help for lighting

[tdaily]

I have had two fish only aquariums for about 2 years now. I feel comfortable enough now to start a reef tank. I recently bought a
Halide light that I figured I could use for my 29gal. tank. The tank is 17" deep and 28"long. The light is a round, recessed Halide and has a 250watt, 5700K bulb.

I'm not sure how sufficient this is. Is this enough intensity? What types of corals will this support? Is this safe or could I buy a bulb with the same wattage, but a higher intensity? Also, how far from the surface should I put the light?

I know thats quite a few questions, but I want to make sure that I have everything right before I put any light depending animals in my tank.
Any help anyone can give me will be greatly appreciated.

Thank You
Tdaily

 

[Entacmaea]

Hi tdaily, Welcome!

The wattage could cover the tank you have described, depending on what you want to keep. Is the fixture you have a regular indoor lighting fixture, with an aluminum "cup", and does it use a double ended bulb, or is does the bulb have one end that screws in?

I would take a breeze through the lighting section of this site, for some basic background on reef lighting. There are a lot of options My concerns for your fixture would be, if it is an indoor fixture, it might not stand up in the highly corrosive salt water environment(unless you enclosed it in a hood), and if it has a double ended bulb, it is advisable to use a UV shield (glass or acrylic with uv attenuation properties.) The Kelvin rating might also be a bit low, but this is more an aesthetic judgment on my part, I like more "white" light than yellow- which a 5700K would tend to be.

Hope this helps. Take a browse through the library and you'll discover the (much debated) world of lighting!

Peter

 

[tdaily]

Thanks Peter,

The light is enclosed in a hood, and has a glass cover over the bottom so hopefully that shouldn't be a real concern. Also, the bulb just looks like a regular oversized bulb, with one end that screws in.

If you have time, could you tell me if the 250watt ballast will support
any Kelvin bulb (for example a 10,000K). And is there any set length
the ballast can be from the fixture itself?

Thanks again,
TonyD.

 

[Entacmaea]

Great, looks like the hood et. al is all set. Do you know what brand of ballast or fixture it is? Most ballasts can run any Kelvin temperature(though all still 250watt), though some electronic ballasts(is yours a regular, heavy tar ballast, or a light electronic one?) are optomized for specified bulbs(you have a "mogul" base bulb). However, even ballasts which are "tuned" to specific bulbs are usually able to light other kelvin bulbs as well, so you should be fine. However, it is safer to check with the ballast, or hood manufacturer.

As for bulb distance from ballast, usually the closer the better, however unless you are going to be mounting them 25 feet away on another floor, you shouldn't have to worry about this. If you put the ballast anywhere around, or behind the tank, at most it will be 6-10 feet away, which is normal. Most "remote" ballasts come with about 6-8 feet of lead wire for that purpose.

Let me know if you have any more questions...

Peter

 

[Entacmaea]

duplicate post, sorry!

 

[tdaily]

The light is done by NorthStarLightingInc. so that shouldnt raise any red flags as far as I know. It seems to have a regular (bulky and heavy) ballast. I'll probably check with the manufacturer just to be sure before buying a higher intensity bulb.

Thank You for your comments. You have truely been helpful.

TonyD.

 

[reefsRcool]

don't have much to say 'bout your light that hasn't been said but wanted to welcome you to the hobby and wish you luck

 

[tdaily]

Thanks :wink: