20 or 29?

[Iceburg98]

My girlfriend and I are thinking about upgrading our 6gal to a larger tank. (don't worry, I'm sure I'll set it back up again when she's not looking :wink: )

We were just debating whether to go with a 20 tall, or a 29. The stand we are using now will hold the 20, but we would need to get a new stand for the 29...

Also, we don't have enough money to go with MH lights, so we'd be doing PCs. We were probably going to go with the Current USA sattelite with 2x65w PCs and built in moonlights. This comes in 24" and 30" lenghts, so both tanks would get the same amount of light despite the difference in water volume.

This seems like 2 strikes against the 29, but the 29 just seems like the perfect size - big enough to put lots of stuff in it, but still a fairly small footprint.

Any opinions/suggestions on which size i should get? We've been debating back and forth for the past couple of weeks, and neither of us can make up our minds - we both like the size of the 29 better, but the 20 seems more practical at this point... :?

 

[incysor]

Go with the 29. You'll be keeping the same corals in either tank since you've chosen your light. The 29 will just give you more room for more of them. Other than the stand, the cost will be similar enough that you might as well go with the bigger one.

B

 

[leaffish75]

why not vhos? i ran pcs on my 20L and wasnt satisfied with the quality so i went vhos (300 watts) :shock:

 

[shaggydoo541]

Definitely go with the 29. While you may not be able to get higher lighting now having the bigger tank will allow you to keep the same type of corals as the 20 but w/ room for expansion and upgrades. Maybe you will get MH later but even if you don't having more room is always good. I started w/ an 18G and am already in the planning stages of upgrading to a custom 30G acrylic after only 3 months.

 

[Iceburg98]

Yeah, we might go with the 29. We just have to find an affordable stand.

You guys are right about just upgrading the lights later, since the 29 is what i really want in terms of size.

About the lighting though...
Obviously i would only be able to do softies and LPS, but will the difference of 6.5 watts/gal vs 4.5 watts/gal make much difference?
Also, i usually use PCs, but how do VHOs compare in terms of light output per watt? Just because you can squeeze 300 watts of VHO light over a 29 tank, is that really that much more light output that 130wats of PCs?

 

[incysor]

Yeah, we might go with the 29. We just have to find an affordable stand.

You guys are right about just upgrading the lights later, since the 29 is what i really want in terms of size.

About the lighting though...
Obviously i would only be able to do softies and LPS, but will the difference of 6.5 watts/gal vs 4.5 watts/gal make much difference?
Also, i usually use PCs, but how do VHOs compare in terms of light output per watt? Just because you can squeeze 300 watts of VHO light over a 29 tank, is that really that much more light output that 130wats of PCs?

Watts per gallon is a nearly useless rule. You will not be able to keep anything in the 20g, that you can't keep in the 29g, just because there's less water volume. If you were talking about the difference of 130w over a 5g tank, and a 30g tank that would be different but a 20 and a 29 are much closer. The depth of a tank is a big key. PC lamps simply don't have the penetrative output of VHOs, and T-5s, just as all of them can't penetrate depth like MHs. There are a ton of very well written papers/websites on lighting. If you're really that interested read them. I personally haven't really read that many of them. They are only marginally interesting to me. Instead I've read about the corals that I wanted to keep, and researched to find what type of lighting other hobbyists are keeping those corals sucessfully under. I've read just enough of the papers on lighting to get understand some of the basics, and that's been enough for me, but I'm just not that interested in that area of the hobby.

I've posted this link before but I still think it's a fairly amusing thread if you want to get more info on lighting.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... ghting+PAR

B

 

[Iceburg98]

Just another quick question on the lighting...

I'm most likely going to go with the Current USA dual sattelite 2x65 PC to start with since it's a nice hood that comes in a 30" length. (Would i be killing my PAR with PC's though? Only shrooms, softies and LPS to start with anyway...)

Later on down the line i'm probably going to upgrade to MH with PC (or possibly VHO) actinics. But all the hoods/retros i've seen only come in 24" or 36" lengths. Would putting a 24" retro in a hood over a 29g spread the light evenly enough over the whole tank, or would the last 3" on either side be little dimmer? Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question, but i just don't want to sink a few hundred into a 29g tank and find out later i'm limiting my lighting options.

I figure that a good 24" MH/PC retro would have decent enough reflectors to cover 30" though... am i wrong in this, or is this a good assumption?

Thanks

 

[leaffish75]

why not DIY your hood?

 

[Iceburg98]

I'll prolly DIY the hood, but the retrofit reflector's only come in 24" and 36", and i don't think i'm talented enough to do a complete DIY job on the lights - i'd rather just buy a retro and screw it in - i can handle that much at least

We also just live in an apartment, so there's not that much room for much DIYing... as it is the plan for the hood would be pretty ghetto looking, but it would hold up lights...