What type of light for anemones?
- Thread starter thered
- Start date
piccasotrigger
Member
Wat is a M.H also how much is it im planning on getting 50 gallon sea clear tank with a magnum H.O.T filter as well as a marineland emperor 404 i want to get a baby blue tang a cinamon clown a carpet anenome and a sabea anenome is that enough filteration? do u need a powerhead also were can i find this light and how much is it thanks
mikegronholz
Member
IME.....I bought a BTA and put him where the most light and current are available (I only have 2 40w 50/50). The little snot moved behind the rock to the shadows with minimal current.
I guess it is like "all Irishmen drink beer". Ok, bad example...but you know what I mean. Stereotypes benefit noone.
My LFS store told me the easiest way to tell if you need more light is to put them in the middle to lower part of the tank. If they want more light, they'll keep moving up until they are happy.
I guess it is like "all Irishmen drink beer". Ok, bad example...but you know what I mean. Stereotypes benefit noone.
My LFS store told me the easiest way to tell if you need more light is to put them in the middle to lower part of the tank. If they want more light, they'll keep moving up until they are happy.
jjboods
Member
From what I understand...I may be wrong...BTA's are the only anemone that don't "need" the intesity of MH's. MH is Metal Halide. They are $$$ very expensive$$$!!! Mine was about $550. But well worth it. Your options will be unlimited down the road...any corals, clams, anything you want. And they give the best effect in the tank...makes the water shimmer like true sunlight. Email me and I'll give you the website where I bought mine. As for filtration...I have a 55 gallon tank with 50lbs of Live Rock and a 4" sand bed. I have a 15 gallon sump under the tank with a protien skimmer. That's it!!! No mechanical or chemical filtration. I also have 3 powerheads and the return pump.
saltyrich
Active Member
I must agree to disagree on the MH lighting. You do not need MH lighting to successfully keep an anemone. Many things factor in to all of this. To deal only with the lighting, I don't recommend keeping any type of anemone under normal output flourescents except some of the atlantic species. I believe we are discussing bubble tips and sebaes correct? Both species can easily be kept under VHO and PC lighting. I'd bet a great deal of folks on this board, including myself have anemones under lighting other than mh. Is mh good. Yes. Is is required to keep anemones? No. Bubble tips are far easier to keep than sebaes for several reasons, but that is another topic. Sebaes, even for experienced reefers are known to be problematic. The easiest species are carpets, bubble tips, and long-tentacles. I would make sure that your tank is stable and mature. Anemones need realy good water conditions. Bubble tips will do better under higher light conditions. I would not say they are an exception to the high light rule, becasue I believe all "host" anemones require higher lighting. This higher light requirement however, can easily be accomodated with vho or pc lighting.
thered
Member
From what I understand, BTA and Sebaes are easier to keep and they don't need as much light. I got info from another site that says about 150 to 200 watts of PC would be good for them. How much will that cost? How long has everybody had there anemones? I hear they are hard to keep so I may decide to get a reef with no anemones. What type of skimmers are you guys using? Still listening to opinions.
saltyrich
Active Member
First I would slow down. There sound be no rush to go out and get an anemone. Second, however told you that sebaes are easy anemones to keep are mistaken. Do a little more research and talkto folks over in the reef forum. They will correct that situation. Actually, carpets, bubble tips, then long-tentacles are the easiest in that order according to my research. Bubble tips are probably preferred for a lot of reasons as starter anemones, which souldn't be started until a tank is mature and capable of meeting its requirements. Don't shy away from an anemone, but don't get one until your tank is well established. Now, the lighting subjuect can give you a variety of opinion. First, if you have a canopy or can build a canopy, I'd do that. Then you can buy retrofit kits (vho, pc, mh, or combinations of all etc.) that are assembled and ready to just screw into your existing canopy. This a usually cheaper route for seriously upgrading your lights. For a 90 gallon, you'll need a lot of light. Think about what you will want to keep before you settle on just the cheapest thing. For 90 gallons, I doubt that 150 to 200 watts of pc will be near enough. If you want a variety of coral types (lps, softies, sps), I'd consider a vho-pc combo maybe. If you are only concerned with sps corals, I'd probably get mh. You see my point? There is a lot to consider. Good luck.
thered
Member
I am going slowly. I am not getting it tomorrow or anything. Hell, I don't even have my live rock yet. As for research, this is part of my research I've been on different sites read old posts and asked questions this is just another part of my research. You'd be surprised at the different answers to the same question you can get.