carpet anemone under T5

[tydtran]

I saw a very nice blue carpet anemone in my LFS the other day and am sorely tempted. I would put it my itself in a 40 gallon Breeder and want to use my 4 tube T5 HO 36 in fixture. I'd like to hear from people with experience keeping carpet anemones. Would this provide adequate light or should I not even make the attempt?

All input appreciated.

 

[AquaReeferMan]

Does each bulb in your fixture have an individual reflector? If it does I say go for it. If not you can easily incorporate reflectors.

 

[tydtran]

Yes, I have individual reflectors on the fixture.

 

[Toddrtrex]

What kind of carpet is it?

 

[tydtran]

The seller identified it as S. haddoni. A lot of what i have read state that these typically don't live more than a year or two in aquarium. Any long term experience with these??

 

[Toddrtrex]

I have two Haddonis, one for over 6 years, the other just under a year. Assuming you get a healthy one I have found them to be fairly easy to care for (( or I am just lucky )). People have had issues with them eating fish, I however, have only lost a yellow watchman goby to them -- about 4 years ago.

For a while I kept my under PC lighting, now they are under 2*250 MH + 2*54 T5.

 

[phender]

T5s for a haddoni carpet should be fine. If you start with a healthy haddoni, they are pretty undemanding. It should live for as long as you keep aquariums. I have had several over 6 years. I imagine a couple would now be over 10 if I hadn't traded/sold them.

 

[tydtran]

Thanks for the information Todd and Phil. That's a lot more encouraging than what I have been reading. I have always had reservation about carpet anemones because of their low reproduction rate in the wild. However, in this case, I reason that this particular anemone is already out of the ocean and is not about to be returned. I might as well give it a chance.

 

[AquaReeferMan]

Ive had my haddoni for 2 years and 2 months. It reaches about 18" now. When I purchased it, it was around 6". I keep mine under a 150w HQI. By far my favorite anemone.