40 gal tank lighting

[salsells]

I have a 65W 4 bulb 24 hour lighting sys in tank (lunar incuded) is this enough light for an anemone? and do I leave the lunar on all night??? I currently leave light on fron 8 am to about 2 pm then put lunar on until around 8pm and lights off???is this right?????40 gal tank and has cycled, have clowns, damsels wrassa and scooter, brittle star and lots of crabs and snails. I want to add an anemone but want to make sure sufficient light.

 

[kdfrosty]

Anemones require top quality water conditions, and a mature tank with lots of live rock. Also, you dont have enough light for an anemone. You'll need, at a minimum, VHO lighting. I'd even go with MH. I keep my lighting on from 9:30 - 8:30 and use a dawn/dusk effect lighting scheme.
I would wait at least 6 months, maintain great water quality throughout those 6 months, and then reconsider an anemone again at that point.
Isnt your bioload kinda high for a tank that just finished cycling?

 

[salsells]

sorry but what is bioload????new hobby...

 

[jmick]

Originally Posted by KDFrosty
Anemones require top quality water conditions, and a mature tank with lots of live rock. Also, you dont have enough light for an anemone. You'll need, at a minimum, VHO lighting. I'd even go with MH. I keep my lighting on from 9:30 - 8:30 and use a dawn/dusk effect lighting scheme.
I would wait at least 6 months, maintain great water quality throughout those 6 months, and then reconsider an anemone again at that point.
Isnt your bioload kinda high for a tank that just finished cycling?

I agree with KD on the above answer. Anemones are very challenging and I’d recommend trying corals that will do well in a system without high intensity lighting. One more thing, you are probably going to run into problems with your scooter blenny. These guys have special feeding needs and if don’t have an established mature tank/fuge you probably don’t have pods and other micro fauna it needs and it will slowly stave to death.

 

[salsells]

i have had my little scooter for about 2 weeks and he seems to be doing great, my LR was given to me by friends who set up tank and they have 5 saltwater tanks, largest 150 gal and the LR came directly from their tanks, i tested my water again and it is as follows
salinity 1.025
ph 7.8
temp 78
nitrate under 10
nitrite 0
ammonia 0
i feed twice a day, flakes in the am and brine in the pm, they all seem to be happy little campers. water and tank clear and beautiful, could i have gotten lucky. Hopefully friends really knew what they were doing and all is well, I guess time will tell. I sure would hate anything to happen to my little buddies. The lighting I got, from this site, was suppose to be the best you can buy. 4- 65w tubes for a 40 gal, what else can i get???

 

[thegrog]

agree with all of the above.
Anemones should only be kept by those who are more experienced in the hobby as they are tough to keep alive for any period of time. Wait and learn for about a year or so and then upgrade your lighting and go from there.
Bioload is the number of creatures that are in your tank that produce waste. Lots of creatures produce lots of waste (heavy bioload) for your biofiltration to process. Anemones add a heavy amount to a bioload and is why they should be kept in larger tanks. 30gal is the minimum size for experts to keep them in, 55 would be the minimum I would recommend to a novice. The larger tank allows for a heavier bioload and provides more stable water parameters.

 

[jmick]

Unless the brine you are feeding your fish is enriched with Selecon or similar product I wouldn’t waste my time feeding it to your fish because it has no nutritional value.
Being new in the hobby I recommend that you try to be patient and don’t buy on impulse, this can lead to many problems down the road. Also, check out the Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Fenner, it’s filled with great info will prove to be very valuable!

 

[salsells]

what should i be feeding my fish???? i feed Tetra marine flakes, the rainbow blend and frozen brine.