a week and the stylo under the 250 has completely rtn'd the birds nest that was under the 150 looks great, also placement of some lps were affected by the 250 , a colony of red blasto mussa have been drawn in and receding and a colony of duncan's would not open up under the 250 , now with them being under 2 ) 150 de the are showing some faith and recovering well. i would go with a 175 or a 150 de .

just my 0.2 cents

 

[juniorjose]

hmmm. those vortechs are too expensive for me right now. i have head great thing about them but they are pricy. what if i add two koralia 1 to each of the sides?
i also thought that 175watt of mh would already be waaay to much light for my tank, and now u guys are telling me its too little.

can someone else pitch in?

 

[Jabrams]

koralia are not my favorite, I had one and it didnt even last a year.
what if i add two koralia 1 to each of the sides?
That what still be a constant flow, its better to have some wave simulation.
like a pulse - left on /off then right on/off

Regarding a 250 being too much light:
No ihavtats29, its not too much!

If you can keep the tank cool you'll NEVER have too much light.

More ever, lighting does not cause RTN - it may bleach if you introduce to quickly and lead to death if your not careful.

 

[juniorjose]

Whats RTN? if i did get the 175 w mh. what i can i keep in my 29 gallon. everything?

 

[Jabrams]

Rapid Tissue Narcoses

Nobody knows what causes it.

 

[Jabrams]

if i did get the 175 w mh. what i can i keep in my 29 gallon. everything?

Sure, you can keep just about anything, I would suggest moving your acros close to the light, say at the top of the rock structure.

If you go with a 175 stay away from the 20k, that will just not be enough light.
A 10k with actinics will show you some good results.

 

[andyt2989]

Whats RTN?

RTN = rapid tissue necrosis. The flesh peels off the coral leaving behind just the limestone skeleton - very nasty and can occur in just a few hours.

Causes are not known for sure and this may or may not be the same condition that has been reported in wild corals. In the aquarium poor control of alkalinity is a prime suspect for the root cause.

I have never heard of lighting causing this - but upgrading the lighting could cause corals to have a growth spurt that could in turn deplete the alkalinity.

 

[juniorjose]

ok thanks. regarding the temperature of the lights, would a 14k be better than the 10 k. i didnt really want to add any supplemental lighting to the tank except for the mh.
what would be an estimate as to how fast the corals grow if parameters are in check ?

 

[flying_dutchman]

@ihavtats29
I had a 250w on 30g's on the past and it works out great.

Whats RTN?

Rapid Tissue Necrosis (the skin falls of, leaving bare skeleton) causes are still not really known (but it's associated with stress) and there is no cure yet.

For flow I would look into two of the new hydor evolution pumps on a wavemaker. 2x 750gph or maybe 1x 750 and 1x 1050

BTW how's the clown breeding going?
-Joost

 

[flying_dutchman]

ok thanks. regarding the temperature of the lights, would a 14k be better than the 10 k. i didnt really want to add any supplemental lighting to the tank except for the mh.

I like 14k, but 10k gives more growth. 10k may look yellow if you use cheap bulbs.

 

[andyt2989]

ok thanks. regarding the temperature of the lights, would a 14k be better than the 10 k. i didnt really want to add any supplemental lighting to the tank except for the mh.
what would be an estimate as to how fast the corals grow if parameters are in check ?

Personal preference. Most people prefer the way 14k looks. You generally get higher intensity and therefore faster growth with lower k bulbs - but things look a bit yellow, the 14k bulb gives a nice crisp white.

 

[juniorjose]

yo joost: got a link ? i sent u a pm by the way on the clowns.

 

[02REDZ28]

Id do a 250 DE in a Reef Optix III pendant. Thats all you would need. I also like Phoenix 14K DE bulbs for a less expensive, but quality bulb.