29 Gallon Lighting Question

[Aquafina12]

Im wondering if 24 inch lighting would be long enough for a 29 gallon reef aquarium im wanted to start up.
the guys at the local fish store was showing me this longer type of tube but it was a bit more money. which i dont have.
also....are fixtures from rona, homedepot ex... compatable with lights you buy from the fish store?

 

[JJ1234567]

yes and no. LOL. now that your confused Im not sure what type of lighting he was showing you. If it was a powercompact, then no. I would say that you need a 30" fixture, and probably one with 4x 65 watt bulbs if you want to really not be limited by what you keep.
here is an example:
http/cgi.ebay.com/30-POWER-COMPACT-4-X-6...1QQcmdZViewItem

your next option which is probably better than PC's is a dual PC and halide fixture. Haldies have a lot more punch to their light than PC's.
here is an example:
http/cgi.ebay.com/30-inch-150-HQI-Metal-...1QQcmdZViewItem

and you could always do just a single halide pendant. In that case the fixture would not be 30" but just as big as it needs to be to hold the bulb.
Here is an example, not a pendant but a sunpod, in the 20" casing length, comes with lunar led lights:
http/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...:MEWA:IT&ih=005

It all comes down to what your looking to keep. With a tank that is 18 inches or deeper, you really need to up the ante when it comes to light. Either an insane ammount of PC's or at least one 150 watt halide or more. Like I said the Halide has a lot more punch to it than PC. Youll find that alot of light hungry critters like, Arcopora, montipora, Other LPS, SPS, Clams, Nems, and the such florish under Halides, where they just survive under PC's.

 

[Mr Miagi]

And as for the lights from the fish store/hardware, generally yes, they are compatible. Youll have to look at their individual Wattage rating, and buy bulbs that match. The globes found in such fixtures down at homedepot wont be suitable for aquaria though, but the actual fixtures can be used if you protect them from the water (most from home depot arnt going to be water proof). I hope we answered your question.

 

[SkiFletch]

First off, to the marine hobby. Enjoy the addiction, its almoast as good as crack. Lets see, a 29gal is standard 30" long and 18" deep methinks. At 18" deep you can keep MOST corals under enough flourescent lighting. You'll struggle with difficult SPS and anemones and clams are probably out of the question with flourescents on that depth. Ideally you'd use 2x65watt power compact lights or 4 30some watt T5 lights, but as you've figured out, that gets pricey. One great alternative to high priced fish store hardware is to go online to ebay... You can find lots of lighting hardware at a fraction of a cost there. Or alternatively, depending on what part of canada you live in (pretty sure Rona is a canadian store) you could look around for local reef clubs and buy used hardware. Where abouts are you from?

The hardware store flourescents CAN be used, but its rarely a good idea to do so. The two problems are first that the bulbs need to be replaced (hardware store ones are the wrong spectrum), and secondly that they're usually low-power T12 lights. T12 refers to the diameter of the bulb in 1/8ths of an inch (T12 being 12/8"). T12 lighting does not have as much wattage or ability to punch through water as T5 does. As a general rule of thumb, thinner diameter bulbs put out more power for length and have more ability to punch down that 18" of water. I would hesitate on using T12 bulbs ever, and if I was forced to T8's I'd limit myself to soft corals only. T5 tend to allow you to keep softies, polyps, and LPS corals with ease.

hope that helps