i want to get an anenome...what should i do?

[fishieness]

Hey guys... i Have a 30 gallon tank with a coral beuty angel, a snoflake eel, a cc star, a orange dotted sleeper goby, and a fat little clown fish whom i love named Porker (cause hes so fat) And i realy would like to get an anenome for him to take shelter and be cool and hide in. First of all, wahat type of anenome would i need to get for a tomato clown, and also, what would i need to keep an anenome going and stong? What water settings would it need?
-Thanks guys, you have been the best in the past

 

[thomas712]

Do we have rocks in this tank?
Substrate?
and filtration?
as well as lighting?
Water needs to be kept as pristine as possible, stable as possible for a reef tank.
Thomas

 

[fishieness]

i have some drilled lava rock in my tank, but no live rock yet. I do plan on getting some though.
I have crushed coral
For filtration, it came with the tank because it is one of those eclipse marine tanks where everything is set into the hood. There is a carbon filter and a bio wheel also
and for lighting it says eclipse nartural daylight and they are 2 18-watt florecent tubes

 

[22caddy]

Oh wow. You need way more light. I would go no less then 150 watts of pc. I hate to say it but your tank is not really equipped for an anemone. Since it is an eclipse, if you remove the top to get the needed lighting, you lose your whole filtering system. Your tank is also heavily stocked in my opinion, basicaslly because of the eel. Any carnivore animal like that almost always has a high bio load, but also the waste from anything it doesn't eat. I would have to push you towards no anemone.

 

[fishieness]

yeah i was afraid id have to get a whole new top... But i cant replace mearly the buld huh? Oh well, thanks for the info guys!

 

[fishieness]

hey, just awnsering myown question. No because the light wil get hot enough to crack the glass above the tank so it has to be raised.

 

[edwar050]

hey i think your tank is overstocked as well without live rock. I would get a larger tank before getting an anemone. A 55-75 would be alot nicer, easier to keep stable parameters, and you would should be able to keep a nice anemone with 4X65 watt lighting- If you put an anemone in your tank now, you run the risk of loosing it.

 

[fishieness]

yeah, i wasnt planning on getting one now. It would cost 260 bucks from my LFS to get the lighting for one. Ad i got live rock that day actualy, now i have 18 pounds and plan to get more. the snowflake eel is also only about 8 inches right now.and i lost the coral beuty and the tomato to ick
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freshwater baths, water changes, and medicin didnt work... i jsut daont think i did it enough
javascript:smilie(':nope:')

 

[zanoshano]

im really sorry top hear that, but hey, u did the best you could. Dont give up, time to rebuild.

 

[edwar050]

yeah and you could always buy an old tank and equipment from a reefer, would be alot cheaper than trying to piece it togeather.

 

[fishieness]

i would love too, but im 16 and will be going to college in 2 years. Although i plan on going realy close by (for either marine biology or theater), i dont want to give my mom too much of a burden to take care of these fish. I am also setting up a 40 gallon breeder tank for when my eel gets too big for the one i have now, a breeder will give him more room on the bottom, and i dont want to be too much of a burden and add a reef tank. But hey! once i get rich and famous i can live in a tank!!haha... that would be f-awsome
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Thanks for the sympathy, Porker and Baby will be missed
javascript:smilie(':nope:')

 

[fishieness]

i had pretty much given up on being able to get an anenome in my tank because i would have to buy pretty much a new everything, and i didnt have that type of money because the guy at my LFS said i would have to go compact florecent. I just found online two types of florecent bulbs that would fit in my tank setup.
there is a 50/50 combo light of actinic phosphors and tribandand gives out 12000K (twice what my white lforecent light i have now gives out. Now i have a reeflife and a coral life). It also is 75 watts for a single bulb (almost twice the wattage what both the lights i have now are)
and then i would get a normal actinic to go with it. Which is also 75 watts and says it suposedly maximizes photosythesis with blue spectrum.
I was told here i think that iw ould need at least 90 watts to have an anenome in my tank, and was told by my LFS guy that i would need compact florecent for that. But i can get these two lights for the same price of the lights i have now, and the wattage would be almost quadrupled!!
So i guess my question is, would i be able to get an anenome with these lights? It looks like the VHO setup is a normal florecent light connector, but i am not positive, and i assume you guys would know seeing how i know some of you have VHO.

 

[thomas712]

Forgive me if you know some of this.
You are talking only about bulbs here, but you are going from Normal output bulbs to talking about a 24 inch VHO bulb. When you are talking about making a change like this you can't just change bulbs, it doesn't work that way. You are changing ballasts as well. Not the little NO drum you may have seen, but the VHO brick that you will get in order to power those 75 watt bulbs.
In other words you'll be needing a whole new fixture.
Here are a couple of possiblilities for you.
24" 2 Lamp VHO Retrofit Kit (w/ ARO Model 4L ballast)
Bulb1: URI Actinic White 50/50 VHO #12-20-ATW-V (+$19.50)
Bulb2: URI Super Actinic VHO #20-03-V (+$18.00)
186.50
This would give you 150 watts of VHO and 5 watts per gallon.
Now double that.
24" 4 Lamp VHO Retrofit Kit (w/ ARO Model 4L ballast)
Bulb1: URI Super Actinic VHO #20-03-V (+$18.00)
Bulb2: URI Actinic White 50/50 VHO #12-20-ATW-V (+$19.50)
Bulb3: URI Super Actinic VHO #20-03-V (+$18.00)
Bulb4: URI Actinic White 50/50 VHO #12-20-ATW-V (+$19.50) 240.00
Exactly the same fixture only with two more bulbs and different ballast to run all 4. This equals 300 watts and would give you 10 watts per gallon.
Up to you but thats the ball park your looking at with VHO retrofit kits.
Thomas

 

[fishieness]

no need to be sorry, cause i did not know that, thats why i asked. Thanks a lot though! i have an eclips system though, so if i got the 4 bulb one, i would need to get a hwole new top and filter and everything to go with it because everything is built right in there. So are you saying the fixtures to be able to plug them into my tank would cost about 120 bucks?! And i could get the whole thing for about 190? Thats not as bad, seeing how my LFS said it would cost about that, plus i would need to buy a whoel new filter that would be at least 60 bucks.
Still a lot-o-moola though... Could i put the fixtures in the enlips tank? or would i need too get a whole new top to be able to do that?

 

[fishieness]

oo i just found a deal online where i can get 130 watts of compact florecent for 120 that it says in a hookup for an eclipse tank.
Anyone have any experience with this?
any suggestions to what i should do?

 

[edwar050]

I am a senior in college and trust me, its expensive. I drive a 91 honda accord. Good car. You are 16, you can keep a succesfful reef at 12, let alone in college if you piece out your equipment. I am a senior and nearly broke, but i have a decent tank

 

[fishieness]

edwar, what lighting do you have that isnt expensive then? Im not looking for anything extrodinary, just somehting that will keep my inhabitants happy and healthy if i get an anenome and maybe a coral or two

 

[fishieness]

i do not yet plan on having a reef tank, or near one for that matter, i would jsut like one anenome for my clow fishie for the moment. Would i need a protien skimmer for that?

 

[edwar050]

I had a friend that sold me 55#s live rock, 7 red mushroom's, a small bit of hard coral from tampa bay, 3 large peppermint shrimp, a 55 gallon good looking black tank with stand and canopy, two maxi jet 1200's, 20-40 # live sand, and to you lighting question corlife power compacts at 65X4 that are two months old for two hundred and fifty dollars. The tank is two years old, the live rock is the filter. I have a very large bubble green bubble tip anenome that is doing well. If you try to piece up your equipment that is where you are going to spend the money. Buy used - another thing, if you dont have any money how do you have all of these fish
a Hey guys... i Have a 30 gallon tank with a coral beuty angel, a snoflake eel, a cc star, a orange dotted sleeper goby, and a fat little clown fish whom i love named Porker (cause hes so fat)
sounds like an overstocked tank to me-

 

[fishieness]

the coral beuty and the tomato died of ickjavascript:smilie('

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and i know. I have a larger tank i am putting together for the eel. And i was able to buy them with my summer job money, and i dont want to spend it all in a short period of time