help with lighting for eclipse 12 gallon reef

[crabbychris]

OK my dad wants to put an anemone in his 12 gallon eclipse tank but it inly has 15 watts of lighting currently. I found a compact fluorescent retro kit that has 1 32W bulb 10K/actinic combo. Thats only 2.66 watts per gallon and I am not sure it will be enough. The problem is the amount of space in the tank. Halides are out of the question since there is no way to cool it off outside of buying a chiller. Any suggestions?

 

[scsinet]

I have a suggestion.
Don't get the anemone.

You are spot on, both the current and proposed lighting are not sufficient. The only way to effectively pack enough light over the tank for an anemone are T5 and Halide. T5 lamps are too long to fit over a 12, and you don't want halides. IMO you've hit a roadblock.
Most anemones get WAYYY to big for a 12 gallon anyway, and you'll have a difficult time keeping water quality stable enough in any 12 gallon to keep one.

 

[aquaknight]

You could do a Rock anemone, aka Flower Anemone (Epicystis crucifer). They stay small, and don't need strong light. However, they really don't look like the typical anemone, and have a powerful sting, so they're not a good idea around clownfish.