Am I doing this right?

[beanpole12]

:help: Ok well here's the deal. I bought an anemone, a condy, and he is very bleached. Not sure why I did it, probably out of pity for him. Anyways, I have him in a 55g with 260w power compacts on it. I have very good water parameters, amm 0, ph 8.2, nitrites 0 and nitrates at <5. I got him last friday and have been feeding him dried krill soaked in zoe which he takes readily, normally 2 pieces a day. I'm also putting zooplex in the water every other day. Is there anything else I should be doing? He started out jsut laying o nthe bottom of the tank, now he is slowly creeping up the glass and his tentacles are almost always stretched out. I have soem pics but I have no idea how to post them! I'm just curious if tehre is anything else I should know or be doing. Thanks!!

 

[fishieness]

if he is crawling far up the glass with his tenticals stretched out then taht means heis not getting enough light. Condiis need high lighting. more than a bubbletip or some others. How old are your bulbs? what is your alk and Ca levels?

 

[beanpole12]

i just got these new lights last week. not sure how to test for alk and calcium. i dose with reef success calcium +3 once a week. guess i need those test kits though.

 

[fishieness]

yes you do!! never dose anything unless you have a testing kit!! i got some calcium and some testers, expecting the need to does.... well, i use oceanic and my salinity is very very very high!! which screws up my ALK, which makes my pH unstable!
what kind of salt are you using?

 

[beanpole12]

i use instant ocean salt. my ph is at 8.2 and my salinity is 1.025. i'm going to get some calcium and alkalinity tests this weekend, can you give me an idea of where they should be? Also, I'm using 4 65w bulbs, two 12000k daylight and two total acitnic, is this the best combination or should i use something else? thanks so much.

 

[fishieness]

instant ocean tends to have a low calcium level. This will screw up your alkalinity and then cause your pH to swing more.
the main reason for the different spectrum bulbs are how it looks in the tank. however that i have heard that the lower the K, the more light there is to be used for photosynthesis, but will also produce excess algae growth. I am pretty sure that is how it works anyways.so as far as specctrum, it depends on what look you like. i have seen people with only 20000k, people with only 10000k, people with less if they have like a normal NO bulb, but most people that i have seen have 2 actinics and 2 20000k