Would I be able to keep an Anemone w/this lighting?

lecithin

Member
I want to get a Percula Clown and was wondering if my current lights would be able to sustain a hosting anemone. Through my research I have found that Ritteri (maroon), Saddle, Bubble, and Carpet Anemones tend to host this particular clown. Buuutttt.... Can my lights handle any of those?
I have a Nova Extreme 36" 78Watt lighting fixture on my 50g tank (36x19x19)
It has a 39 Watt 460nm Actinic T5HO lamp and a
39 Watt 10k T5HO lamp.
 

perfectdark

Active Member
Originally Posted by Lecithin
I want to get a Percula Clown and was wondering if my current lights would be able to sustain a hosting anemone. Through my research I have found that Ritteri (maroon), Saddle, Bubble, and Carpet Anemones tend to host this particular clown. Buuutttt.... Can my lights handle any of those?
I have a Nova Extreme 36" 78Watt lighting fixture on my 50g tank (36x19x19)
It has a 39 Watt 460nm Actinic T5HO lamp and a
39 Watt 10k T5HO lamp.
You would have the best luck with a BTA. I believe you can keep one healthy and alive with your set up IMO. Although it may want to find a place higher up on your LR, make sure you get a specimine that is healthy from the get go.
 

lecithin

Member
I just wonder if my Watts/gallon is sufficient?
I don't wanna kill the poor anemone.
Any recommendations on Watts/gallons on those types of anemones? Or will I truely be ok with my t5 10k and t5 actinic?
 

wangotango

Active Member
Watts/gallon is pretty useless. Anemones can do well under T5, but IMO, you're going to want more than two bulbs.
-Justin
 

lecithin

Member
yeah I had a suspicion w/g wasn't a very accurate measure. Perhaps I can get another fixture w/ one bulb... would that help?
I'll have to look at some fixtures and get some ideas, any recommendations?
 

perfectdark

Active Member
Originally Posted by Lecithin
yeah I had a suspicion w/g wasn't a very accurate measure. Perhaps I can get another fixture w/ one bulb... would that help?
I'll have to look at some fixtures and get some ideas, any recommendations?
I have a Rose BTA in my cube tank std PC lighting. Its been there for almost 8 months and is doing excellent, never split. However I have been fortunate that my Anem resides at the top of my tank. The reason why watts per gallon is a false way to determine proper lighting is because tank size is the second half of the equation that is typically not considered. Depth to be more specific, if you had a 20 gal shallow tank with 65 watts of PC lighting IMO you would be ok to have a bta for the simple fact that there is no where it cant go where the light wont be intense enough for it. PC lighting isnt intense enough to penetrate deeper tanks even with increased wattage. For one their energy is wasted because the bulbs are not efficient and secondly they lack the proper reflectors due to their size to direct all their available light down into the tank. If you got HO t5 lighting with individual reflectors you will be ok at least for a BTA IMO.
Nova's sell a new sundial HO T5's with individual reflectors.. sort of. They are not "true" individual reflectors but bang for buck definatly worth the $ and more intense than std HOt5's with a single reflectors. 36" set of 4 is about $250.00 I just got the 30" version for my 36 gal bow front.
 

lecithin

Member
Can I purchase another of my lights and just run two bars up there? I have more then enough room.
I would then have
(2x) 39 Watt 460nm Actinic T5HO lamp
and
(2x) 39 Watt 10k T5HO lamp
giving me 156 Watts and those four bulbs.
Nova extreme also sells a 4 bulb version with those exact 4 bulbs in it, would I be better off buying that?
I just feel like its a waste not to use the bar I have since it seems to do its job, just not powerful enough.
So the question(s) is, can/should I double my lighting now or scrap it and purchase another lighting fixture? Or purchase another one and still run my existing one?
 
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