lighting for anemone

[m-barbour]

i have a solarmax h.o 24w double bulb fixture which comes out to be 48 watts on my 29 gallon extra high tank. I heard this probably isnt enought to keep a bta alive. Does any one disagree? If this isnt enough light, instead of just scrapping the 2bulb fixture and getting a 4 bulb, will it work out the same to just get a second solarmax 2 bulb h.o if itll fit on top of my tank? thank you for suggestions.

 

[m-barbour]

t5 fixture..sorry forgot to add that

 

[btldreef]

One fixture isn't going to be enough, but a second, and good bulbs (ATI, Geissman, Wavepoint) will be enough.

 

[reefraff]

How tall is a 29 extra high? If it's over 16 inches you are going to want GOOD individual reflectors on your lamps. You could add 2 more lamps with reflectors and as long as you place the nem below them you should be good to go. If you can add a fan blowing on one end of the lamps to cool them it's good for about 20 percent more output too.

 

[m-barbour]

im not too experianced with lighting so its your guys call.
http://store.seacorals.net/deblsoho2do2.html
if that link works thats what is currently on. the tank is 24x24 i believe for an extra hight. I do have live rock that is almost halfway up the tank so as long as the anem doesnt want to be on the bottom he doesnt have to be too far down.

 

[reefraff]

Quote:
Originally Posted by m-barbour http:///forum/thread/383573/lighting-for-anemone#post_3355741
im not too experianced with lighting so its your guys call.
http://store.seacorals.net/deblsoho2do2.html
if that link works thats what is currently on. the tank is 24x24 i believe for an extra hight. I do have live rock that is almost halfway up the tank so as long as the anem doesnt want to be on the bottom he doesnt have to be too far down.
2 problems, You want reflectors made from Mirro aluminum. That material makes a huge difference. 2) Splash shield without a fan absolutely kills the output of a T5 fixture. I tested a Tek light using an external fan. With no splash shield I gained 20 to 25 percent depending on where I had the fan. Adding the splash shield even with the external fan running the output was about 20 percent below the base line output with no fan or shield installed.
On a 24 tall I would add a 4x24 Tek fixture to what you have now and stick with a Bubble Tip nem only. Feed it once a week too and it should be happy. You really can't go cheap on lights when you want to raise high light critters.

 

[m-barbour]

ok cool thanks. How much should that cost about so i know that i got the right one. And do the bulbs matter? should i do 3x actinic and 3x 10,000k with the 6 total bulbs from both fixtures

 

[reefraff]

Quote:
Originally Posted by m-barbour http:///forum/thread/383573/lighting-for-anemone#post_3355815
ok cool thanks. How much should that cost about so i know that i got the right one. And do the bulbs matter? should i do 3x actinic and 3x 10,000k with the 6 total bulbs from both fixtures
Don't use Actinics. The ATI Blue Plus will give you the glow of an actinic but has a ton of PAR Personally I'd use 4 ATI Blue Plus, 1 ATI Purple Plus and a GE 6500K Daylight or ATI Aquablue. Using the GE will give about a 14K look and the Aquablue 18K.
The 4 lamp Tek fixture you might be able to score used. New I'd guess a couple hundred bucks. Check Reefgeek.

 

[m-barbour]

cool..thank you for the information..if I do 4bulbs short term would you do 2 ATI blue plus 1 ATI purp and a ATI aquablue/ GE 6500? if so which one would be more blue and whcih will be more white

 

[reefraff]

Quote:
Originally Posted by m-barbour http:///forum/thread/383573/lighting-for-anemone#post_3356177
cool..thank you for the information..if I do 4bulbs short term would you do 2 ATI blue plus 1 ATI purp and a ATI aquablue/ GE 6500? if so which one would be more blue and whcih will be more white
For 4 lamps use 2 Blue Plus, the Purple Plus and a Aquablue. GE and purple plus would overpower 2 blue plus so it would look 10K

 

[m-barbour]

thanks alot..i appreciate it