Anemone lighting...

[defntleymaybe79]

I have a 20 gallon tank and am interested in placing an anemone in there. I have approx. 20 lbs of live rock. The tank has been cycled and stabalized for over a year. Currently the tank holds 2 percula, 1 banghai cardinal, a C. Banded Shrimp and 8 snails. So my questions are:
1. Will the tank support the anemone without overloading the bio mass?
2. I notice some of the anemones require "strong" lighting meaning how many watts and what type of light?

 

[defntleymaybe79]

I have a 20 gallon tank and am interested in placing an anemone in there. I have approx. 20 lbs of live rock. The tank has been cycled and stabalized for over a year. Currently the tank holds 2 percula, 1 banghai cardinal, a C. Banded Shrimp and 8 snails. So my questions are:
1. Will the tank support the anemone without overloading the bio mass?
2. I notice some of the anemones require "strong" lighting meaning how many watts and what type of light? I currently have a 15W Actinic light (however, i think that its not enough)
3. If i do need more lighting, how can i upgrade it. Do i need to get a different ballast, light or new hood.
Bear in mind, right now my tank is your run of the mill set up.

 

[discusking]

anthough i just got my first anemone, i have read enough on them to kinda point u in the right direction. First off they need alot of light, at least four to five watts per gallon of pc or metal hadide light. Needless to say u do not have enough light. So u should upgrade to either pc or metal halides. Metal halides re really expesive so pcs should be fine. Coral life has retrofits for eclipse hoods, if u have one, or they sell whole units. These power compacts are going to cost between $120-200 dollars, but this is cheaper than metal halides which cost about 500 dollars. Anemones also need very little nitrate in the water because they are used to nutrient free water in the wild. So if u do not have a protein skimmer on ur tank it would be a good idea to get one. If u cant afford one a cheaper natural method would be to get some macro algae and they should assimulate the nitrates. the algae along with weekly 10% water changes should keep your water quality high. Now the hardiest host anemone to keep would be a bubble tip anemone E. quadricolor. This anemone does well in the aquarium. However they need supimental feeding if they are to remain healthy so feed them at least once a week shrimp or fish. Another great thing about the bulb-tiped anemone is it reproduces asexually in the aquarium. So if you feed the anemone and give it good light and water quality then it will split. Hopefully this information will help you and good luck with your new anemone!

:happyfish PS: yeah an anemone should not really affect your bio load rigt now

 

[jester805]

I was wondering a lot of the same questions. Also...how do you feed the anemone's??

 

[blk822]

I have a large blue carpet tthat I have had for about 6years now and I have had it always under 4-11o watt VHO, 2-actinic URIs and 2 actinic/white URIUs in a 75 gal tank. Everything I have read on these anemones says that they will only live about 2 years in a tank but I have had mine for 6. And I had moved the tank twise and one of those moves was during really cold weather, but it still seems to survive. the only time it started to look weird was after I removed a tomatoe clown that was hosting init to get a couple of orange skunks. It didn't like not having a companion for two weeks.
+

 

[thomas712]

1. Will the tank support the anemone without overloading the bio mass?
2. I notice some of the anemones require "strong" lighting meaning how many watts and what type of light? I currently have a 15W Actinic light (however, i think that its not enough)
3. If i do need more lighting, how can i upgrade it. Do i need to get a different ballast, light or new hood.
Well, my preference at this point would be to try to talk you out of getting any anemone, why? Tank size.
2 posters one with a 10 and 20 gallon tank the other with a 5 gallon tank. Why talk you out of it? Stability and water quality. Bad things can happen in any tank but they happen much faster in smaller nano sized tanks. Keep in mind that your water volume goes down with rocks and sand.
One requirement, or two, of an anemone is stability and water quality. This is better achieved in larger tanks say 55 gallon or better.
15 watts of lights would spell death to all but the pest anemones and even they might not survive that. My preference is VHO lighting of at least 4+ watts per gallon for the less light requiring anemone like E. Quads = BTA or bubble tip anemones.
VHO, PC and MH all require special ballests to run the bulbs, Ice Cap ballests are a favorite. MH lighting is a must for tanks 18 inches or deeper as they are able to penitrate that deep, this is important for sand substrate anemones like LTA's or Sebaes.
My best advice is steer clear of anemnes in less than a 29 or 30 gallon tank. Does that mean some folks haven;t tried? NO. Does that mean you can't do it? NO. Some folks get away with it, but many don't talk about their failures.
Its your tank and your choice - favorite Broomerisum*

 

[jacob_poly]

reposting this here...I answered originally to your other ditto thread....
what species of anemone are you interested in keeping? Your lighting definitely needs an upgrade - but to what would depend on what kind of anemone its going to be.... Try to get atleast 4-5 Watts/gallon. If this is your first anemone then a BTA would be best and would gladly get by with just PC lighting. But if you are thinking of other species then you might need to consider VHO or even MH. 20 G tanks are usually not so deep and so PC or VHO might work.
Jake.

 

[defntleymaybe79]

Thanks for your replies. After I posted this question (2 other times) I continued to read and found out that I really can't do much more than fish, LR and some inverts in my tank. So really, I can't do anything real cool or exciting until I upgrade. I had a petshop owner actually spell out the stuff i would need for my 20 gallon tank, but I figure if i'm going to do this, I want it done in the biggest tank that I will eventually invest in (nowhere near the 850 gallon that steveweast (sp?) has) I figure it would save more money in the long run and give me much more room for error. I'm just actually trying to find some small inverts to add spice to my tank. Its only sand, rock, 3 fish and 1 coral banded shrimp (i think he should be ok). I call it the ocean floor tank. Which then leads into another thread. Thanks again for your help. CHEERS!

 

[discusking]

Thomas712
thats my old tank, the five gallon, the BTA is in my new tank. And if good tank parameters are kept i think that a BTA anemone would be fine. Colonal forms, the one usually found in fish stores, only get to be about ten inches in diameter full grown, I think that his aqarium would be fine, because usally before this size is reached the anemone splits making it smaller.