Do I have enough Light?

Jolio99 · 03-03-2003, 03:58 PM

I have a 29 gallon tank with a 55 watt PC and a 20 watt NO 50/50. I plan on keeping soft corals like xenia and frogspawn and mabye eventaully an anemone. Will I have enough light for what I want to do? Thanks

Tyler

mikeMersot · 03-03-2003, 05:02 PM

In my opinion, no. The xenia and some other softies maybe, but I would say it isnt sufficient for the frogspawn to be really happy, and definately not for the anemone.

Jolio99 · 03-03-2003, 05:37 PM

would a 175 Watt MH pendant be enough, or should I buy 2? Also could I put the pendant in a canopy? Would I need fans etc... Thanks

coralkeeper · 03-03-2003, 05:42 PM

That should be fine, I have a 175 on my 29g frag tank and i've got acros and clams, get a Ushio 10k, nice color

Jolio99 · 03-03-2003, 05:54 PM

Coralkeeper: do you just hang the pendant by the cord? Also do you have any other lights like actinic or something to get the livestock accustomed to the bright light instead of just shocking them with the MH? Also how high above your tank is the fixture and how much evaporation do you get in a single day?

David Grigor · 03-03-2003, 05:59 PM

Going with 2X55W PCs + actnic would be much better choice IMO than the lighting 1X55W + NO. Frogspawn and many LPS most likely okay under that lighting. I personally prefer VHO over PCs. MH is an option but certainly not needed is going with mostly lower light corals to start with anyhow and can avoid possible heat issues for now. Would need to know more on what your interested in before choosing MH. Also would seriously consider a different sized tank if convinced MH was for you. 29g is pretty narrow and not real suitable for MH better to get a tank that is at least 18" wide to make better use of the light.

I would say No to the anemone regardless of your lighting. Only exception may be a small ( captive raised even better ) bubble tips anemone. Carpet anemone, sebae anemone, long tentacle, to name a few will just get too big in pretty short order.

Our Reef club president has a purple sebae that is only 7 years old. It engulfs pretty much 2/3 of a 75g tank. That was enough evidence for me not to consider most anemones......

Jolio99 · 03-03-2003, 06:43 PM

I am considering MH because I might eventually want to keep clams and other high light species like SPS. I just am wondering if I will have a lot of evaporation and how high about the tank to place the pendant. Also would I need a fan if it were just a pendant? Also like I said before, would I need a smaller output light to accustom the livestock to the brightness of MH? I was going to put the light on at 10 Am until 10 PM and just have the sunlight accustom the fish etc... Would this be a good plan?

Oh yeah I was thinking about a BTA anyways. would this get very large in my system?

also would there be an easier way to put calcium in my tank without using kalkwasser? I was wondering if liquid calcium would do the same thing.

Thanks and sorry about all the questions.

David Grigor · 03-04-2003, 09:30 AM

If going with MH and using a pendant, acclimation is real easy. Start the Light high and gradually work it down until about 5-6 inches above the water or as low as you can without heat issues.

My real concern with MH on a 29gallon is the wasted light spilling out the front/back of the tank. If this were me I would be looking into a different sized tank that is at least 18" wide before I would put a MH over it. That isn't to say it hasn't been done, just I wouldn't do it. I seriously looked into a 29g to put a 400W MH over but just couldn't get myself to do it since was so narrow. I ended up going with a 37g Oceanic tank ( 24LX20.5HX18W ) instead. I have since taken then MH off as that tank has turned into a softy refuge from all the corals I have removed from the show tank and now just has VHOs.

While 175W may be okay, If your really going to get serious about SPS/clams the 175W in general will not provide the intensity that some of the most demanding SPS will require for color. So even with 175W will be somewhat limited. It is not so much what you keep it's just how well they will color up and grow under the 175W. There are a wide variety of SPS and lighting requirements so that is not to say you can't keep SPS just that it won't be ideal for all SPS since there is such a wide variety of light demands. We could go on and on but known and even unknown as to lighting but that's the skinny.

I would say the BTA is probably the best bet because they are more likely to split vs. getting huge so can sell off or give away to new ones. That isn't to say a BTA can't get big but at least have a better chance. Plus the fact you can find BTA from local hobbies without purchasing wild caught.

On a tank that size, for CA additive you have several options that won't break the bank. Most of your 2 part additive such as ESV's B-Ionic, C-Balance etc. A little more economical yet still easy to use would be Seachem Reef Builder and Reef Advantage Calcium which is in powder form you must mix with a cup of FW and does the tank. However if wanting the best hands off approach or planning a much larger tank in the future long term CA reactor would be the way to go.

coralkeeper · 03-04-2003, 04:51 PM

I agree a 29 is too narrow, but anyway I just have the MH 10k and it's 10 in. away from the water, I only get about .5 gallons evaporation a day

Mine was set up as a frag tank and all seem to be growing

cya

Jolio99 · 03-04-2003, 08:13 PM

I have finally decided what I am going to do (something that is pretty hard for me

) I have decided to DIY my own canopy and put 3-55watt PC's. 2 will probably 10K and one 03 actinic. I decided that SPS are really not what I am after. I am probably going to keep a few zoo's, some soft corals, and mabye an anemone. I already have the plans for my canopy and I am going to incorporate the PC I already have into a 2 bulb retro fit for Hello Lights. Will my 55 watt be suffcient to keep my live rock healthy for a month or so? Hopefully I can get the canopy done by then. Oh yeah, can liquid calcium be just poured into the tank or do you have to drip it like Kalk? And any comments on my setup would be appreciated. Thanks

Tyler

coralkeeper · 03-04-2003, 08:43 PM

If your taling about KENT liquid calcium i have not had much luck with that, however when I did add it i didn't drip, i've had better luck with Kent liquid reactor and the Seachem calcium powder (which I do drip) that seems to keep it between 420-440

Ross

David Grigor · 03-04-2003, 11:59 PM

All I can suggest is to dose as recommended on the bottle since have no clue which additive your refering to.

capman · 09-26-2003, 01:23 AM

This is an old thread, and maybe my comment is a moot point at this time...

Regarding sizes of bubble-tip anemones...my rose anemone grew to over 14" across (within a 10 month time span...was maybe 4 " or 5" (??) across at the start)...it has been well fed and living direcly under a 400w 5500K MH. It just split a few weeks ago, and the main anemone is smaller now but still pretty big. These anemones seem to differ in how big they grow though...David has a rose anemone that has been splitting at a much smaller size.

Bill

capman · 09-26-2003, 01:27 AM

David,

Is that Harv with the big purple sebae? My reason for wondering is that it looks like another member is giving me a smaller sebae and I'm looking for advice on how to care for it (lives in sand vs rocks? (I believe these anemone live in sand?), light levels?, etc...)

Ray1214 · 09-26-2003, 08:18 AM

My wife has a 29 gal tank however, she is running a 4 foot 220 Watt PC Fixture and one 65 Watt fixture on the front where her sps corals are. She uses the spill over on one side tolight up her Hang on side refugium.

Ray