Anemone Lighting?

rbaby

Member
After my last anemone got sick I got scared and brought him back to my LFS and have been scarred~! But now since I have a newer tank and my water has become a lot more stable, and I've gotten the hang of caring for it daily I wanted to take another shot at another anemone for my percs.
My question is, with a 12 gallon eclipse I have this 50/50 Light called uhm...RealUX...it's 13W Hyperglow Blue/White 12,000K/7100K 7" light...is that enough for an anemone? If not, what fixture can I get for it...even if I have to customize it a little bit...or am I better off with a coral that doesn't need intense lighting? Thanks for the help!
 

rbaby

Member
Thanks Dream,
How many watts should I go for? I can just cut off the li'l enclosure on my Eclipse cover for my light for a longer 50/50 light if I must--I can put about a 14" long 2-pin in there...what do you recommend? Thanks again!
 

bigarn

Active Member
I have a 10 gallon and have an 80watt PC with 3 soft corals all doing fine. I'd like to know if it's enough for an Anemone?
How long does the tank have to be established before you can add one? :D
 

dreamocean

New Member
What kind of anemone are you looking for? Some need stronger light requirements than others. Go to hellolights.com and look for a pc hood that will fit the length of your tank. i bet the 20" 96watt hood will fit fine (I don't know the dimmensions of your tank). That light will suffice for a bubble tip anemone, condylactis anemone, and long tentacle anemone.
I just want to make sure u realize an anemone in such a small tank might prove to be difficult. If you don't keep your water parameters in check, things will go downhill very fast. Keep up on top offs and water changes to replenish the trace elements, good luck. :)
 

rbaby

Member
I was looking into a Bubble Tip or a Rose Anemone...I believe they are the least demanding Anemones in terms of light right? (That's compatible with my fish that is)...
I do water changes twice a week...about 15% new water every week. I'm having a problem with nitrates right now though and I'm trying to correct it by doing more water changes per week as opposed to my usual once a week.
The strange thing is, if my nitrates are so high I would think that my ammonia would be high too but my ammonia levels are just right...so I'm not really sure, any ideas?
Someone suggested that I get a light fixture--I saw those that they had available, some of them had just canopy-like fixtures...which means I would have to leave my top open...I can't do that, I have a VERY curious cat.
Someone also mentioned that I would be better off w/o Halide lamps--they said my cover would melt...I really don't know the intensity of these bulbs so I'm forced to just take that out of the options list.
I was able to find a 16" that I can probably retrofit to my tank...it's a 96W 50/50 light--is that okay? It's a 10K/Actinic 03.
 

viper_930

Active Member

Originally posted by DreamOcean
13 watts over a 12gal wont keep any photosynthesizing animals alive.

13 watts will be able to support zoos, shrooms, polyps, and some xenia.
Originally posted by bigarn

I have a 10 gallon and have an 80watt PC with 3 soft corals all doing fine. I'd like to know if it's enough for an Anemone?
How long does the tank have to be established before you can add one? :D

Not enough. Tank should be setup for 6+ months after the cycle.
96 watts is not enough for an anemone.
And another thing, anemones should not really be kept in such small tanks. They require VERY stable environments, and in smaller tanks the water conditions change so often.
 
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