quentin8

Ok, so i got a 29 gallon instant ocean (marineland) aquarium a couple of weeks ago its one with the built in filter and lights all in the hood....i would really like to improve the lighting with out spending more than $100 and dramadicly modifing the aquarium.......I was looking at the coralife systems but dont know which one i would need..or could i just change the bulbs and which ones do i need........PLz help.....as always thanks for the help......would some zoo med 50/50 bulbs work....or something else

travie

What kind of lighting is in the hood? If you are going FOWLR, your lighting won't matter.

quentin8

The lights that came with the hood were marineland "daytime"....I would like to start a reef...but dont want to spend $500 on lights

travie

You can get a lighting system for around $250 USD on eBay that would enable you to keep most corals.

Mike

Lighting depends on what you what types of corals you want to keep. The 29 gallon instant ocean aquarium looks like it comes with regular flourescents. If you want to keep hard corals (SPS) look for T5's or Metal Halides. I like the T5's since they don't affect the water temp as much as halides. If you want soft corals you could get by with power compact lights. Lights seem to be coming down in price (slowly) at most of the online retailers. Check out drsfostersmith or marinedepot or similar.

Take your time researching lights. Learn all you can about them since they are expensive and you don't want to buy a fixture that doesn't meet your needs down the road. Lighting is very important for many coral species.