question about my light on a 29g tank

[sjm1978]

ok i think i might go with just a standard 29g tank and put a 10g or 20g tank under it for my sump/refuge. my question is if i hang my 20" current-usa 150w HQI sunpod above the tank will it be enough lighting? i was looking at the 30" sunpod and its just a single 150w also so im think my 20" hanging above the tank would work the same? its just not 30" so i have to hang it.

[sir_dudeguy]

If you hung it high enough the halide would light the whole thing, but you may have a bit more light spilling out of the tank and it might not be as strong throughout the tank since its only a 150...

If it were me, i'd go with a t5 retro...like 4x24w. I got my icecap one from reefgeek a few weeks back and love it! :) Highly recommend it!

[sjm1978]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10319135#post10319135 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sir_dudeguy
If you hung it high enough the halide would light the whole thing, but you may have a bit more light spilling out of the tank and it might not be as strong throughout the tank since its only a 150...

If it were me, i'd go with a t5 retro...like 4x24w. I got my icecap one from reefgeek a few weeks back and love it! :) Highly recommend it!

then i would have to have a canopy witch i dont like. i would buy this fixture and hang it http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/Sunlight_Supply/Tek_Light_Fixtures/24_inch__Tek_Light:_4-24W_T5_High-Output_Fixture_by_Sunlight_Supply

[sir_dudeguy]

ya hang on...i'll get both pics and a link to the light :)

[sjm1978]

ok

[sir_dudeguy]

Ok, this is the light that i got...i believe i got 2 aquablue bulbs (i think those are the 12K daylight bulbs...great color) and i got 2 Blue plus bulbs...these are the "actinic" ones i believe.. Oh, and all the bulbs i got were ATI brand.

http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/IceCap/SLR_Retrofit_Kits/36_inch__4x39W_SLR_T5_High-Output_Retrofit_Kit_w!_Bulbs_by_IceCap

And here's the one that i'd recommend if you've got the money. Compared to my old pc's, over the next year alone i'll be saving more money than it cost to buy my new t5's after all the lower wattage, cheaper bulbs, and longer lasting bulbs...
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/IceCap/SLR_Retrofit_Kits/24_inch__4x24W_SLR_T5_High-Output_Retrofit_Kit_w!_Bulbs_by_IceCap

I'll get the pics in a minute here...

[sir_dudeguy]

Before
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i295/sir_dudeguy/40%20gallon/IMG_3434.jpg
After
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i295/sir_dudeguy/40%20gallon/IMG_5220.jpg
GSP before
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i295/sir_dudeguy/40%20gallon/IMG_3437.jpg
GSP After
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i295/sir_dudeguy/40%20gallon/IMG_5225.jpg

These zoas under the coral beauty (which looks a lot better under these lights too now that i think about it :) ) were really really ugly before...they had basically no color...looked just like skin or something...and you can see the difference now (dont have a before pic, sorry)
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i295/sir_dudeguy/40%20gallon/IMG_5232.jpg

[sir_dudeguy]

and here's a closeup of the zoas that are directly in front of the HOB overflow there... you can see the color difference in the 2 full tank shots on those zoas, but i like this picture too :)
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i295/sir_dudeguy/40%20gallon/IMG_5228.jpg

[sir_dudeguy]

hey...did you edit your last post? Didnt you ask for a link before? lol... i dont know, maybe i just misread that (horribly). But the one that you gave a link to would also work, but its got the same problem as the MH...it would have to be higher off the tank to get the ends i think. The retro allows you to offset the bulbs to reach across the tank.

[sjm1978]

yea i did edit ill have to see what lee-mar wants for a canopy also if i get the canopy ill get the 4x 24w retro kit and if i dont get a canopy ill get the tek light. what brand of overflow do you have? im thinking of getting http://store.hurricanefilters.com/quovw6ho.html

[sir_dudeguy]

you could also have someone build you a canopy. I paid 120 for my lee mar one for my 40 breeder at AA i believe. I'm sure the 29g size would be around 80-100ish...but if you have someone build it i'm sure you could go under 50.

For my overflow...i couldnt tell you for the life of me what brand it is. To be honest, i dont think it has a brand really. Just some generic overflow. Worked great though (havent been using it for a while though...) Its a dual overflow that i just blocked one of the bulkheads off.

But basically, all the U-tube style overflows are pretty much the same... I mean they all have the same design, the only difference is that one might be made of cheaper/thinner plastic. IMO, you could get the same overflow you linked for cheaper elsewhere. I personally dont think that brand name matters here really...they're all the same. I just dont like those other HOB ones like this...
http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=78

Seems like they'd lose siphon too easy.

[sjm1978]

do you know of any other overflows? Links?

[a&cbowman]

I have a 150w hqi on my 24 aquapod. It works great and it looked amazing with a 14k bulb, not as blue as the pics above though. But i like it less blue than most, almost white but not yellow is what i like. and it has legs that it sits on above tha tank about 4-5 inches above the tank, it gets to about 81 during the day, and cools down to 79 at night, but i have the fan going all day so that it doesnt get too hot.