Coral lighting question.

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felixpaws

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Jan 10, 2009
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Pocatello, Idaho
What corals would do well under one PC 30" light, and a 30", 4 bulb T5HO fixture over a 30" long 29 gallon tank? I'm trying to convince my dad to let me start a reef tank for Christmas, and I'm curious what would do well under those conditions. I figure I'd be doing easier corals for a while, since all I've done is a couple of FOWLR tanks, in the past. Right now, I've got two 75 gallon tanks, freshwater. One has angels, and discus(amongst other things), and the other is a, mostly, malawi cichlid tank. I'd like to do SPS, since they look so cool, but probably will stick with LPS corals, and easier. Any suggestions? I'm a long time aquarist(25+ years, I had to move back in with folks), and research my fish a ton. Advice would be greatly appreciated, since I rarely find all the beginning info. online all in one place. What would be the best koralia powerhead to use on that size tank, if I used two, with a skimmer rated for a 75 galllon tank? I have tons of questions, but that should be enough for now.
Thanks! Keep your fingers crossed, so my dad will say yes!:thumbsup:
 
so youre going to have two lights over this tank? a pc and a t5?

a 4 bulb fixture on a 29 is going to be medium- low light but you can definateley keep some cool corals, as for flow it depends on what you end up keeping really and the skimmer pump, i have two k1's on a 15 gal plus a hob which puts me at over 50 turnovers per hour but i keep a lot of sps that require higher flow two k1s might be enough for you depending on how well they are placed and what you end up keeping.

keeping coral is not all about lighting, there are a ton of parameters to keep track of and new fancy equipment you should learn about. for one thing, definatley get a refractometer, hydrometers are junk
 
I disagree about hyrdometers being junk. i have a nice refracto and its always .1 off from my hydro so they do their job for being a cheap peice of equipment.. but thats my opp. and to you your own! Definitly buy an RO unit and skimmer is pretty neccessary. its all about how much money you want to put into it in the long run if you buy a reef tank your gonna put over 500 into it and that money you wont even realize you spent
 
hydrometers are inaccurate, but the degree to which they are is consistent. If you can test one against a refractometer, like at your LFS, you can see how far it is off and just make a note of it.
Also, with that lighting, you can keep anything you want as long as the t5 is a quality fixture with quality bulbs. Sps might suffer on the bottom, but you will certainly be able to keep them on the top in the center (where all the bulbs interlace) .
Also, i dont think you will be able to fit both of those fixtures on such a thin tank.
 
I have a 29G/30" long tank.. 6 T5HOs on it with good bulbs. With a 4 bulb fixture and good bulbs you can do all but the highest demanding corals (Acropora SPS corals). If you have 6 T5HOs you can even do those at the top. Other than those one type of coral you can grow just about any other type out there.

Hydrometers.. ya, wouldn't recommend them. Always off in one direction or another. I had 2 at one point, one was .004 low and the other .005 high, which would mean 1.021 reading on one when it was really 1.025, and the other would read 1.030 when it was 1.025. Not a good thing to use if you can't find someone with a refractor to calibrate it. Like Fishiness said though, when they are off, they are always off the same each time so if you can calibrate it against a refractor they are good for the $, just make sure you test the water multiple times to make sure you don't have any air bubbles on the swing arm that would throw off the reading.

For flow on a 29G reef tank, a Koralia3 and a Koralia2 together have what I found to be the perfect "cheap" flow for that size tank.

As for a skimmer, I think the AquaC Remora is a great skimmer for a 29G.. I wouldn't say it is a good skimmer for tanks much larger than that though, but I bought one for my 29G and it worked great.. have it on my 75G now.. not so great.
 
Well, depends on the hydrometer, too. The floating glass ones can be quite accurate, especially lab grade ones. The main issue is the introduction of human error in calculating the appropriate specific gravity based upon the temperature. Thermometers are usually off enough to introduce significant error. This is one reason I simply prefer refractometers that are calibrated. You let the temps equalize, put a drop on, and look. Done. Can't beat the simplicity.
 
Keep your fingers crossed!

I'd be getting a refractometer, not a hydrometer. I've read enough about having to adjust them to the correct reading to convince me that they're worth the cost. As far as lights go, it would be the 4 bulb T5HO, and a single pc fixture. I already have the pc fixture, so, was hoping to use that, since it's just sitting in the garage right now. I saw a cool led light on ebay for a little over a hundred dollars, but am not sure it would work. It's advertised as being the same as a 150watt metal halide, and says it's for reef tanks. I'd provide a link, but am not sure how. I could get two of those, maybe or one , until I get enough money for the second. I'm not sure that the pc, and the 4 bulb would fit, either. I've had the pc, and a regular T8 fixture over it, though. I haven't heard enough positive feedback on led aquarium lighting to feel confident in that fixture. Plus, $130, or so, for a quality fixture? I can't do metal halide, because my dad is concerned about the electric bill. The skimmer I plan on spending some money for, so, it's in the budget. Any other advice would be great! I'd love to have Ace's 75, cube to cut my teeth on, but I'd be happy just to have permission to start the 29. I have two 29's in storage, with all the equipment, except a skimmer, and lights. The power filter would be a penguin 170, and the substrate would either be aragonite sugar sized sand or paver sand that I already have. Lots of live rock. A quality test kit, to check the levels. I've read quite a bit on the subject, but of course there's always more to learn.:1zhelp:
 
Don't use the Penguin 170 on a reef tank. They work great on fresh water, but not salt. You can convert the Penguin into a refugium, there are threads on doing that with an Aquaclear.

The LEDs you saw on ebay for $100 are probably not to good, you should expect to pay $650 for a good LED light, that would be adequate for that tank. To provide a link, copy and paste the web address (url).

You should be able to keep almost any corals under the t5 as long as you have Geissman, UVI, ATL or equivalent bulbs. There are some top water Acros you should probably avoid, but you can definitely keep LPS and quite a few SPS with that light.

The best money you can spend will be on a good skimmer.
 
Cool!

I don't think I could afford to make sps mistakes for now. If I can keep many of the other types, I think that would be fine. I'll try to find that led light on ebay, then post a link. Thanks for that info., by the way. If my dad does let me start this project up, I'll be spending some money on the protein skimmer. I've been researching the 30" T5HO's, and they all seem to have 24" bulbs, except the Corralife ones. The problem is, they seem to be a specialty bulb, so, not many choices. I'm thinking I should just buy the 24" ones, and not bother with the Corralife. Anyone else have this problem? I've been reading old posts to get an idea of common problems, and the only advice I've found is to go with a standard size tank. Is a six inch difference going to make a huge difference? I keep hoping the led lights will go way down in price, so, I can upgrade my planted, Discus tank lights, and lower our electric bill. Thanks, for the advice. Keep it coming.:thumbsup:
 
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