Lighting a 29 gallon reef

[Betta-Chetta]

Hey guys I just set up my 29 gallon again. It has 20 lbs Fiji pink and 20 lbs Reef sand. Also has about 40 lbs of rock. My question is what type of lighting would yall recommend. I have a 4 bulb t5 coralife fixture but when I had it up a long time ago none of my corals grew and I had alot of corals bleach. So any idea on how to prevent it this time or any suggestions on lights would be very appreciated!

 

[Reefing Madness]

 

[twilliard]

There are many factors to bleaching coral.
If you still have this fixture I would use it but maybe not so close to the tank.
Get new lamps (if its time to replace)
And then lets talk numbers

 

[Betta-Chetta]

How would I raise it higher?

 

[AdamNC]

Is it a 29 gallon cube or standard? Foot print will matter. Maxspect R420R, Radion, Kessil and AI are all nice choices if you want to go LED.

 

[Betta-Chetta]

It's the standard 29 gallon. I always have wanted to do the bluefish controller but the only lights that can hook up to it is the halo, kessil and rapid led.

 

[B22]

I depends on what corals you want to keep. I would go led like radion, AI, kessil
If you want to buy a radion xr15 send me a PM

 

[Betta-Chetta]

I mostly want soft corals and LPS. Not a big fan of SPS.

 

[dlynch8802]

I have a standard 29 with a AI hydra 26 and it works great. It's more than enough light and as long as you hang it correctly over the tank, it will have a good spread. They have been on sale too as the HD version just came out

 

[Betta-Chetta]

I have a standard 29 with a AI hydra 26 and it works great. It's more than enough light and as long as you hang it correctly over the tank, it will have a good spread. They have been on sale too as the HD version just came out

How high do you have it? Also what corals do you have growing in your tank?

 

[B22]

That's why I like the radion better. You get both lens 80 degrees and 120 wide. Put the wide lens on and you don't have to raise the light super high.

 

[B22]

Plus if you have vortec pawerheads or plan on getting any you can have them pair up to the lights.

 

[Betta-Chetta]

Just curious guys what are yalls inputs on the fluval marine and reef led 2.0 for the 29 gallon

 

[dlynch8802]

How high do you have it? Also what corals do you have growing in your tank?

I have it about 10 inches above the water. I built it directly into my canopy so the fan can cook it down properly as well

I have a mixed reef, but everything I have is thriving and growing. It's a great light

 

[B22]

Hard to tell from the picture but the hydra 80 degrees Len just don't give it enough spread IMO. And if it's not going to have sps you don't need the higher par from the hydra. You can loose par and get better coverage with radions with wide lenses YMMV