Aggressive reef?

[pumbus]

i have a 90G (48x18x25) and i'm going to be adding more lighting to try some anemone/corals.
on the tank now is a double tube 48" HO T5,and i will be adding another,there will be a total of 208W when the new light is on

the inhabitants are 2 chocolat hip starfish,niger trigger,clarkie clown,peacock lion, and a yellow tang,there are 2 pinktip anemone's in the tank now

i would like to get a nice large anemone for the clown/s(thinking of getting another)i would like a carpet but i hear they like the bottom of the tank,will enough light penetrate through for one
also what would be some other good corals/anemone's i should look into

and i do have a larger tank to upgrade to if the time comes

 

[mattsilvester]

In my my very limited opinion, you really MH lamps for long term sucess with anemones. You will also need excellent water qaulity which in the long run I doubt you will be able to provide given your fish load - it will be difficult.

With a double T5 unit, you should be pretty good to go on most softies, including most polyps, leathers, 'shrooms etc., as well as a limited number of less demanding LPS corals.

Perhaps you'd get a better response in the "anemone" forum?

HTH

Matt

 

[pumbus]

thanks,i'l try posting there

there will be 2 double T5's ,i only have on eon it now but will be getting another

 

[Ranzan]

my friend had a small rock anenome at the bottom of his tank but had to move it higher he has 1 set of t5's as well not enough light penetrated to the bottom best bet is halides for long lived healthy anenomes.

 

[pumbus]

i have 2 pinktip's in there now,one is usually at the bottom and the other usually in the middle

 

[AquaKnight]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10981928#post10981928 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mattsilvester
....With a double T5 unit, you should be pretty good to go on most softies, including most polyps, leathers, 'shrooms etc., as well as a limited number of less demanding LPS corals.

WHAT?!? What LPS corals can you name that won't be fine with PC lighting?


One thing to look out for might be the lionfish and the carpet. They are perchers, so I would fear losing a beautiful lion by getting snagged on a strong carpet anemone and becoming it's lunch.

 

[mattsilvester]

Aquaknight - I did say "limited"

I can't "name" them off the top of my head, but if you start flicking through that "corals" book by Eric Boreman there are plenty that are less than "hardy".

To the best of my knowledge PC lighting is not the same as T5 lighting, and we are talking about T5's.

Having re-read the original post, I missed that pumbus intends on doubling up on the T5's which should make it fine for all but the most trickly LPS....... but its not all about lighting, and I suspect that water quality will be the ibggest issue in this 90 gal tank...... but that all depends on the extent to which maintenance is carried out and equipment etc....

Matt

 

[AquaKnight]

Yea, I used PC's in my example because most everyone will agree that T5's are better (more light, par, etc) then PCs and therefore used a worse to example to emphasize my point.

'Tricky' LPS like gonipora and elegance corals perfer less light and the rest of the photosynthetic ones that I can think of will adapt to a wide varitey of lighting.

I will agree that water quality will be far more important and also, I missed he had a choclate starfish, as he will do more damage then under-lighting ever could

 

[silvers]

With only 208w in a tank that deep you will not have success with anenomes. You may get by with some lps but I would put on the top half of the tank.

 

[pumbus]

whatever corals/anemonies i go with will be placed as close to the top as possible,i am getting rid of the starfish for that reason,i bought them when i first had my tank running just to have something in there,they have served their purpose very well

what would be some anenomies/corals i should look into once both t5's are on

and are there any good coral or anenome websites that have info/pics of some different types,can't seem to find a good book for them around here

 

[reefkeeperfrodo]

The problem with some of these opinions is fairly blatant. Watts per gallon is no longer a useful tool for lighting requirements. Par, lumens, and measured penetrating depth is what really matters. The problem with HOT5s, is that not all of them work the way they should. For example, Tek 2 reflectors make a 54 watt bulb brighter than a 250 watt MH, while Nova Extreme is only slightly brighter than PCs. Watts are power comsumption, not light output. If you posted the brand of reflectors, spacing, and bulb age this would help a lot. Any brand of t5s are brighter than PCs, so even 2 54 watt bulbs would penetrate well enough to keep anenomes and ALL lps in a 90 gallon tank, I've seen it done. For your clown, get a RBTA. With enough skimming and water changes, aggressive reefs happen well, just stay on top of water changes.

 

[pumbus]

waterchanges are a no biggie,i have a oscar tank running to that isn't the easiest tank to maintain,

the bulbs and fixtures are brand new,well 2 are and 2 are a few months old,2 marine glo/2 power glow,the bulbs are 5/8",there is reflectors on both fixtures,there will be 2 bulbs close to the middle and 2 on the back,the rock is stacked to the back of my tank,but i may be changing that to two different piles on each side

RBTA?

i'm new to corals/anenomies

 

[pumbus]

heres a few pics of the inhabitants

tank looks a little different now with more sand and a few rocks moved around

http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a107/pumbino/Saltwater/?action=view&current=DSC05666.jpg