POLL for those of you with 29 gallons regarding MH

[gfk]

those of you with 29 gallon tanks, what lighting setup do you have incorporating MH?

I am upgrading from my 20 to a 29 gallon drilled etc in a month or so. I am in the process of building the tank right now, and the lighting is going to be last since i have 130 watts of PC right now which work fine for now.


I was thinking 175 watt 14k hamilton, with either my PCs supplimenting or some T5 supplimentation.

does anyone run a 175 on a 29? I want to be cautious about heat, and the only SPS i will have will be close to the surface.


think that 175 will be enough on a 29, or should i just suck it up and get a 250?

 

[rutledgek]

I have a 250W 14K MH and a 65W PC actinic that is one for 4 hrs a day. an hour before and after daylight and sunset.

 

[gfk]

any heating issues?

also, with your mag 9 return do you find it is too fast? i was planning on using a mag 5 after reading others opinions

 

[chocolateblnt]

Suck it up! Go 250 for SpS; most are light hungry and according to hellolights they could care less for dawn/dusk effect. Coral will adjust itself to lighting and open up accordingly. It also takes about 20-30 min. for a halide to be working at 100%. I have a 250 over mine hanging about 8 inches above the tank and 10 above the water line and it has no heat issues. If you're worried you can always install a clip on fan somewhere on your wall etc. to disperse the ray's of heat and promote cooling.

 

[rutledgek]

My My. Well I do the dawn dusk for my own benefit and enjoyment. Seeing the colors of some of my sps under just actinic lights makes me happy. I have no heat issues but then again I have 2 120mm computer fans in my canopy. As for the mag 9. I didn't set up my sump to be a refugium as well so the only speed I needed to worry about was micro bubbles. I eliminated them in another way.

 

[aural]

I definitely wouldnt shy away from the 250 on a 29g if you are planning SPS....

also you are going to have to really think about your water flow. Mag pumps are great, but they add a lot of heat to the water. you might want to start planning to get some Seio or Tunze Stream pumps in order to achieve adequate turnover for SPS.

 

[impur]

250W on my 29. Gets a little hot in the summer. I have a clip fan blowing over the sump for that.

 

[duec22]

I tried putting a 250 over my 29 when I first set it up. It was cooking the tank durring the summer...got T-5's now.

 

[Bdimas]

I have a 250 Hamilton on mine. My tank got a little hot last summer, im now in the process of building a new pendant with a built in fan.

 

[mr pink floyd]

im goign to put a 150 DE on mine and 2x65 actinics, sps in the middle up higher than other corals, softies on the sides

 

[aural]

do yourself a favor and dont mix SPS and softies. soft corals will literally take over a tank (including growing on your SPS corals). SPS and LPS would work better as many LPS corals thrive in the fringe lighting of a halide.

just my opinion though of course.

 

[IsThisNameTaken?]

Run 2 x 150 watt HQI's over ours. Wouldnt do it any other way.

 

[DarkXerox]

Well you can have softies, just keep them away from areas where they can get out of control. I keep ricordia and my colt coral away from my main rocks that I consider SPS territory. Just shy away from mushrooms and xenia since they are the big soft coral problem corals.

But 250w for sure unless your room gets really hot. I run my halide about 6 hours a day, with a closed top, no fan, and 2x55w PCs running 11 hours. Temp stays very neutral too (as long as I dont have a malfunctioning thermometer like before lol)

Try a 250 DE 14k and you can get away with no actinics, plus keep the bills/heat down.

 

[chocolateblnt]

actinics are aesthetics ... and if we are talking aesthetics related to MH simply purchase a 20K bulb and you'll have that crisp blue look all day rather than just in the morning and night with equal power throught the day as well

if you really want to see some phospouresent crazy coral colors, say that 3x fast then buy a blue moooooonlight ... it's like another world!

 

[mr pink floyd]

the fixture has 4 blue lunars, PC for viewing in morn and day/night effect for me, nad yea, my softies get trimmed down pretty often, GSP is growing on the far sides, nowhere near SPS zone, xenia is on the sandbed to try to stop its growth, zoos on sand and on other rocks, i might move another piece of gsp, or just frag it naturally with rubble by it!

 

[gfk]

k 250 it is haha.

by the time i actually buy the MH and install it in place of my PC's i will have a lot of money anyways (im graduating college and have a job lined up, and im living with my parents rent free for a bit til i can buy a house)

so i can always afford a 300 dollar chiller if need be. i plan to make my own canopy and put fans in it as well.

 

[adtravels]

I have a double ended 150 mh (10000k) and 4 36 watt pcs tow 50/50 and two actinics.
Had the mh about 2 months alot better now have sps and alot of coraline the bulb is 6 inches off the surface.
Bad point had to buy a chiller as well

 

[MX6import]

go with the 250W DE 14K i just got one and plus..................everybody's doing it

 

[iNfaMous_reeF]

i have a sunpod w/ 1 x 150w HQI on my 29g.

 

[kabal2]

go with the 2502 mh xm, and some actinic vhos, great combination