Ideal Spectrum for Anemones

[mnestroy]

Howdy,

I have a 40Breeder with:
1 Rose BTA
1 Condy Anemone
1. Sebae Anemone

I have 192 Watts CF lights,
1 96Watt SunPaq Dual Daylight 6700°K/10000°K
1 96Watt SunPaq Dual Actinic 420/460nm

I know more lighting would be better, but in regards to my spectrum am I going to provide the best for my Anemones? all 3 are looking sickly and I figured i'd start with the light...

I can replace the lights with 10k/actinic & 10k/actinic if that would be better?

 

[zoomfish1]

From my experience, anemones need more light than you are providing, especially the sebae and the RBTA. About the best you will be able to do with those PC's are 10K daylight & a 10K actinic.

I don't think that will be enough light either. If you have checked your parameters and they are good and you have flow with power heads, then I think your lights will be the death of the anemones. Sorry.

 

[Random Aquarist]

Can't he/she keep them alive by feeding extra until new lights are bought? I've heard that people quarantine corals like that.

 

[GSMguy]

ok i kept a long tentalcles anemone very healthy under 130-watts of the same exact lights as he has i would never keep a nem under no light as random suggested although ive seen bleached oned in the pet store just so you all beleive it can be done here is a pic of my LTA in a 29G with a current 2x65watt pc fixture with no sheilds no acrylic or glass that kill the light

 

[causeofhim]

Your BTA should be fine with that lighting.

 

[phender]

The lighting you have is more than fine. The dual daylight bulbs and dual actinic bulbs give your anemones more available light in the photosynthetic range.
I recently bought a set of dual daylights and dual actinics and much prefer them over the standard 10K and actinic bulbs.

 

[LesMartin]

Prefer them in what way ???

 

[seaduck]

Hey GSM guy,

I have the exact same lighting on my 30 gal high which is 24' tall. How tall is ur 29 gal and how long did u keep that LTA under that lighting? Was he that big when u bought him or did he grow that big? I want a LTA too.

 

[phender]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8676659#post8676659 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LesMartin
Prefer them in what way ???

First, and not completely unimportant, is they are more pleasing to my eye than the combination of straight 10k with actinic.

The 420nm + the 460nm make colors in my inverts "pop" nicer than the actinic I was using.

The 6700k light in combination with the 10k is making my anemones, zoanthids and ricordia much happier. The ricordia are not craning for the light like they used to and the zoanthids are reproducing faster. The 6700k light seems to be giving more usable light.

Most sps keepers will tell you that they get more growth with 6500k metal halides, but they don't like the look. Actinics help, but most sacrifice a little growth for the nicer look the 10k, 14k or 20k bulbs give the tank.

The dual daylights and dual actinics give the best of both worlds, IMO.

 

[mnestroy]

Good info, experimenting with 50dollar light bulbs can be costly...

 

[GSMguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8677133#post8677133 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by seaduck
Hey GSM guy,

I have the exact same lighting on my 30 gal high which is 24' tall. How tall is ur 29 gal and how long did u keep that LTA under that lighting? Was he that big when u bought him or did he grow that big? I want a LTA too.

kept him from about 5inches across to about 13 it now lives in a fellow reefers 180 gallon. i kept the nem for about 10 months with no problems i would say anything under maybee a 40br would be to small to keep this nem longterm sorry looks like youll need a tank upgrade seaduck the long tentacle gets very large up to 24inches across and has a very long foot need much more space than can be provided in a tank under 50 or 60 gallons with a 40br being the minimum
the point of my post was not to say look my nem is too big for my tank but that powercompact can be enough light am seriouls about splash sheilds on pc lights they really ruin output corals react like they are in the dark

 

[seaduck]

Thanks for the response...I bought a 4" lta yesterday and so far so good...I wanted to make sure from ur post that my pc lighting would be enough to keep it going until i can upgrade to a larger tank. Will get a 55 gal soon with mh and pc lighting.......So about the shields if u remove them then the bulbs get covered with salt which will cause a decrease in lighting....Do u clean the bulbs daily?

 

[GSMguy]

yes if they get spray on them or evap i take them out once a week and rub them down with a lil vinegar and water

 

[seaduck]

OK, currently my pcs are going thru the glass shield that can with the light fixture and thru the glass tank top. So, they r passing through 2 sheets of glass before entering the h20.

 

[seaduck]

I just noticed in ur sig that u run a ac hob on ur 20l. I have a ac110 hob on my 30 h....half full of lr rubble half full of cheato and calurpa with a sponge across the over flow to help restrict flow and keep cheato contained...it works great. Have a 9" coralife pc on top. System works great. Nitrates r 0