I have a 55 gallon tank right now and I would like to see if my new tomato clown would pair up with a BTA. I'm hesitant to buy one for 40 bucks if it will most likely die off. So here is the thing, I started with a planted tank and bought 130 watt pc lights and a standard flourescent 40w bulb for a total of 170w for my tank. I am planning on upgrading that in the future but I am really interested in a BTA now. Will this be enough light for a BTA? I hear that they are not the hardest anemones to keep, and require moderate lighting. Thanks in advance for the help!
Can I keep a BTA? Lighting?
- Thread starter Cavetank1
- Start date
rcastreje
Member
Sorry to burst your bubble on this, but. . . .
Your tank is not mature enough to support any anemone with confidence. Your profile says you are 1 month in to the hobby, there fore I am going to assume that your tank is about the same age.
Your lighting would be close, depending on the layout of the tank and how much care you can provice the Anemone. with the information you have provided, it does not sound like you have done enough research in to the care and maintenance of an anemone to provide it with the care they require.
I would recommend asking more questions regarding the basics on Anemone keeping and let your tank mature and your knowledge of anemone keeping grow.
As I read this reply, it sounds a bit harsh, sorry. I don't mean it to be. It would suck to blow the bucks on a creature just to have it die and it would suck even more to get a creature and condem it to a slow horrible death. (Sometimes not so slow but usually horrible).
All of this is IMO and I offer these comments because I care, not to be a jerk.
-Rich
Your tank is not mature enough to support any anemone with confidence. Your profile says you are 1 month in to the hobby, there fore I am going to assume that your tank is about the same age.
Your lighting would be close, depending on the layout of the tank and how much care you can provice the Anemone. with the information you have provided, it does not sound like you have done enough research in to the care and maintenance of an anemone to provide it with the care they require.
I would recommend asking more questions regarding the basics on Anemone keeping and let your tank mature and your knowledge of anemone keeping grow.
As I read this reply, it sounds a bit harsh, sorry. I don't mean it to be. It would suck to blow the bucks on a creature just to have it die and it would suck even more to get a creature and condem it to a slow horrible death. (Sometimes not so slow but usually horrible).
All of this is IMO and I offer these comments because I care, not to be a jerk.
-Rich
No hurt feelings here. I know my tank has to mature. But how long is something i dont know. If you could fill me in on that, i'd appreciate it. Just from looking at online live fish sites, they say that BTA's are not as hard to keep as other anemones. I'll have to do more research I guess. Just when you think you've done enough, you get another question that requires research. It's neverending. Thanks for the reply.
rcastreje
Member
Sorry Cavetank1,
Your original message said "I hear that they are not the hardest anemone to keep,. " Which is what lead me to beleive that you have been mislead.
You and your LFS are correct that they are not as hard to keep. I have been told they are the best to start with.
I recommend letting your tank age a bit though. Many recommend a year to develop a stable enviroment. Personally I think that is long, I bet the anemone thinks it is to short, but that would be another story.
If your tank is stable and does not have any incidents of parameter troubles, 6 months of smooth sailing should be OK. Make no mistake, Anemonies are not very forgiving unless you have a decent disaster recover plan.
Start a new post and provide what hardware you have, experience you have in the hobby (in months/years), success you have had with other critters, what your water parameters are and what you ultimately want for your anemone tank. Also provide what other critters/fish you have or intend to support in your tank.
Hope this helps,
-Rich
Your original message said "I hear that they are not the hardest anemone to keep,. " Which is what lead me to beleive that you have been mislead.
You and your LFS are correct that they are not as hard to keep. I have been told they are the best to start with.
I recommend letting your tank age a bit though. Many recommend a year to develop a stable enviroment. Personally I think that is long, I bet the anemone thinks it is to short, but that would be another story.
If your tank is stable and does not have any incidents of parameter troubles, 6 months of smooth sailing should be OK. Make no mistake, Anemonies are not very forgiving unless you have a decent disaster recover plan.
Start a new post and provide what hardware you have, experience you have in the hobby (in months/years), success you have had with other critters, what your water parameters are and what you ultimately want for your anemone tank. Also provide what other critters/fish you have or intend to support in your tank.
Hope this helps,
-Rich
I agree with the advice Rich gave. The BTA is one of the easier anemones but still are not easy to keep. I would say your lighting is on the low side as well. I've had some personal experience with BTA's, and I have to say they are very stressfull.
For someone that is new to saltwater I think you'd really enjoy some of the easier to keep soft corals like: zoanthids, mushrooms, etc. I'm sure someone else will have some suggestions as well.
Good luck,
Nick
For someone that is new to saltwater I think you'd really enjoy some of the easier to keep soft corals like: zoanthids, mushrooms, etc. I'm sure someone else will have some suggestions as well.
Good luck,
Nick
xtm
Active member
Cavetank: Your tank will go through many cycles - not just the Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate cycle, but Algae blooms, diatoms,and other issues as well. You want to get these out of the way first. In my experience, most tanks reach equilibrium around 5-6 months range, on an average bioload. This fluctuating stage is usually harsh to sensitive specimens, especially Anemones. They do not tolerate sudden salinity, temp changes, and other cycles.
Let's talk about your lighting.. (assuming your tank has already matured) First, how deep is your tank? What kind of lights do you have? Actinics? 10K?
Let's talk about your lighting.. (assuming your tank has already matured) First, how deep is your tank? What kind of lights do you have? Actinics? 10K?
rcastreje
Member
Well that would depend on what your end goal is. If you only intend to have this an an Anemone tank with 1-2 BTAs, then the PCs would be enough. If you want to expand to include some other moderate light corals, then you are going to want to spend the money now and have hardware that will take you to your goal.
Something to keep in mind, Anemonies are not cheap critters to keep. You are going to need something in place to control Nitrate Build-up (cost money or a lot of time), stuff to keep your parameters where they need to be (addatives and/or reactors), Regular Water changes etc. . . I am going to assume you already have a nice BIO filter and a Skimmer and enough live rock to support the enviroment.
Although they are very rewarding to keep, they are kind of a time sink and, at first, a money pit.
IMO - as usual.
-Rich
Something to keep in mind, Anemonies are not cheap critters to keep. You are going to need something in place to control Nitrate Build-up (cost money or a lot of time), stuff to keep your parameters where they need to be (addatives and/or reactors), Regular Water changes etc. . . I am going to assume you already have a nice BIO filter and a Skimmer and enough live rock to support the enviroment.
Although they are very rewarding to keep, they are kind of a time sink and, at first, a money pit.
IMO - as usual.
-Rich
phender
Active member
Having just made the switch from 4-65 watt PCs to 4-54 watt T5s w/ individual reflectors I can say that the only down side for the T5s is the initial price. It is allowing me to keep a greater variety of hard corals and is better for all the inhabitants of the tank. The only other down side is that it has raised the temp of the tank about a degree and a half warmer than the PCs.
IME, BTAs are about as difficult as hammer or frogspawn corals. If you have a stable aquarium with good live rock and a good skimmer, you will be fine. Although it is not the ideal, BTAs can put up with nitrate and phosphate levels higher than what we would normally like to see in a reef tank.
E.J. Coral
New member
I hate to go against the grain but my advice is
1. I kept BTA under 130 watts PC. I wouldn't recomend it as a rule, but depending on the animal and its previous enviornment, it is possible. I would buy the anemone, and observe where it is comfortable. If it quickly moves to the top, then get more light. If it stays near the bottom, let good enough be! I did feed regularly and had clowns hosting though..
2. Buy the anemone when your tank is stable .... not when you have surpassed some artificial time like 6 months or 1 year. Tanks that I have set up with sand live rock and the normal goodies tend to mature in 4-5 months. But there are other situations where the "6 month" rule doesn't apply. For example, i would feel comfortable adding an anemone to a 1 week old tank that was bare bottom, high flow, overskimmed, had properly cooked rock/no live rock, and low bioload. Take a look at how tanks are set up in marine labs....
3. buy a clone from a local reefer
4. IMO, BTAs are very hardy. A healthy anemoen, given a stable tank, good light, covered powerheads, moderately clean water, and proper nutrition will be the toughesr organisms in your tank .... besides damsels, maybe
1. I kept BTA under 130 watts PC. I wouldn't recomend it as a rule, but depending on the animal and its previous enviornment, it is possible. I would buy the anemone, and observe where it is comfortable. If it quickly moves to the top, then get more light. If it stays near the bottom, let good enough be! I did feed regularly and had clowns hosting though..
2. Buy the anemone when your tank is stable .... not when you have surpassed some artificial time like 6 months or 1 year. Tanks that I have set up with sand live rock and the normal goodies tend to mature in 4-5 months. But there are other situations where the "6 month" rule doesn't apply. For example, i would feel comfortable adding an anemone to a 1 week old tank that was bare bottom, high flow, overskimmed, had properly cooked rock/no live rock, and low bioload. Take a look at how tanks are set up in marine labs....
3. buy a clone from a local reefer
4. IMO, BTAs are very hardy. A healthy anemoen, given a stable tank, good light, covered powerheads, moderately clean water, and proper nutrition will be the toughesr organisms in your tank .... besides damsels, maybe
marc price
Active member
4x 54w t5 indv. icecap parabolic reflectors will be much better . i'm guessing your aquarium is 48"l. utilizing t5's you'll have 4 bulbs over your animals vs. only 2 with pc's 2X2 layout required of a 22"pc to span 48". 216watts t5's = >par, lux/lumens vs 260watts pc's =
<par,lux/lumens.
heat will reduce the life of bulbs, i personally have a 4x 54w t5 / a .25" gap between ice cap reflectors, no hood and especially no ballast mounted in such enclosure covering them to trap heat. no annoying noisy fans needed, convection cooling handles the heat in my application.
d.i.y. has it's advantages despite that i spent nearly as much as buying a commercial fixture. i mounted the icecap water resistant end caps to strips of right angle aluminum. replaced the bulb mounting clips with my own design which also serves to secure two reflectors to one another. the all aluminum construction further serves as a heat sink. also incorporated a heat sink on the remote mounted ballast. again no fans needed, i like to keep noise and heat to a minimum..
