power compacts for anemone

[crm13]

Has anyone here ever successfully kept an anemone using power compact lighting or is currently keeping one using pc's? I know that mh lighting is far more beneficial to it's well being. But I had read a few threads of success using vho lighting. I was just curious if anyone has had similar success with pc's. And, I'm not talking about a few months... but for at least a year or so. Thanks for responses.

 

[gregvabch]

i had a condy under 6x65w pc's for about 8 months. got huge. got rid of it after my girlfriend broke some of my bulbs and he started moving around the tank while i was out of town. i'm currently nursing a sebae back to health that i got from a friend. i've got him under 4 110W VHO's. i've had him for a couple months now and he's looking a lot better. HTH

 

[gregvabch]

i wanted to add that i fed the condy and i feed the sebae at least every 3 days, sometimes every other day. when my friend first gave me the sebae my clowns ignored it. now that it's filling back out my male can't make up his mind whether to keep hosting my toadstool leather or to host in the sebae. he goes back and forth between them all day

 

[jbone]

I have a condi under 2x65 Watt PC's in a 30gal and he's doing great. Got really big. :yes:

 

[crm13]

Thanks for the responses, guys. It's good to hear that your anemones are doing well. I have a bta that I have had for about 4 months now, and he seems to be doing well. I got him for a really good price and I figured that I had enough lighting to keep him happy (also 6/65's). He hasn't grown all that much, but he is growing. I figured that's a good thing. I was just hoping to hear that someone has had long term success, and that "so far so good" is not just a phase that it is going through. I also feed it 3 times a week, squid, mysis shrimp, and I mix it with a little spirulina when I feed it to him. He really likes the squid though.

 

[scubasteve]

I've had 2 bta's under PC lights for quite some time. The first one I've had for about a year, the other for around 6 months. They aren't in prime health, but i think that is due more to lack of direct feeding than lighting. I was scared of overfeeding at first, but am now feeding meaty foods on a regular basis, and they are looking better.

[hr]
Please respect the natural environment that makes this hobby possible. Be responsible and be informed. Support aquacultured/tank raised species.

 

[aidos]

ScubaSteve
just out of curiosity how large is the tank and what is ur total wattage, i will be getting a 75G with around 120-150 wats of PC lite.
although i think this will not be enough light i was just wondering.
also do u direct feed??
i would love to have an anenome but can not afford the expensive light setup and running cost on top of everything else, but if it is goin to be detrimentale to the anenome i would rather not.

 

[scubasteve]

Are you planning on keeping any corals in the tank? General rule of thumb is 2-5 watts per gallon. Obviously you need more light for sps, than lps or softies. You would be on the low end of this with the setup you mentioned. I have a 50 gallon right now (don't remember the wattage off the top of my head). I direct feed the bta's a couple times a week with mostly shrimp. I've been meaning to try some squid also. If you are planning on having corals, I wouldn't skimp on the lights. Mushrooms might do ok with that little light, but i'd be leary about most other corals.

 

[thomas712]

I'm just lurking this thread to see what everyones experience is with anemones and PC lighting, but I find it really hard to believe that just a few of the folks here have tried it.
I personally would like to see more posted here on this, so if you read this thread and have some experience with PC's and anemones even if it was a bad experience please post it. I promise to delete any flaming posts.
Thomas

 

[microman2k]

on my 29 gallon reef i have Coralife 2-65 watt PC actnic 50/50 lights and i have kept a healthy anemone since january with no problems at all. i also have xenia that grows pretty fast in my tank, a green plate coral that is doing quiet well, and several zoos, yellow polyps, and green star polys. the green star polyps are spreading pretty fast too, i fragged a piece from my multirock onto another rock and its spreading

 

[crm13]

Thomas, I really appreciate your reply. That is exactly what I was hoping to get from this thread. Thank you very much for the push. Also, just a quick question, not to stray from my original question; but I recently purchased a tomato clown that I am hoping will take to my bta when I add him to my display tank (he's in the qt right now.) I know that a clown is generally very protective of his anemone. Do I still feed it regularly, less than I am now, or stop altogether. Thomas, a quick brief answer will be fine, as I don't want to disrupt the purpose of this thread. Thank you. Any other pc users keeping anemones?

 

[ron thomas]

Here's what I see as a main difficulty with PC lighting. I've had my PC lights for one year now. At the outset, it all seemed pretty nice---230 watts on a 55-gallon tank (two daylight bulbs and two fake blue bulbs). Over an eight-month period animal health declined and I lost light demanding species. But, the JBJ manual recommended replacing lights every 12 to 14 months so after 12 months I replaced one daylight and one blue. When these were replaced, I was stunned at the difference in intensity between the new bulbs and the 12-month old bulbs. It was literally llike night and day.
Replacing all four bulbs cost me $150 plus State tax. So, there is a real tendency to delay this. But, now I know that my 260 watts is absolutely only for fresh bulbs. I'd hate to know what the wattage is down to after six months. I think if I had unlimited money and wanted to keep sensitive corals under PC lights, I probably would feel a need to replace the bulbs every three months.

 

[thomas712]

Originally posted by crm13
Do I still feed it regularly, less than I am now, or stop altogether.
Any other pc users keeping anemones?

I would continue to feed the anemone until you can tell just what the clown will do, my two clowns do not really feed there anemone at all, least not deliberatly.

 

[sammyg]

I had a small bta in my 20g two years ago (before I found this board or knew better) under 2x55 watt PC. It lasted about three weeks before it disintegrated and turned my tank into milk. But like I said, I relied only on LFS advice and so I never fed it, and I'm sure my water quality wasn't up to par.
I'm surprised that more people haven't had this experience, because after that incident I did more research and seemed to find most people said anemones should only go with metal halide. I'd love to try another anemone in my 45 gallon (under 4x95w VHO) for my ocellaris, but I didn't think that was enough light. What do you all think?
Thanks,
Sam
PS: Thomas, do you work at or know of Pier 701 in Midland? My wife's grandparents live there, so I've been to that store a few times and enjoyed it.

 

[johnny5]

I have a condy and an LTA in a 46 bow, under a 2x96 csl pc. 3 months is by no means success but the condy has doubled in size and the LTA went from being 100% transparent/white to dark green in color. I was really worried about the lta when we "rescued" it from a retarded lfs. It has grown quite a bit and found a spot between the sand and smooth rock. I feed regularly with silversides, krill, squid, and rarely frozen brine.
The lta took about 2 weeks before it would eat and another 3-4 before the zoothellae (sp?) started coming back. Its a monster now and eats like a pig.