Anemone Lighting

[Sushi Roll]

I am about to purchase a 150 gallon reef tank. My number one concern is to be able to keep two anemones alive.

I know they need a lot of lighting but are the expensive metal halides truly necessary? What is the next best thing and will that be enough to keep anemones going strong?

As long as I'm posting this, if you have any nice websites or links regarding anemones I would appreciate it. Thanks! :rollface:

 

[Tang Salad]

AFAIK, most everyone recommends MH for anemones.
It may be possible to keep them with T5s, but I wouldn't count on it.

Maybe spend a little less on the tank and put the money into a MH or two. Your anemones will be much healthier for it.

 

[Sushi Roll]

Thanks for the response. Where would you suggest I cut back on the spending? Filtration maybe?

The thing is, I am totally willing to spend some extra money for MH lights alone... the problem is that my LFS guy said if I want MH I also need a chiller and a custom made top that keeps the lights higher up away from the water.

I believe him but those things end up adding a lot of money and its the only area where it seems I could cut down on the price

Thanks for suggesting the possible T5s. Does anyone else think T5's would work?

 

[robitreef]

I think Tang Salad was referring to purchasing a smaller tank. You don't want to skimp on filtration. I bet that the lighting won't be that significantly cheaper if you went with t-5's as opposed to MH. I don't know the dimensions of your tank, but if you get a two or three pendants and try to keep the anemones under one of them, you may be able to keep some lower light animals on the edges of the halides like soft coral, some LPS, and even some lower light SPS. You also don't have to change as many bulbs.

 

[JamesJR]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8494882#post8494882 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sushi Roll
Thanks for the response. Where would you suggest I cut back on the spending? Filtration maybe?

The thing is, I am totally willing to spend some extra money for MH lights alone... the problem is that my LFS guy said if I want MH I also need a chiller and a custom made top that keeps the lights higher up away from the water.

I believe him but those things end up adding a lot of money and its the only area where it seems I could cut down on the price

Thanks for suggesting the possible T5s. Does anyone else think T5's would work?

You may need a chiller but I know many people who have used MH without them and not had any temperature problems, myself included. There are many things you can do to keep the tank cooler.

I am setting up my 60 again and I am using t-5 myself.

 

[kryppy]

It really depends on the anemones you are thinking of.
Lots of people keep them without HPL.

 

[klyons]

I have 2 Bubble Tip anemones in a 90 RR tank. My lighting is "4 110w" 440 VHO's and have had no problems. I have had them for around 6 months. I do target feed them with a piece of silver side every 3-4 weeks.

What kind of setup did you have in mind?