What Corals can i get with these lights?

jjjoey

jjjoey

Active Member
I have a 29 Gallon Tank
•Live Rock- 55 lbs
•Live Sand- 37 lbs
I got Coralife 30 Inch Aqualight With 2-65W 50/50 Lamps Straight Pin Base (with fans)
Aqualight Deluxe Series - Double Linear Strip
Two 65 watt 50/50 straight pin base compact fluorescent lamps
Two on/off switches with two 8-foot power cords for separate timers
Built-in ballasts
Two cooling fans
Sleek aluminum housing
Highly-polished reflector
Acrylic lens cover
Ideal for Saltwater and Reef Aquariums
Dimensions: 30in x 7in x 2 1/2in
What corals can i get with these lights?
 
the___jest

the___jest

Member
I have a 40W blue actinic and 40W high intensity and 2 24" compact florescents with 65W each. ontop of a 75 gal what kinda goodies can I have?
 
the___jest

the___jest

Member
I did'nt mean to hijack your thread I am also interested in getting some corals. Hopefully we can get some response. It seems everybody is talking metal halide but I'm not really interested in going that way.
 
wla1610

wla1610

Member
You really should go MH. I have 384W PC on my 46 gal tank. After seeing a tank w/ MH you'd want that too. MH's are good for basically any coral.
I'm hosting a Bubble coral, Green BTA, and Frogspawn so far with a Hammer Coral and some blue mushrooms on the way.
You should easily be able to handle zoos and plops. As to aother corals I'm not certain since I'm still learning myself. :)
 
the___jest

the___jest

Member
The first problem I have with mh is the cost of setup I tried to go the do it yourself way but still pricy. Second the cost of operation I'm batteling my wife right now she leaves every light in the house on and we run 2 televisions from 7:00pm till 8:00am. third is the heat issue my tank sits close to the heating and air thermostat and if I go running mh we will never get the heat to cut on or air to cut off LOL. And one question how close can you get this lighting to the top of a tank with a glass topper? I know I'm mispelling words its a little past my bedtime where the heck is the dang spellchecker on this thing LOL
 
kdfrosty

kdfrosty

Active Member
130w PC over your tank can keep almost all soft corals. Leathers, shrooms, zoos, etc.... I had less watts/gallon, and kept everything I mentioned just fine. However you will be limited to soft corals, as LPS and SPS corals will require more intense lighting.
 
the___jest

the___jest

Member
I'm looking at purchasing 2 70 watt Mh light units But I will have to do away with my two 40 watt lights that will be 140 Mh and 130 pc lighting would that be enough?
 
kdfrosty

kdfrosty

Active Member
Jest-
With the lighting that you are getting mentioned above, you should be able to keep low light LPS and any soft coral. I would still say that SPS is out of the question. You should be able to keep Candy Canes, Ancora (Hammers), and Bubble Corals just fine, as long as they are higher up in the tank.
I have never heard of 140w MH. Make sure that you get bulbs that are proper Kelvin rating....
 
the___jest

the___jest

Member
Not 140 I was thinking of a do it myself light I was going to run 2 70 watt bulbe to add up to 140watts. But I'm still not really sure of it. Right now I am wondering if the bristle worms (from my farm LOL) will harm corals. I'm kinda new to the coral deal and would like th know what the sps ,lps and so on means I think I have an idea but want to be sure thanx.
 
sprang

sprang

Member
I actually have the exact same light in my 29, and everything has thrived in it. I have xenia, shrooms, zoos, and hydnaphora ect. I believe these smaller tanks get more direct light than larger ones IMO, so unless you really want a clam A halide is overkill. Just my opinion though.
 
howardcu

howardcu

Member
Originally Posted by sprang
I actually have the exact same light in my 29, and everything has thrived in it. I have xenia, shrooms, zoos, and hydnaphora ect. I believe these smaller tanks get more direct light than larger ones IMO, so unless you really want a clam A halide is overkill. Just my opinion though.
The Jest actually said he had a 75 gallon tank so that lighting on it would not be good enough for any SPS for sure. LPS and softies should be ok though IMO. SPS are Small Polyp Stony Corals and LPS are Large Polyp Stonies. Examples of SPS are Acropora and Montipora species and examples of LPS are the frogspawn, hammer, and open brain corals. On a 75 gallon tank you really need 2 175W MH's or 2 250W MH's in order for SPS to thrive. I have 6 110W VHO's on a 75 and just added some Montipora Digitata to see how that does before trying anything like acros. I would think 660Watts on a 75 would be ok, but we will see.
 
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