lighting recommendation please

[cheletnjared]

This is more of a recommendation for a friend that is getting into the hobby. He purchaced an existing 20 long tank from a friend that was setup for 3 years or so, and is now upgrading to a 29 whose dimentions are 36l x 12w x 18tall. He wants to keep soft, sps, and lps corals. I have recommended that he get some combination of MH/VHO since he wants to keep acros, and some other sps species of corals. The problem isn't that he doesn't trust my judgement, but more that the LFS is telling him that all he needs is 2 X 55 watt PC's and that that will be all that he will need for those corals. He just wants to make sure that he is not overkilling the lighting issue.

My personal thought is 2 36" VHO actinic lights and 1 or more likely 2 175 MH lights. Am I way off base for his size of tank?What are the suggestions that you would give him in terms of sufficient lighting for the type of corals he would like to house? Thank you for your input. - Jared.

[Chuck S]

Jared not that you are off base but he does have options. I would not do 2 x 55 but rather 4 x 55 PC compact ( A 29 gallon tank is 30 inches long not 36 ) I own one which I light by 4 x 55 watt PC or either 2 smaller 24inch VHO and one 175 halide. Anything more and he will be battling heat issues big time.

Anything you tell make sure to tell him not to listen to LFS employees!!

[cheletnjared]

Chuck - I was wondering how the SPS growth would be under those 55w PC's? I thought that for them to thrive, the quality of light that comes out of MH is head-over-heals better than that out of PC's. I was also under the impression that a lot of SPS will loose color under PC and VHO only tanks, but that it can be sustained or enhanced with the MH/VHO combo? Is there any merit to this, or are those circumstances correct for larger tanks? - Jared.

[Chuck S]

Actually very good question. Now Halide without a doubt is hands down my favorite. SPS will thrive to no end there. However that does not mean you can't grow SPS with VHO. It is all about placement. They will not grow at the same rate as under halide. In fact no where near the rate however I have some wonderfully colored specimens being maintained under the VHO or PC lighting.

In that size tank he has only a few choices.

The 55 watt PC bulb is a perfect fit and you will get 4 over this tank. I know I have a 29 lit like this.

You could take two 55's away and add a 175 halide.

You could switch to VHO but they would be 6 inches to short.

[IrishStout]

I am in the process of setting up a 29 to begin trying my hand at sps. The lighting that I decided to go with after doing some research and getting advise from more experienced reefers was 2 24" VHO actinics and a 175 10k Ushio MH. Over all it was not an expensive system to peice together, and the general consensus is that I will have more than enough light to keep the type of corals I want. I hope that helps you in some way, and as Chuck said, advise your friend to ignore the LFS employee who is selling him on the pc's. If he takes a little time to do some reseach, he will, uh, see the light /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif