Common Host Anemones and Reguired Lighting.

snipe

snipe

Active Member
Well Thomas and I have been working on this and we decided to go ahead and post this open for discussion. We will still work on it to improve anything that is posted. Any thoughts or coments on this is welcome.
Lighting and Tank Depth.
For PC, VHO and T5 lighting.
23" and under
(PC)65watt
(VHO)110watt
(T5)34watt
24" to 30"
(PC)96watt
(VHO)160watt
(T5)52watt
Lighting and tank Depth
MH (Metal Halide Bulbs)
23" and under
175watt
24" to 30"
250watt
31" or over
400watt
For Metal Halide use 1 bulb per every 2 foot of tank space.
All results are based on a tank of 55 gallons.
Entacmaea quadricolor, Bulb, Bubble-Tip or Maroon Anemone, RBTA
This anemone will surrvive in PC lighting all the way to Metal Halide lighting
with moderate flow. It should have around 5WPG (watts per gallon) of PC, VHO and T5 lighting.
Or 6watts per galon of MH lighting. A photo period of 10 to 12 hours is acceptable and 8 to
10 hours of MH is acceptable.
S. haddoni, Haddon's Carpet, Saddle Carpet Anemone
This anemone can accept a wide range of lighting from PC lighting to that of MH lighting.
It should have around 5WPG (watts per gallon) of PC, VHO and T5 lighting.
Or 6watts per galon of MH lighting. A photo period of 10 to 12 hours is acceptable and 8 to
10 hours of MH is acceptable.
Macrodactyla doreensis, Long Tentacle Anemone, Corkscrew Tentical
This anemone reguires Metal Halide lighting. Aroung 9 watts of MH lighting per gallon
should be used for smaller tanks 75 and under. And around 10watts for larger tanks 80 and over.
With a photo period of 10 to 12 hours.
Heteractis crispa, Purple Long Tentacle Anemone, Leathery Anemone
If the lighting is strong enough it can be placed on the sand if not then in the rock structer is fine. It should
be kept under Metal Halide lighting. Aroung 9 watts of MH lighting per gallon
should be used for smaller tanks 75 and under. And around 10watts for larger tanks 80 and over.
A photo period of 10 to 12 hours would be enough.
Heteractis malu, Sebae Anemone, Singapore Sebae, Hawaiian Sand Anemone
this anemone reguires Metal Halide Lighting. Aroung Aroung 9 watts of MH lighting per gallon
should be used for smaller tanks 75 and under. And around 10watts for larger tanks 80 and over.
A photo period of 10 to 12 hours would be enough.
Heteractis aurora, Beaded Anemone, Aurora Anemone
This species reguires Metal Halide lighting. Aroung Aroung 9 watts of MH lighting per gallon
should be used for smaller tanks 75 and under. And around 10watts for larger tanks 80 and over.
A photo period of 10 to 12 hours would be enough.
Heteractis magnifica, Magnificent Anemone, Ritteri Anemone, Red Radianthus Anemone
It reguires MH light prefferable over 175watts and strong water flow. Aroung 9 watts of MH lighting per gallon
should be used for smaller tanks 75 and under. And around 10watts for larger tanks 80 and over.
A photo period of 10 to 12 hours would be enough.
Stichodactyla gigantea, Giant Carpet Anemone
prefers metal halide of 175watts or more depending on the size of the tank. Aroung 9 watts of MH lighting per gallon
should be used for smaller tanks 75 and under. And around 10watts for larger tanks 80 and over.
A photo period of 10 to 12 hours would be enough.
Cryptodendrum adhasesivum, Adhesive, or Pizza anemone
prefers metal halide of 175watts or more depending on the size of the tank.Aroung 9 watts of MH lighting per gallon
should be used for smaller tanks 75 and under. And around 10watts for larger tanks 80 and over.
A photo period of 10 to 12 hours would be enough.
S. mertensi, Merten's Carpet, Sri Lanka Carpet
This species reguires Metal Halide lighting. Aroung 9 watts of MH lighting per gallon
should be used for smaller tanks 75 and under. And around 10watts for larger tanks 80 and over.
A photo period of 10 to 12 hours would be enough.
Some short info on lighting (alot better info can be found by 007 with a quick search).
Lighting should be determind by species and by tank depth. As you see some species can
survive under moderate PC lighting while other reguire high intensity MH lighting. Depending
on the tank size it might be more cost effective to go one way or the other. Say you have a
BTA (Bubble Tip Anemone) and you want to keep it in a 75gallon to 40 gallon tank. Well then
PC,VHO or T5 lighting would be fine. But if your going to keep a BTA in something like a 80
gallon or bigger then MH (Metal Halide) should be thought of. As it would take 2 to 3 PC
light systems to get adeguet amount of lighting on such a big tank that it would end up costing
just as mutch as a single MH system. But as with all clown hosting anemone's MH lighting will
get better results in growth and overall apreance.
 
snipe

snipe

Active Member
Bulb wattage should also be thought about. As were on a 40 gallon tank I could keep a bubble
anemone with 3 65watt PC bulbs. But to keep something like that of the carpet anemone for the same
tank I would need 2x250 to keep that anemone alive. And bigger tanks need bigger lighting to =
the lesser amount on a smaller tank.
Photo period. For the more high demanding anemones that need MH lights 10 to 12 hours would be best of MH.
But for that of the Bubble tip and Saddle Carpet 10 to 14 hours of PC would be alright and
8 to 10 hours of MH would be enough.
Difference in lighting systems. Well there are now 5 types of lighting found on aqauriums.
The worst lighting possible that can be found is NO (Normal Output). This lighting is only
suffcient enough for Mushrooms and Poylps. Nothing els will surrvive very long under this light.
Except that of non zooaxenthiale corals.
The next up is PC and VHO (Power compact and Very High Output) from my stand point there
bolth about the same but come in diffrent wattages and diffrent lengths. This lighting can
support that of the Bubble tip and Saddle carpetanemones and most LPS and soft corals.
Then there is T5 or HO (High Output) while still on the border with most it can support the bubble and saddle
carpet anemones fine but IMO wouldnt be very well for the rest. This lighting can support higher
demanding corals but its PAR isnt pushed as deep in the tank as that of the MH and wouldnt be as
intense as the MH would at the sand level that most of the anemone species left reside in. The T5
is good though for the fact it is super small and you can cram 8 to 12 T5 bulbs were you
could fit only 4 PC or VHO bulbs.
Last there is MH (Metal Halide) lighting. This lighting is by far the top of the totem.
It has very high PAR output and can reach down to the sand were the others cant. It also
provides a very unigue ray effect that you dont get from other lights. These are WAY brighter
than the other lights by far. I have heard of instensis of ppl getting sun burnt while arranging
stuff in there tanks while there MH lights were on. The metal halide depending how deep your
tank is and what size bulb will allow you to keep any of the above anemones and any coral
available in the saltwater trade. The only draw back to this lighting is it costs about
double that of the rest of the lighting.
 
snipe

snipe

Active Member
Well it isnt best but usually the bigger watt bulbs have more PAR output and you try to find PAR output on a bulb lol. Thats like pulling teeth with tweezers.
On the WPG the PC,VHO and T5 WPG are less because you can come up with Less watts with them. The MH is more because 2x175 on a 55 is smallest you can go creating 6 WPG.
 
marlin

marlin

Member
if i was to put a 520watt compact light on my 75g that would be suffient for a carpet annome and a couple ocellaris clowns?
 
snipe

snipe

Active Member
If your talking about S. haddoni, Haddon's Carpet, Saddle Carpet Anemone . It would work but these carpets get incredibly large and grow very fast. They are what alot of ppl I have found to call super sticky and they (will) eat fish. Most comonly the bottom dwelling fish but anyfish that gets close is food.
 
snipe

snipe

Active Member
If your talking anemone wise then the only one I would recomend is the Bubble Anemone. They may or may not host it of course even the clown may or may not host an anemone period. From what I gather mushrooms seem to be there host of choice (for tank raised anyway). There are some wierd hosting pics around here.
If your worried about an anemone for them dont. A clownfish dosnt need an anemone to survive. It will do just fine living in a hole in the rocks. But for PC lighting thoughs are your choices. I would have to look but I dont know if the ocellaris clowns will host the carpet. If you was cautious on what you got (in fish) you could get the carpet let me look on clowns that will host it.
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Lighting and Tank Depth.
For PC, VHO and T5 lighting.
23" and under
(PC)65watt
(VHO)110watt
(T5)34watt
24" to 30"
(PC)96watt
(VHO)160watt
(T5)52watt
I think maybe I'd change this around some, I somehow think this really gives the wrong idea. When we are talking about the lighting of PC and VHO. I don't even think that the 24" to 30" can even apply here. When we talk about that depth only the MH will do. The only thing this type of lighting will be good for is supplimental lighting. In fact I firmly believe that anything say over 18 inches should be thrown right out with regards to anemones that go deeper than that like any of the sandbed loving anemones.
IMO something like this would be more accurate.
For PC, VHO and T5 lighting a 20 inch depth would be more accurate, if you are dilligant about changing your lighting when the spectrum shifts in the case of the flouresant bulbs. It can still work if you have say BTA's that climb up the rock work to be in that 16-18 inch range from the lighting. I had a case just like that with only 360 watts over a 90 gallon that is 24 inches deep, but all the anemones were in the top 12-16 inches of the tank where the lighting was better. In the case of the BTA they did reproduce with only 4.2 watts per gallon but didn't really thrive and grow well, until I went to 440VHO+500MH.
Snipe - I really am sorry, I have not been able to dig into this as much as I should and want to. Since changing jobs I have had less time than ever.
Thomas
 
snipe

snipe

Active Member
I cant change it. The edit button dont show up on it for some reason. You can change it though thomas.
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
i have an oscellaris clown. You said they like to host mushrooms? Will they host ricordea musrooms? If so, will PC lights do for this? i was looking at a 4X65 PC setup with dual ballasts and lunar lights. I wanted to get some shrooms, zoos, polyps, and maybe some other corals. Can i get a christmas tree coral? What about a sun coral? Hmmm.... took this in the totally wrong direction from this thread, but hopefully you can answer.
Jenn
 
snipe

snipe

Active Member
PC of that size should be fine for any type of LPS coral.
Chirstmas tree coral if its the one im thinking of is actually like a cocoa worm a filter feeder.
The sun corals is very difficult and dont reguire light but it needs constant feeding that can be a problem for a new person as they can overfeed polluting there tank.
 
snipe

snipe

Active Member
Looks to me like another one of the filter feeders. Might want to wait on that and the sun coral until you have had your tank for awhile.
 
vi3tb0i

vi3tb0i

Active Member
i have a 29gal and want to buy 2x65 watts sattelite hood. what kind of anemone would be good under those lights?
 
snipe

snipe

Active Member
I wouldnt reccomend any of the common host anemones for that size tank. The smallest of the host anemones grow to 12 inches taking up 90% of that tank leaving very little room for the other fish and invert ot move around without getting eatin.
With the light you have posted it still isnt really enough to keep even the lowest of common host anemones.
 
revroy

revroy

Member
ok I'm still in the dark here. ( pun intended
) I have a 17 tall x 121/2 wide x 36 long tank
I have 2 34" PC 96 wat bulbs. is the an anemone for me?
I have decided only to hav to false percs and a small clean upcrew so can I have an anemone for my clowns?
 
snipe

snipe

Active Member
So about a 33 gallon or so. I would say yes on a bubble anemone and that would be your only option for a common host anemone.
Please remember anemones arent for the novice aquarium keeper and should be housed by an experienced aquariast. With a tank at least 1 year in age.
 
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