Opinions on lighting a standard 29

[fishdoc11]

Hey everyone,
I was just looking for first hand opinions on lighting options for a 29 I will converting to a mainly zoa tank with a few LPS and possibly a few sps frags from my larger tank. I will mainly be keeping the sps if I go with all VHO as I have a couple of the old Garf corals that seems to color up better in a higher nutrient environment with VHO's

I am considering:

4 24" VHO's with....
2 URI atinic whites
2 superatinics

2 24" VHO's and 2 24" T5's with....
1 super atinic VHO
1 atinic white VHO
1 ATI blue plus T5
1 ATI aquablue

or all T5's...

4 24" T5's with......
2 ATI aquablue
2 ATI blue plus .......also possibly a URI(UV) true atinic instead of one of the blue bulbs

I am mainly concerned about maintaining the vibrant colors I currently have on my zoas and encouraging faster growth than I have now due to them being kept in my barebottom 120.

I have used VHO's in the past with good succes but am thinking about paying a little more for the T5's because that will drop my wattage by 200 watts which of course should help with heat issues. I don't want to use MH even though I would like to for heat issues as well. It will have a 3 - 4" Southdown DSB and a CL run through a squid with an Eheim 1260. It will be skimmed by a Remora.

Also any input on T5 bulb types would be nice. I am under the impression that the ATI and Geisman bulbs are the best and have heard of some problems(especially with SPS coloration) from some of the daylight bulbs.

Please excuse the long post and TIA for looking and any insight anyone might have to offer

Chris

 

[JC VT]

Hi Chris,

I have a 20L and am running 2 T-5 (10k and Aquablue) and 2 VHO (Superactinic, Actinic white). I am not a huge fan of the aquablue bulb at all; it coats the entire tank with a baby blue hue. I know the PAR numbers are nice, but I am seriously considering changing it out for a blue+ or changing it to a VHO actinic. I should mention that I am overdriving the T-5's with an Icecap, so that might make a difference in the way the bulb looks.

In terms of coloration, I just added some zoas today so I can't speak to those, but I know that my monti cap (located at the edge of my tank) is coloring up, even though there isn't a bulb directly overhead.

HTH,
Joon

 

[fishdoc11]

Thanks Joon

I should also mention I am thinking about SLS TEK retro for the T5's.

thanks, Chris

 

[crumbletop]

I think 4 bulb T5s (tek retro) will be a _lot_ of light for a 29. You can always run them without the reflectors on if they prove too bright -- so that is on the plus side. As far as coloration, I can report that the daylights caused my sps to lose color -- so I prefer the bluer bulbs. I have ATI, Geismann, and UVL bulbs. I like the ATI and Geismanns about the same. C_stowers has seen my lighting so he can tell you what he thinks about it. I have 54W bulbs 3" above the water in my 90, and I have to put things like shrooms under overhangs. So that may give you some idea of what light would be like in a 29 (shallower). If you can swing it, I would go with the bulbs you suggest, and also get a UVL superactinic, and an actinic white. That way you can experiement and get a look you like. The actinic white and superactinic T5s are supposed to be the same phospors/spectrum as their VHO counterparts.

Jack

 

[crumbletop]

I should add a disclaimer that I don't have any zoa's though. Mostly SPS with a few softies...

 

[fishdoc11]

Thanks Jack

 

[DMBillies]

I'd echo Jack on just about everything he said. I have the VHO's (superactinics) you gave me in addition to a 4 bulb TEK light. I have two daylight bulbs, a aquablue+, and an actinic+, and they definitely wash out a few of my SPS (which I have moved closer to the bottom). I need to change my lighting configuration and get rid of at least one of the daylights, but because of how I had to work to fit the lights in, that's not as easy as it sounds. The T5's would definitely give plenty of light for the SPS, save some energy, and as long as you got blue enough bulbs I think you'd be fine with the zoas and softies. Also, as Jack said, you can always remove a reflector if need be (although it would suck to spend the extra money on T5's and then "throttle them back."

 

[GSMguy]

i run two 175 watt mh pendants although i reccomend them in one fixture i run one aqualine 13k and one 14k hamilton

 

[GSMguy]

t5 is nice though

 

[fishdoc11]

Thanks Brian

Thanks GSMguy but as stated I'm not going with MH's on this tank.

Chris

 

[crumbletop]

Brian, how do zoa's color up under your setup?

 

[GSMguy]

im telling u using a 20k MH for actinic and 10k for white and par lol lol everybody who sees my 29 thinks the same thing you do i like i do have to tell you after a year with the 29gallon you will be ready to go bigger i would start with a 45 or a 40br even a 50 or 65 my 29 is bothering me fish have so swiimming room

 

[GSMguy]

im telling u using a 20k MH for actinic and 10k for white and par lol lol everybody who sees my 29 thinks the same thing you do i like i do have to tell you after a year with the 29gallon you will be ready to go bigger i would start with a 45 or a 40br even a 50 or 65 my 29 is bothering me fish have so swiimming room

 

[fishdoc11]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8502536#post8502536 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GSMguy
im telling u using a 20k MH for actinic and 10k for white and par lol lol everybody who sees my 29 thinks the same thing you do i like i do have to tell you after a year with the 29gallon you will be ready to go bigger i would start with a 45 or a 40br even a 50 or 65 my 29 is bothering me fish have so swiimming room

I allready have a 120 and have had several other reef tanks with several different types of lighting. I am particularly interested in first hand accounts with the choices I have listed and coral coloration. Not just the way the coral looks under the lighting but the actual coloration the coral takes on. I think long and hard about the choices I make with reef tanks and I have narrowed my choices to mainly those listed above. With all due respect this isn't my first rodeo

thanks, Chris

 

[GSMguy]

lol i didnt expect it to be all im saying is halide looks cool and is in my opinion a lil cheaper than a tek t5 but man are those t5s sweet im going from a 29 to 50gal and i can keep my 2 175 for it

 

[c_stowers]

I've seen Jack's (crumbletop's) T5 setup and it seems to be doing a good job as far as SPS colloration and growth. The results from his T5's are not the same as halides (colors are a little different, but still nice). I imagine that you would get similar results with zoas since SPS tend to be the most sensitive to lighting. I think that a T5/VHO combo would also be a nice setup.

 

[fishdoc11]

Thanks Chris

 

[DMBillies]

Chris (and Jack, by request),
I just changed out one of my daylights for an actinic +, so give it a few weeks and we'll see how things change. The tank definitely looks bluer and closer to the color I like. As far as zoas keeping their color... so far I'd say that mine have all stayed about the same color as when I've gotten them. There are two exceptions. I got some yellow zoas from Gary that he had in a shadier spot and they went from all yellow to yellow skirts with sky blue centers. He told me they'd probably change... and he was right on. The other exception are some giant pink zoas that I have. The guy that I got them from at a swap said they'd color up (he had them in a frag tank under PC's and they browned). I've seen them in others tanks look bright pink, but all they've ever done in any of my tanks is stay an ugly brown (grow like mad, but no color). However, maybe I just got sold a bill of goods because I've had them under PC's, 10K halides, 20K halides, and my T5/VHO mix and they've always stayed about the same ugly brown no matter where I put them in the tank.

Others zoas I have are fire and ice, green bay packers, bam bam oranges, gorilla nipples, safecracker lookalikes, etc. and I haven't been diappointed. If my computer wasn't currently being torn up by some videos that I'm uploading and saving I'd try to post a few pics.

If you're nervous about the T5's Chris, I'd go with the mix. That said, I think once you see T5's and the plus sides that go with them (especially now that they have good superactinics for them), you might wish that you had just gone all T5's.

I'm clearly not an expert (you taught me plenty of what I know), but if you're putting halides out of the picture then I think T5's would give you the most options as far as stocking that tank.

How's vet school by the way?

 

[fishdoc11]

Thanks for the informative post Brian. I was allmost to the VHO side and now I am traveling back I tend to overthink things anyway. It gives my mind something to do in the breaks between studying. Speaking of studying Vet school is going well but it is a LOT of hard work. Getting a way for a bit and chatting on RC evey once in a while helps
thanks, Chris

 

[DMBillies]

Chris,
I just posted some pics of some of my zoas and other corals in the MTRC forum. I don't know if it will help with your decision, but most of the pics are actually pretty true to the colors they are in the tank (which is unusual). And remember, it's usually better to over think than under think... I'm much better at the latter.