Very confused about lighting in my 30 gallon tank.

S

Stangman

Reefing newb
At the moment I have a tank with a bit of live rock, maybe 15 lbs (I know I need more), 20lbs of live sand, 6 hermits (And a large one), bunch of snails, emerald crab, box fish, clownfish, and 2 gobies (Watchman and sleeper).

My question is, I was thinking about getting an anemone and maybe in the future, some sort of low maintenance, but aesthetically pleasing coral. Maybe even a clam or something, who knows!

However, my tank is a 30 gallon, that came with a plastic hood/canopy, that houses 1 24" fluorescent bulb. Obviously, this won't cut it.

So what are my options? Would the Nova T5HO x2 be enough? I think it's only 2 bulbs each at 25 watts or something.

What are my other options? I have no qualms with DIY if it's a money saver. I'm quite good with such things, but not sure fi it's necessary in this case.

So as I was saying, it's on a 30 gallon (30" wide) so there isn't much actual physical room. So what is the best plan, and what do I need?

In addition, what do I do about a canopy afterwards? Get a glass top for the aquarium and the lights rest overtop? I guess I can't fit some aftermarket lights in the original housing for hte fluorescent, can I? (It's a weird light fixture that lifts off the plastic canopy, and in that space, the plastic canopy has a sheet of plexi or some such.

Thanks a lot guys!
 
Anemones require more light, better water quality and are more difficult to keep than corals. Why do you want an anemone? You are better off just getting corals. Many of which are really easy to keep.

The lights that you have now won't be sufficient to keep any photosynthetic animals. You will need 4 bulbs of T5 lights, at least, as 2 bulbs won't be enough.

You don't need a canopy for your lights. And most people don't use glass tops because they have a few negative side effects. You will have to throw out the original housing, it's not useful for anything. A new light set will come with either legs to stand on the tank or can be hung from the ceiling.
 
Thanks for the reply! I just like the look of anemones, but barring that...

So 2 T5ho bulbs will not be enough, so I need a 4 housed one. Should I try to go with MH or some such? Worried about heat and evaporation. Problem is, I want a glass top so to lessen evaporation, so the fish don't jump, etc.

The other problem is my tank is 30" across, which seems to be a problem.

So to reiterate, even with a 30 gallon, I need at least 4 T5HO bulbs? Will that pretty much support anything I want to keep in the future?
 
+1 Biff

Your current lights or a 2 x 24watt fixture would not be enough light for a nem. Plus, your description says 1 month in the hobby, and you should have a stable, mature tank of atleast 1 year.

I have a Current USA Nova Sundial (4 x 24watt) fixture and I have all kinds of coral in my tank. You can check out my build thread "Sniffles 29" if you wanna see what it looks like.
 
I'm just planning ahead for when the tank is a little more mature. It's probably been going for about 3 months now.

So even though it's a 30 gallon, 2x24 watt is not enough? How much wattage should I be aiming for (I know the whole 4 per gallon scenario, but..). Can I have too much light? Do anemones require more light than most corals?
 
You can never have too much light :mrgreen:

48 watts would be enough for softies such as zoas and shrooms. If you want LPS, clams, etc. you'll certainly need more. Current USA makes a 30" fixture called a Sunpod that runs a 150MH. Ive seen many tanks running it and they look great. MH causes a heat issue with most however. So many people choose T5HO fixtures that run cooler and you can have a different bulb selection giving you w/e color you want.
 
Thanks guys! So would that 150w MH be enough for everything I need? Just has one bulb, but I assume that doesn't matter? Doesn't look like I can mount it to the tank though (ALthough I could easily make up+powder coat some brackets I suppose).

I like the idea of T5HO's MUCH better, but I seem to like the look of MH's.. But I'll be using a glass cover, so I'm not sure if the visual difference will be as significant then.
 
Yep, the 150 watt will be plenty to keep anything you want...I have the viper clip-on 150 watt on my 29gal, which is 30in also.
 
Stangman said:
Thanks guys! So would that 150w MH be enough for everything I need? Just has one bulb, but I assume that doesn't matter? Doesn't look like I can mount it to the tank though (ALthough I could easily make up+powder coat some brackets I suppose).

I like the idea of T5HO's MUCH better, but I seem to like the look of MH's.. But I'll be using a glass cover, so I'm not sure if the visual difference will be as significant then.
Click to expand...

Those MH pendants I linked to come with a hanging kit for the ceiling. It's one bulb, but MH bulbs are much more powerful than T5 bulbs, so you don't need as many. You may want to reconsider the glass top. It inhibits gas exchange at the surface, blocks light, and can heat the tank up like a greenhouse.
 
Aha, now, the second one is more my budget. ;) But would 100 be enough if I wanted an anemone in the future?

And finally, I had a thought.. What about a DIY LED array? Would they provide enough wattage (Hard to calculate). Or would they not penetrate enough, etc? I do have a thing for LED's..
 
Some people may disagree with me, but my father in laws tank has two carpet anenomes in a 125g running just off two 72" flouresent bulbs and he's had them for 2 years now. But that's besides the point.
 
I've almost convinced myself to build an LED array instead of the alternatives. Bad idea? Sufficient lighting (Given the right amount of led's)?
 
Actually guys, it seems I can find a 'pendant' style MH for pretty cheap around here ($50 or so with ballasts I hope).

Would a single 150-175 be too much, too little for this tank? As I said at the moment it is FOWLR, but hopefully change that in the future. Would this be too much/too little for the fish? Etc? Thanks!
 
Fantastic. I'll look for something used then.

And the style doesn't matter? I mean, I know the plastic canopy ones look better, but what about a chintzy metal bulb hangy one?
 

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