# 29 gallon light suggestions



## FixxYurFace (Feb 14, 2011)

Fairly new to better part of this but I am setting up my 29 gallon tank to house my rcs, albino bn plecos and a bunch of plants and moss. I have no lighting for this and was hoping someone could point me in the right direction. No ideas as to what lighting would be best for all. Wanna keep the price relatively cheap but will spend whats needed.


----------



## Regenesis (Apr 12, 2011)

What Type of lighting are you wanting? Low, Moderate, or High? What type of plants and moss are you talking about?

If I were you, I would go with a good lighting system like Glo T5 HO Dual lamp lighting system 2X24w (Around $115) or Nova Extreme dual T5HO aquarium lighting 2X24w ($78-$108). Since both are 48watts total, they would have to go with C02 or you could get algae problems.


----------



## ktownhero (Mar 21, 2011)

If you don't want to go the co2 route, I'm very happy with the single T5HO hanging strip that I got from specialty-lights.com. It's the 24" Sunblaze T5HO, and it's only $40 + about $5 in hardware from Home Depot to hang from a wall (L bracks, chain, and S hooks). Depending on how high you hang it from the tank, it can put you anywhere from the low to medium light category. I'm having tremendous success with it on my low tech tank.


----------



## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

I use a Coralife T5-NO 30in fixture on my low-tech 29. So far I'm really happy with it, but you may be trouble finding one. Supposedly they are discontinuing them. But here is a place with some in stock....
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/209809/product.web

If you are wanting to stay low tech and you get a T5-HO fixture you may have to raise it or use screen mesh to lower the light level. Or get a single T5-HO fixture.


----------



## FixxYurFace (Feb 14, 2011)

Thank you all for the replys. Once out of work tonight I will be posting pictures to better show my plant life so to make the light question a little easier to answer. I did recently buy the CO2 Natural Plant System (30 dollars at petsmart) but was waiting to hook it up once I got the 29 gallon up and running. Just hoping for a great light for my inverts, plants and plecos but not too horrible of a price ya know  Should have pics up in about 9 hours, sorry bout the delay.


----------



## silentcircuit (Apr 30, 2011)

I considered starting my own thread, but this is similar enough I think it'd be redundant. 

I have a planted tank which I hope to add much more to, ideally moving in to high light plants and probably DIY CO2 or at least SeaChem Flourish and Flourish XL for available carbon.

Right now there's just the 24" T8 fixture it came with on it, with the standard black plastic hood with small glass area for the light. I've been looking seriously at some of the cheaper T5HO options like the Odyssea fixtures available from TopDogSellers (and some others, though I've dealt with these guys before and will probably order from them if I go this route) on eBay. I've bought a couple of big Odyssea canister filters that I've modified extensively and a couple of Odyssea heaters (nothing special but they work and haven't exploded), so while I don't associate the brand with the utmost in quality I have been pleased with the products for the price in the past. That, and I figure, how can you screw up a light fixture?

I've done a little research here and elsewhere and general consensus seems to be these are middle of the road but excellent for the money. I am just about dirt poor (law student) so excellent for the money is what I'm after.

The 24" 2 bulb (48 watt) fixture, the largest length-wise that'll fit on my tank, is a whopping $40 shipped, with two 6500k bulbs included!
EDIT: Looks like they're also available from Aquatraders.com. Here is the 2 bulb: 
http://www.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-24in-2x24W-T5-HO-Light-Fixture-p/52121p.htm
Looks like with no free shipping eBay is cheaper for the 2 bulb version.

The 24" 4 bulb (96 watt) fixture is only $75 shipped with 4 6500k bulbs included. It also has 2 LED "moon lights" but I bet 2 LEDs on a 24" light isn't going to do much.
EDIT: Here is the 4 bulb: http://www.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-24in-4x24W-T5-HO-Light-Fixture-Extendable-p/52303p.htm
(and it's $10 cheaper than eBay! Yay.)

Locally I can't get anything even clsoe to comparable for less than $120.

I'm fairly sure looking at dimensions I could simply set the 2 bulb light over my existing "light window" in the current black hood and it would be fine, though probably not ideal since I'm sure some spread of the light would be avoided that way. The 4 bulb version would be much too wide for the "window" and I'd have to buy a full glass top. Not the end of the world -- I imagine I could get at least $20 or $30 on Craigslist or Ebay for my nearly new full hood with 2 T8 bulbs included, so the $25 or so for a Perfecto top is not a big deal.

My questions are many.

First, how much light do I need when considering T5HO bulbs? I've read lots of articles but they all seem to be older and say newer lighting doesn't conform to the same "watts per gallon" standards but generally fail to suggest where to go next. I'm planning on CO2 and plants running the range of light requirements from low-medium to high, with a lot of growth per water volume planned. The tank is pretty heavily stocked but most species are appreciative of moderate to heavy planting. I will beat back the jungle to leave some open space of course. Given the 4 bulb fixture is only $15 more than the two bulb, unless that is simply going to be /too much/ light I will probably go that route. I may buy it and just not use half the sockets even -- two more bulbs for $15 and the option of expanding later on is almost too good a deal to pass up when all I'm losing is a little space on top of the tank.

Also, I read about ODNO lights here, and that's something well within my capabilities to do. Given I know replacement T5HO bulbs can be a touch pricey and I'm poor and will be for quite some time here I suspect, the idea of a similar initial investment and replacing $6-10 worth of bulbs per year is tempting to say the least. Is it a similar amount of light, assuming I overdrive 2 or 4 24" bulbs in a shop fixture or similar? Has this sort of thing fallen out of favor? I see the thread is fairly old and hasn't been updated in about 6 years, so... that has me a bit worried.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/planted-tank-faq/175-cheap-lighting-odno-19.html

Responses and suggestions appreciated!


----------



## Regenesis (Apr 12, 2011)

silentcircuit said:


> I considered starting my own thread, but this is similar enough I think it'd be redundant.
> 
> I have a planted tank which I hope to add much more to, ideally moving in to high light plants and probably DIY CO2 or at least SeaChem Flourish and Flourish XL for available carbon.
> 
> ...


Hello Silentcircuit,

Please do not steal the thread away from the original poster. If you could, ask a mod to move this post and make your own thread.

Thanks


----------



## silentcircuit (Apr 30, 2011)

Didn't see it as stealing so much as adding to the conversation and offering some info the OP themself might find useful.


----------



## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

You really need to deceide on what type of tank you want and then pic the lighting and plants, look here to see what I'm thinking http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/2890-Step-2-chose-a-method-and-learn-it-well The basic idea is there are four types of tank setups and the article goes thru a little of the detail to help you deceide, check it out.


----------

