anemones .... ?

[jwhitlow1031]

i have a 54 gallon soft coral tank, i am running 130 watts pc lights, i thought it may be cool to upgrade to MH lighting in order to get some anemones, what strength lighting would be necesay and what anemones could i grow in my tank? think i could get some carpet anemones to grow?

 

[dots]

150w MH minimum, 250's would be better

 

[jwhitlow1031]

u think just one bulb would be enough? would i need blue actinic along with that?

 

[sequential]

I have a single anemone in my 38g tall, hosting a clown. I had terrible luck in my first couple of attempts until I figured out that the light from my dual fluorescent hood didn't penetrate much deeper than 12" or so. Thus, I added more LR, built a stable pile that put the anemone toward the top of the tank. Success at last. In fact, it only recently moved for the first time in months when I moved the flow a bit and that was only to get back in the flow, so to speak.

If money isn't an issue and your corals would benefit, anemones like light, so indulge. However, you certainly don't need MH for them to succeed, unless the specific anemone you choose happens to need lots of light. Of course, if you don't have a comfortable place near your lights for an anemone to attach, bring the lights to the anemone with more watts.

 

[jwhitlow1031]

how long has the anemone been in your tank though...many will do alright for about 6 months and then die....

 

[sequential]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6707630#post6707630 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jwhitlow1031
how long has the anemone been in your tank though...many will do alright for about 6 months and then die....

Over a year at this point, but I should add that I'm obsessive about cleaning the tank and changing water due equipment limitations typical of someone who is broke.

Originally, I had hoped to do a tank of anemones and soft corals, but broke means no coral. Not to mention, I had a rough start with my first couple of anemones which scared me away from corals. I'm feeling more confident, especially after having discovered RC, and I'm now moving in the direction of corals. Don't get me wrong, the more light the better, I was just trying to say that you can have success with what you have with certain anemones, it just takes some planning and effort.

 

[jwhitlow1031]

i understand what your saying also being a student i was simply curious, good to hear that your doing it, do u have a skimmer?

 

[DaveAngie79]

i have seen Bta's do great under t-5's

 

[sequential]

No skimmer, but I'm certain it would help. That's on my long term list, sadly. An RO/DI solution is my next major improvement. In the short run, this would make the most difference in my tank and my wallet.

As far as being a student goes, I just picked up a tutoring job to support my *ahem* marine habbit.

 

[jwhitlow1031]

lol, thats cool, tutoring, should be a good gig to get some cash for the tank, hey you have any pics of ur tank?

 

[sequential]

My image drive is out of the PC right now, but here is a photo I shot in December, which is currently my background:

 

[sequential]

Here's a picture of my new tank for the long spined black urchin:

Note that this is a 20g. The rock behind the urchin is about 8 lbs of cured LR. The orange thing is the suction attached clip on that I feed him seaweed with. When he's done with what seewead he can get his mouth on, he wrestles the clip off the glass and beats the clip until it gives up the remaining bits. He's a bruiser.

 

[jwhitlow1031]

those are some cool shots that urchin is really cool, how do those things move?

 

[sequential]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6715222#post6715222 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jwhitlow1031
those are some cool shots that urchin is really cool, how do those things move?

All those spines appear to be a part of its locomotive aparatus. In addition, it has tens of smaller, flexible, sticky appendages around its mouth that it uses to attach to things and move food toward its mouth. It's truly an amazing little critter.

 

[jwhitlow1031]

interesting so is that all you have in that tank then besides the clean up crew?

 

[sequential]

In the 20g? Yeah, it's a new tank created just for the urchin. It was previously in my 37g tank, but the urchin was stressed given his size and became aggressive toward other tank inhabitants. I haven't figured out what to do with the 20g. The urchin appears to eat anything that gets near its mouth.

The 37g has some other critters, including some adorable engineer gobies, damsels, electric flame scallop, some macro algae, clean up crew, and LR. Nothing fancy until everything is in order. My family wants seahorses in the top tank, but I'm not certain they'd do well.

 

[jwhitlow1031]

lol, yea...my little sister always tells me to get seahorses, they seem to be really touchy and i would guess you need a tank devoted just to them, i hear they require low levels of water movement and then also perfect water perameters...souns like too much work for students.

 

[BlackOnyx]

I have an rbta under T5s