Anemone in a 10-gal nano???

[thegrog]

OK, this is a serious inquiry about opinions.
I am contemplating putting an anemone in my 10-gal nano but am stuck on lighting. Water quality is not an issue as parameters have been pristine for months. This is a standard 10-gal tank.
Here are my thoughts on lighting. MH would cook anything in the tank. VHO bulbs are too long. NO bulbs are.....well....pitiful. That leaves me with PC. The problem is that the tank is only 20" long. I could only go with either 2x36w or 2x40w of the PC. Would this be enough???
I really don't like the "watts per gallon" rule (even though it is a good general guideline) but according to that, I would be good with either PC configuration.
Oh yea, thinking of a carpet anemone.........just kidding, a BTA is what I am considering.
Opinions would be appreciated.

 

[xitywampas]

make your own light use pc 1x65w actenic and 1x65w 10k that would be more then enough at 13w per gallon

 

[thomas712]

IMO no anemone should be an a nano that small. 29 is minimum, once again IMO.

 

[sula]

Coralife makes a 96 watt aqaulight that fits on a 10 gallon tank, that would probably meet the lighting needs.
I also shy away from the thought of having an anemone in a 10g, basically due to water quality. What do you do to keep your water pristine in your tank?

 

[thegrog]

Originally Posted by Sula
Coralife makes a 96 watt aqaulight that fits on a 10 gallon tank, that would probably meet the lighting needs.
I also shy away from the thought of having an anemone in a 10g, basically due to water quality. What do you do to keep your water pristine in your tank?
I did see those.
Water quality? Regular water changes (using water from my big reef tank). Low bioload (only a pair of clowns and a few snails), LR, LS, Whisper 30 filter (with the biofilter sponge), and a small sponge filter. Have not seen ammonia or nitrate in forever and the nitrates have never gotten higher than 10. pH very stable at 8.3 with dkh of 9-11. . Don't measure Ca as nothing in the tank really needs it and since my reef Ca is good, I don't waste the test on it.

 

[viper_930]

I also think a 10g is too small for any hosting species of anemones, and 96 watts wouldn't cut it IMO. You can keep tulip anemones and mini-carpets (Stichodactyla tapetum) under minimal PC lighting in a small tank like that though.

 

[marco333]

I have had a BTA in my 10g nano for almost 3 years, and it is thriving and split twice. It will only survorive if you do weekly waterchanges tho. I am currently using the 96w coralife aqua light. The one problem I have is that the anemones can get big, and having other corals in the tank with it has been dificult. If you plan on getting an anemone in your nano, make it an anemone tank and go light on the corals don't crowd the tank with corals then plop an anemone in the middle.