Anemone's and lighting

[jpcoll01]

Hello All,
I have a 125 with 2 36" 50/50 Coralife single bulb fixtures on it. I had several fish and was going down the FOWLR path until I made a rookie mistake and brought a Volitan lion directly home from my LFS (guy I trust) and floated it and dropped it into the tank, 2 days later dead clown Trigger, next day dogface puffer looks like someone poured granulated sugar on him. Anyway, several deaths later I took my dogface and Lunar Wrasse back to the LFS where he is going to sell them for me. So now I am fishless and the water quality is good to go the tank is fully cycled with 150 lbs of live rock. While the tank is fallow I would like to add some inverts of different types to make it more alive and get a good cleaner crew established as I'm not going to go with puffers, etc. I have some hermits and snails in it right now. I want to add some cleaner shrimp etc and would like to add a couple Anemone's, carpet, bubble tip, etc. I am pretty new to all of this so I have no idea what I need as far as lighting. I don't plan to do full on reef at this point (I'm too new to it) but I love Anemone's as they make a tank look very much alive with the movement. Concerning movement I have 3 Cannisters running 350 Gallon's per hour and a Koralia 3 and 4. I'm just looking for some general advice on water movement, lights, etc. Thanks in advance for your responses.
Pat
2 days down 5 weeks and 5 days to go until I can add a fish, ha ha.

 

[Flavum]

in a 125 your going to need halides for sure to keep them.

I really dont know alot about mixing anemones but from my understanding you want to keep it to one species per tank. also anemones have alot of fire power so you can do coral with them but if the anemone decides to move he has the ability to kill almost anything.

I would start to do alot of research on anemones if you really want to keep them. They are very sensitive animals and not for the novice

 

[AquaReeferMan]

I have a Carpet and a GBTA in my 125g. They are less then a foot away from each other. They have been together for about 2 years.

I wouldnt strongly suggest metal halides or a nice HOT5 fixture with individual reflectors to be able to handle their needs. I have 4 150w hqi's over my 125g. Both anemones are sitting directly under them.

As far as flow goes, I would bump it up a little more. You have around 25x turnover rate. I am at 55x turnover. I would add a couple more koralias if I were you.

But yeah do a lot of research and ask around. You started off good by asking around on here. IMO there are some pretty knowledgeable people rolling around on this site.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Mixing can be touchy thing. Like "AquaReeferMan" I have had good like mixing a carpet ( Haddoni ) and BTAs. However, I didn't have good luck mixing Haddoins and LTAs -- neither one was happy, and always moving.


Are the canisters your only filtration? Do you have a skimmer?

 

[jpcoll01]

Thanks for the reply, yeah Cannisters only mechanical filtration, the live rock handles most of the filtration. I dont' have a skimmer at this point, my tank isn't drilled so my only options are having a huge skimmer hanging on the top or get a hob overflow and risk flooding my house with the contents of my sump and that just doesn't sound like a viable option to me. At this point I'm thinking of trying to find another 125 and drill it then switch them out so I can do it kind of correctly and have a 30 gallon (or so) sump to drop in a skimmer, etc. Would be open to suggestions.
Thanks,
Pat

 

[jpcoll01]

Also, concerning lighting, would T5's be just as good as MH? Keep in mind I'm new to this so just have been scowering forums, etc. for information, I plan on building a hood anyway and would like to ahve something that can fit in whatever I build, my tank is sitting in our living room, i custom stripped and stained the stand and would do the hood to match. Thanks again for your replys.

 

[Toddrtrex]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13197205#post13197205 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jpcoll01
Thanks for the reply, yeah Cannisters only mechanical filtration, the live rock handles most of the filtration. I dont' have a skimmer at this point, my tank isn't drilled so my only options are having a huge skimmer hanging on the top or get a hob overflow and risk flooding my house with the contents of my sump and that just doesn't sound like a viable option to me. At this point I'm thinking of trying to find another 125 and drill it then switch them out so I can do it kind of correctly and have a 30 gallon (or so) sump to drop in a skimmer, etc. Would be open to suggestions.
Thanks,
Pat

How often do you clean the canisters? They can because nitrate factories if not cleaned enough.

Also, if you get the right HOB overflow, you really shouldn't have a flood. I have a LifeReef HOB overflow for my 75, have had it for 6+ years now, and haven't spilled a drop of water. That would allow you to get a sump/skimmer.

 

[jpcoll01]

I possibly haven't done ample research, if you are using a HOB siphon overflow what happens when/if you lose siphon I would think the pump would empty the sump into the tank and overflow is this not the case? Again I'm kind of new to this.
Thanks,
pat

 

[Toddrtrex]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13198181#post13198181 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jpcoll01
I possibly haven't done ample research, if you are using a HOB siphon overflow what happens when/if you lose siphon I would think the pump would empty the sump into the tank and overflow is this not the case? Again I'm kind of new to this.
Thanks,
pat

Mine has never lost its siphon (( excluding me removing the U-Tube on purpose )). But, lets say that it did, the way my sump is set up the return section of it would run dry before my tank would overflow. Or it would only overflow a little bit. Less then I spill while doing water changes.

Sure, getting reef ready or drilling is better, but I have never lost any sleep over mine.

 

[jpcoll01]

good thinking, I never thought about using buffers in the return section to cut down on amount of water available for overflow, that's it I'm in the market for a HOB, back to the cannisters I think they work great for water polishing and I never have a nitrate problem as the live rock helps with that I believe, once I get it more heavily stocked I will have to change carbon more often. I have a Blueline 40HDX external pump sitting doing nothing that I could use on a sump system and I really need to get some of that live rock otu of my display anyway. Any suggestions for a good HOB overflow?

 

[Toddrtrex]

If you are going to use a HOB overflow, I would suggest getting one from http://www.lifereef.com/siphon.html They are more expensive, but IMO, worth every penny.

 

[jpcoll01]

Thanks, will check that out, now back to lighting, will T5's be sufficient if so how many for a 125 Gallon?

 

[flashyleopard]

Check out C&C Marine. They have a HOB skimmer that is VERY good. There is a thread under the equiptment section.