How much light ?

mrpenguin · #1 12/13/2007, 06:05 PM

How much light do I need to keep SPS Corals ?

I have a 29 G Tank with a GLO T5 High Output unit with 2 x 24W tubes. Any corals I can keep with this ?

brandon7491 · #2 12/13/2007, 06:40 PM

i dont know if its even worth keeping sps in a 29gallon to be quite honest. i have a 29gallon sps tank and its the biggest pia to keep everything stable and stuff growing. it can be done but its a big pia. n e ways no that is not even close to enough light to keep sps. i think u can keep some soft corals and mushroom corals maybe an lps or 2 but no sps. on my 29gallon sps tank i have a oceanic aquamedic hanging mh pendant on it with a 10k doublended hqi bulb but i wll be switching to 14k phoneix in a week or so

Grunt007 · #3 12/13/2007, 07:08 PM

FWIW This should be in the general reef discussion forum.
2x24w on a 29g will not do much for SPS corals. As said softies and lps may be. Still on the low side in my opinion.

trueblackpercula · #4 12/13/2007, 07:20 PM

It all depends on what you want to keep. I would put a 250 watt halide on it DE version.
Michael

al abaqueta · #5 12/13/2007, 07:53 PM

Hey there, Michael is correct. You can place a 250 W 20K bulb on top of the 29 gallon. They come complete with fan, ballast and stand for the 29 gallon nano. You would have to increase your flow if you want sps. And now you are getting about 8.6 W per gallon and that water gets warm so you can't run too long. Maybe 4-5 hours tops. but yes, you can certainly keep digitatas under that. hope this helps. Al

MCsaxmaster · #6 12/14/2007, 03:19 AM

Depending on the corals you want to keep, more light may serve you well, but the designations "sps" and "lps" are COMPLETELY meaningless when it comes to lighting requirements. What really counts in terms of lighting requirements is the type of zooxanthellae that the corals host. There are hundreds of types of zoox. and many corals are very specific about which one or ones they host. This has absolutely no relation to polyp size. You might just as well pick tank size for fish based on their color, e.g., blue fish get big tanks, green fish small tanks, red fish medium tanks. As you can see, that just makes no sense at all.

Corals along the lines of what you might be thinking that do well with modest light include (but are not necessarily limited to) many Montipora, Pavona, Pocillopora damicornis, Hydnophora, most Favia and Favites, etc.

Chris

rama · #7 12/14/2007, 11:14 AM

Well put MCsaxmaster. If you can't upgrade lighting you are probably safe with various montiporas and digitatas.