Coral/Anemone lighting questions?

keebler

keebler

Member
So right now I have a 1*65 watt pc light and I am wanting to change my lighting to accompany some softies and shrooms plus a bta. None of this will happen soon, but I am trying to figure it now for the future. It is a standard 30 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump. I WAS planning on getting a t5 4*24 watt light to replace the pc, but then I had an idea. What if I simply added a 2*65 watt pc to the pc I already have? I assume that it would be okay for softies, but what about the bta? Any help would be appreciated.
 
keebler

keebler

Member
Okay, so 200 watts of pc can't support an anemone, I believe you, but I want to know why. I can't understand why, is it not the watts that determine how bright something is? By the way, not to be a jerk, but it can support aiptaisia
Just kidding, so I will go with a 4*24 watt t5 light and be fine. I just don't understand how 100 watts of t5 can support an anemone, but 200 watts of pc can't.
 
dse

dse

Member
PC lighting is a crap penatrator so realisticly youll have 1w lmao! but if i was you go with halides.
halides are the best lights at the minute for anemonies
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
No your current lights will not support a bta. Your upgrade plan to PC Lights however will. BUT, you will be limiting the animal to the upper portions of your tank. By doing this it will be difficult for it to find a place it feels comfortable in. PC Lights produce a lot of light but they do not have the intensity needed to penetrate the water. For a BTA to live under them they need to be only a few inches away from the lights. Your best bet is to upgrade to HO-T5 's or metal halide.
 
keebler

keebler

Member
I like my canopy and I don't want to put halides under it. So t5s will do. I am going to have to start saving up. I decided on a 24" t5ho 4*24 watt retrofit kit. I plan to stagger the bulbs and that should support a bta.
 
mr_x

mr_x

Active Member
i'm not sure everyone before me is 100% correct on this. your standard 30..is it the one that is roughly 17 inches tall? how much substrate do you have? before t-5's were popular, people used power compacts. and anemone lived.
if you have 2"-2.5" of substrate, that brings us down to only 14.5-15" of water.
are there any studies done on power compacts so we know exaclty how much water they can penetrate?
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
I had a rose bta in my cube tank for 8 months under pc's, it never settled always roamed, the cube tank had stock PC lights. I upgraded to HOt5's and it settled for 3 months, I upgraded again to MH it hasent moved in almost 8 months now.
 
keebler

keebler

Member
Well, to me it sounds like they can survive in these conditions, but not thrive. I don't want to risk my first anemone's life because I'm too cheap to get proper lighting. I can tell you right now that my tank isn't mature enough for an anemone, but it will be soon and I should be able to afford proper lighting by then. I did however have a question. I wanted to get a coral before the anemone just to be completely sure that my tank can in fact support some harder to keep animals. Is that a good idea or should I get the nem first considering it will want to move around and such?
 
aquaguy24

aquaguy24

Active Member
i'd wait to get the lights and anemone first as they will move and sting corals in their path..plus u don't really wanna test ur light out with a living animal..thats just cruel..
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
Originally Posted by Mr_X
http:///forum/post/2751605
i'm not sure everyone before me is 100% correct on this. your standard 30..is it the one that is roughly 17 inches tall? how much substrate do you have? before t-5's were popular, people used power compacts. and anemone lived.
if you have 2"-2.5" of substrate, that brings us down to only 14.5-15" of water.
are there any studies done on power compacts so we know exaclty how much water they can penetrate?
A couple of things I believe were over looked. While your calculations of tank height and sand bed were correct. The lights rarely sit less than an inch from the water, even in a canopy. So legs on the lights are approx 4" high which now brings your total height to 18+. The studies I have see on them show that after penetrating the water PC lights start decline in intensity after reaching a depth of 6". And lose more than 50% of their potency after 12".
I agree with waiting to get the lights and the anemone if your are positive that is what you want. With T5 lighting and proper flow your anemone should find a suitable spot and for the most part if it has what it needs it should not move. Be careful of flow, re-aquascaping and old bulbs. If anything changes from the norm once the animal has settled down, you stand the chance of it going on the move. With corals in the tank this could be an issue. My issue now is not with an anemone that is on the move but one that is growing very large. So it is getting close to some of my corals. I will soon move all my corals out of that tank to my larger tank and keep the cube tank as an anemone/clown tank only. Good Luck.
 
mr_x

mr_x

Active Member
but we are talking about penetrating water. a few inches of air between the water and the fixture will not block any light.
i'm not saying that everyone with power compacts should run out and get anemone. i'm just questioning- what did folks do before t-5's were popular? just a few years back, power compacts were the "new thing".
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
Originally Posted by Mr_X
http:///forum/post/2752437
but we are talking about penetrating water. a few inches of air between the water and the fixture will not block any light.
i'm not saying that everyone with power compacts should run out and get anemone. i'm just questioning- what did folks do before t-5's were popular? just a few years back, power compacts were the "new thing".
From what I have read if they were kept in a tank that was deeper than 12" the anemones did not fare well at all. If they were fortunate enough for the animal to reside more toward the top of the tank or have a very shallow tank things worked out well. Again this is what I have read. From my experience my BTA was not happy under them. Although it survived it moved quite a bit and never seemed settled. But I agree with you before T5's Im sure a lot of people kept them under what they had. I am also sure a lot of people had fatalities.
 
srgvigil

srgvigil

Member
Originally Posted by Keebler
http:///forum/post/2751667
Well, to me it sounds like they can survive in these conditions, but not thrive. I don't want to risk my first anemone's life because I'm too cheap to get proper lighting. I can tell you right now that my tank isn't mature enough for an anemone, but it will be soon and I should be able to afford proper lighting by then. I did however have a question. I wanted to get a coral before the anemone just to be completely sure that my tank can in fact support some harder to keep animals. Is that a good idea or should I get the nem first considering it will want to move around and such?
 
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