lighting ?s

[glnzoffun]

First off, I love this forum! It is very informative and everyone is so nice/friendly when answering my ?s. I've been on others that make you feel stupid asking beginner ?s.
ANyway, I have a quesion about lighting. I have a 65 gallon tank that is 48 inches long and about 20 inches deep. Until recentlly, it was a FOWLR, but I purchased a sea anemone that needs more light. What should I get? Should I go with a compact or a halide? Or any other suggesions.
Thanks for the info!

 

[thomas712]

What anemone did you get?
What type of subsrate do you have?
How old is the system?
I have always loved my VHO/MH combo. 940 watts over a 90 gallon tank.
Thomas

 

[glnzoffun]

Originally Posted by Thomas712
What anemone did you get?
What type of subsrate do you have?
How old is the system?
I have always loved my VHO/MH combo. 940 watts over a 90 gallon tank.
Thomas
I have a very tine sebea (sp?). I have crushed coral as the substrate and the system is 7 months old.
I was considering a 50/50 bulb = 1/2 10K and 1/2 actinic

 

[thomas712]

Wont be enough for a sebea. They are one of the more difficult, touchy anemones and they require MH for survival in that large of a tank.
There was a posting by broomer5 that showed a sebea in his 75 gallon tank and how it started pale and went to a more healthy brown with 940 watts of lighting over his 75 gallon tank. I think the pictures are gone from that old post but I might still have them burried in my files. I'll take a look.

 

[glnzoffun]

So, I need 940 watts of MH. Will this be safe for my other fish (coral beauty, perc.clown, goat fish, bar goby)? Also, will this be enough to, in the future, convert my tank to a reef?
Also, do the MH lights act like the actinic lights in regard to the color? Or will I also have to provide those? As you can see, I'm clueless about MH.