Lighting and coral Suggestions for a 29 gallon low light reef

[swfishnut]

I want to set up a 29 gallon "low light" reef and I am looking for suggestions on lighting and Coral that would do well in this type of set up.

 

[fanker]

u can keep any corals in there it just depends on the lights and filtration. believe me ur going to want to go from softies to lps to sps, so if i were u go with good lights upfront so that u wont have to upgrade later down the line. how long is the tank? i would try t-5s or mh but mh is alot of heat so t-5s will get as close as u can get to mh. try a TEK 4x24w fixture u can keep sps higher up

 

[swfishnut]

What about a 70 w metal halide with a ushio 20k bulb?

 

[emperor11]

Originally Posted by swfishnut
What about a 70 w metal halide with a ushio 20k bulb?
70 watts over a 29 gallon wouldn't really sustain much, other than softies, IMO. If you got a 150 watter halide, you could easily keep ANYTHING.

 

[swfishnut]

That would be fine . I am looking to keep mostly soft corals with a a couple LPS up top.

 

[swfishnut]

won't be able to keep a 150w, I can't hang anything from the ceiling.

 

[fanker]

ya thats what everybody here says than they get into it, so if i were u i would get enough lighting to keep anything.

 

[fanker]

o ya and 20k isnt very good par. if u would get a mh than u should try 1ok with actinic supplement of a 14k, or go with the t-5s and 2 aquablue 1 blue pluss and 1 daylight lik 6500k or 10k

 

[babyb]

by anythingthat encludes what and does that mean clams

 

[zanoshanox]

70 watts of MH is pretty good lighting for a 29...Try for like a 150 w or 250 tho.

 

[babyb]

ive got 160 power compacts and there doing great

 

[fanker]

150w u can keep anything but the 250 u can keep....well EVERYTHING

 

[babyb]

whats the diffrence between anything and everything

 

[fanker]

well u can keep what u want reall if u go with the 150w but if u go with the 250w than i can keep clams, sps and what ever u want

 

[babyb]

got ya

 

[swfishnut]

I already have a 150w DE HQI over my 29 right now, and I have been successfully keeping 2 Acroporas, 4 digitatas, AND A Pocillopora in addition to my softies and Lps for over a year now. Unfortunately, Electricity costs are increasing and I can no longer afford to keep my current lighting or my SPS, hence the reason for this post. I was trying determine what I could keep if I downgraded my lighting. That is why I Said that I only want to keep soft corals and Lps corals . Thanks for posting everyone.

 

[swfishnut]

I was also looking into a 20k so I could avoid having to use another lamp for actinic supplementation. I also well aware of the PAR rating of the 20k bulb and believe me, I want something that will help slow down the growth of some of my softies.