Lighting

[Something Fishy]

I need to do more reseach, but I thought I would check with you guys first and get some good opinions.

This is for the 55 gallon. (For those that haven't tuned into my on going saga ) The tank has 30 lbs of live rock, 25 of dry reef and about 30 lbs of sand and crushed coral. Right now it is inhabited by two clowns, I am postive 95% they are true perculas.

Now to the lighting question. I am interested in having an anemone. This is a good 3-4 months away. The LFS has some compact power lighting 115 watts. Not a bad price on them, but I have found better deals online.

Is this strong enough? Is it required I go with metal halide. The LFS is only using these 115 watt lights and they have wonderful looking corals.

What do you guys use/recommend. I had not planed on getting any corals, but who does?

Thanks is advance,
Rusty

edit: After using a link Travis posted on another thread the clowns are false perculas. Tank raised.

[Craig Manoukian]

Hopefully I won't confuse you with this. I do not understand all of the science or technology behind this issue.

I have successfully kept Bubble Tipped Anenomes (BTA) under both MH and PC lighting. The question comes down to intensity or PAR ratings. What light and what intensity can be delivered to the animal at what depth?

350 watts of MH lighting is on my 80 gallon tank and my BTA kept partially hidden in an overhang with indirect lighting. I have 110 watts of PC lighting on my 20 gallon tank and the BTA is in indirect lighting on the side of my LR with a slight overhang. The BTA in my 80 gallon is approximately 20" from my MHs. The BTA in my 20 gallon is 12" from my PC lighting. I run 10,000K bulbs on both tanks, K = color, but the PAR or intensity must be relatively the same at the different depths. My 20 gallon long is much shallower than my 80 gallon.

Intensity is really the key. I hope this helps, but if I confused you we'll clarify for you.

[sambot]

With the PC's you will only get 2 watt per gal. Anenomes need alot of light. I would try to go with some MH. I bought pc's and am now sorry. I wish I would have used the money to get something better. I have had bad luck with anenomes and I have 3 watts per. gal. JMO
Sam

[Something Fishy]

I was under the impression that not all aneomes need a lot of light?

Is this true? Or do they all need bright light in order to thrive?

[Craig Manoukian]

MH lighting will give you a better chance of supplying different photosynthetic animals a wider range of places and depths in your tank. Some LPS, SPS, clams, and anenomes can do better under MH lighting as it allows you to space your livestock in different areas of your tank. With PC lighting you are forced to place all these animals high in your tank closer to the lighting.

HTH

[Craig Manoukian]

Yes some anenomes have different lighting rquirements as not all anenomes are photosythetic requirements for zoanthalae which provides a food source. The most hardy anenome, the BTA, is a photo synthetic anenome.


I don't have any experience with Seabae, LTA, Malu, Ritteri, etc. anenomes.

[Maxx]

Rusty,
you will have many choices available to you regarding lighting. This is one of those topics similar to religion, politics, or gun control, meaning people have some VERY definite opinions on this subject and some really don't like to hear opposing viewpoints.
Here is a link to the RS library forum on lighting. There is a TON of information there. Unfortunately, alot of it reads like chemistry textbooks I had in school. Wade through it all, and you'll have a better idea of whats out there and why.
I have personally never really been fond of any of the LFS in my area w/ regards to their advice on lighting. I have almost always noticed that the Be-all-End-all lighting to have (according to them) happens to be sitting on their shelf....on sale.
Currently there are basically 3 types of lighting out there right now. Metal halide, Power compact (PC for short), and VHO (Very High Output...flourescent). All have their benefits and all have their drawbacks. You will hear many people state that MH is the only way to go if you want to keep anything other than mushrooms. This isnt true. Many people wind up using a combination of the three. (There is a 4th type of lighting, T5, but its rather new and to be fair I really don't know that much about it.) I like running Mh's and VHO....thats just me. you need to decide what you want to keep and get the necessary lighting. One piece of advice though....this stuff is expensive. So do some serious thought to what you want, and purchase accordingly. If you think you want to keep SPS and Clams some where down the line...buy the right lighting for it the first time, or purchase lighting that can be upgraded to what you want easily. Its cheaper than buying all of that, deciding you want something that requires different lighting, scrapping what you had, and buying new stuff.
Okay, the bad news.....Anemones are probably one of the toughest animals to keep, and sooo many people try to keep them right away, have bad experiances, (and kill the anemone...which I suppose is a bad experiance for it), and get discouraged.
Here is a link to a page w/ a few anemone links and information on them. Important ones to read are the "Host anemones" article by Wilkerson, and "keeping anemones," by Toonen. This isnt exactly encouraging material...be forewarned.
But before you go getting all discouraged, it can be done. I've got a Long Tentacled Anemone that I've had for about 7-8 months now, and its doing fine. Keep in mind that most anemones require high levels of light similar to SPS and clams...
Hope all this helps.....
Nick

[Gina]

Good post Nick!

We also run MH and VHO. Due to the different corals and thier needs.

We also got an anenome way too early and it died about a month after we got it. Crashed pretty much our entire stock!
But, on the other hand I got one around 10 years ago, knew nothing about this hobby, put it in the tank pretty much right away and had it for a year before I had to sell the tank and all stock.

I have a feeling it's hit or miss with one. Just keep a close eye on it and if it dies make sure to take it out right away! I left ours in for 2 days just to make sure it was dead. Wrong!

[joe@inreef]

If you are going with PC on a 55 gallon, the bare minumum, should be 440 watts PC or VHO. Anything less and it is kinda a crap shoot. MH is best for Anemones, but 440 watts of VHO or PC will do the trick. If you want to go with MH, 175 x 2 should be plenty. Lighting is the one thing you dont want to skimp on.
I think my favorite lighting for a 55 is 2x110(46.5") VHO Actinic and 2x175 10000k MH. With this lighting setup on a 55, you can keep almost anything. If you want some high light SPS, change the 175 MH to 250.

[Brucey]

Yeah Gina's right Nick .... good impartial info. What we all like to see on this board. Personally, I think ONLY MH work for anenomoes. You need the light to reach every corner of the tank, although normally the anenome will find the brightest and best current area it lights. If you can provide an area of high flow and high intensity light, you'll probably find the anenome will settle there. Bear in mind, if you go for MH, you will also need some type of ventilation to export the heat away from the tank. T5's, well the came out as the answer to MH without the heat, but all the experince I've heard is they do not provide the intensity of lighting for SPS, Clams and anemoes that a MH will. But that's just me
Brucey

[mwrager]

Well here is my input. I have 4 different anemoes in my 125 gal tank. For a 18 months i was running 4 - 96 watt PC lights with out a problem. Have upgraded my light now to 4 - 96 PC and 2 -250 w MH. I see no difference in my anemoes. But before you get an anemoes, read and find out what lighting they need. I may have just gotten lucky.

[Craig Manoukian]

Originally posted by mwrager
I may have just gotten lucky.

That make two of us Mark. I put my new BTA in my 20 gallon with PC lighting just to acclimate it and strengthen it through feeding before putting it in with my very attentive Maroon Clown fish. Well, 2 months later, and it looks as good or better than the BTA I kept in my 80 gallon tank. I have heard of others keeping BTAs under flourescent lighting, so while MH lighting is preferrable, "need", is probably a little strong. I really believe it is more of an intesity issue. An anenome 20 " in depth from flourescent lighting will probably not fare well.

This is all relative when viewed in the context of these creature living for decades in the ocean and five years at best in our tanks, eh?

[middletonmark]

In my mind ... it gets down to longevity. Anemones `should' be able to outlive you, unless some tank-crash occurs or you let things get out of line.

I would really recommend following the above linked articles and reading Wilkerson and Toonen's stuff. Not encouraging ... but you need to know what's up with an anemone.

Personally, if you're really set on one ... I'd keep an eye out for a Rose Bubble Tip Anemone - and one that is captive produced. BTA's generally have the best track record of any anemone, the Rose ones are VERY beautiful ... and quite a lot of them now are being propagated by folks - which means that it has a better chance at living in tanks as it is more acclimatized to aquaria and captivity.

As for lights ... I'm a MH fan, just not impressed with the overall costs of my PC lights ... that tank runs around the same wattage as my MH tank used to [pre-upgrade] ... and given the bulb replacement was more frequent and more expensive ... I'd never buy PC again. Just my opinion though.

But research anemones before you go with one. Patience and research is key on these incredibly long-lived creatures.

[Maxx]

I would have to say, (and should have included this in my previous post) That In MY opinion, 75% of the battle in keeping anemones is getting a healthy one in the first place. And that takes research, and alot of observation to get an "eye" for how a healthy anemone should look.
Nick

[Craig Manoukian]

Originally posted by Maxx
I75% of the battle in keeping anemones is getting a healthy one in the first place. And that takes research, and alot of observation to get an "eye" for how a healthy anemone should look.
Nick

No question, a double Amen to that!

I watched my current BTA at the LFS for two weeks before purchasing. Brought it home for a long drip acclimation. Then turned off all light and pumps and placed it in the tank where I let it attach to the rock and get comfy. Placed it high toget all available light. It has been in my tank 2 months and has grown. In addition it moved down from direct lighting, to the indirect lighting available under the skimmer pump and return.