Lighting a 29 gallon tank

[wyro]

Hey Everyone,
About 1 month ago I set up a Saltwater tank and have really been enjoying it. I just completed cycling and would like to - at some point - add some aenomes (sp?). What is the required (read economical) way to set up a new lighting system. I'm pretty handy and would like to build a fixture but all the different brands and types of lighting are confusing. My tank is 30 inches long and I would like the fixture to be that length. Most plans seem to be for 55 gallon tanks. The only plans I found that looked as though they would work called for a 30 watt ballast which Home Depot doesn't sell (nor did they have brown vinyl gutters).
Thanks in advance.
Mark

 

[logan15]

Ok for my tank I cant afford fixtures so I build my own using a ballast usually a workhorse 5 or 7, the 5 can handle 2 55 watt pcs or 1-110 48" VHO.Most people love MH and say how glorious they are, I cant afford them so I dont think about it much for a 29 gallon 290 watts is what you would need for 10 watts per gallon this is just a rule of thumb with 10 watts per gallon you can have mostly everything except for some clams and some of the SPS maybe not a couple of LFS.It depends on what you want if you did 145 watts or 2 24" 75 watt VHO you could have most corals except for the SPS and some of the LPS 150 watts is the 2 75 Watt VHO's and thats a little more than 5 watts per gallon. If you have 2 bulbs get one 10K and one ultra actinic VHO bulb
Hope this helps some,
Logan

 

[krux]

http://aquarium.union.rpi.edu/articles/DIY_MH.html
along with this i would put in a 55 watt pc with a full actinic bulb to give you some blue, or go with a higher kelvin rating bulb, such as a 10 or 12k

 

[broncofish]

I have a 29g with 2 110w VHO bulbs over it. I use a workhorse 7 ballast, 3 piece water proof endcaps, and 2 50/50 URI bulbs. The hole setup cost me like 85 bucks. Also I think there was a thread a while back in the reef tank about how Bubble Tip Anemones don't like intense MH lighting, either way if you are just starting out I would recomend waiting for a while before considering an anemone, why not try a look a like like a hairy mushroom

 

[y2says]

I'm running 2 55w PCs over my mother's tank. Though there's mostly soft corals, her bubble has doubled in size since we got it. I think you might even be able to go 3 VHO bulbs which should be enough for most corals. Also, I have a bubble anemone for almost a year and he's been under less than 4w/gallon.

 

[richard rendos]

how do you get 110 watt VHO bulbs over a 29 gallon tank? The bulbs are 4 feet long and a 29 gallon tank is only 30 inches...

 

[broncofish]

Hey richard good call, after you said that I realized I was thinking about my 90g, but typing for the 29, so in correction I am running 2 75w URI 50/50 bulbs over my 29g. Thanks richard

 

[broncofish]

Here is what it looks like lit

 

[broncofish]

and one of the bulbs

 

[wyro]

Thanks a lot everyone! I decided on getting 2 75 Watt 24 inch VHO Bulbs to start. Is the workhorse 7 ballast the correct one? I don't want to blow up these bulbs as soon as I plug them in.
mark

 

[broncofish]

Thats what I'm using the workhorse 7