Is my LTA dead or pooping

[Conrad25]

Use a larger PVC, minimum of 1" and stick it in the tank towards the bottom. Than you can dump the sand that needs to be washed out and everything first thru it like a funnel. It won't cloud or anything doing it this way. It has worked numorous times for a lot of us on here including myself that has recently changed mine out due to me wanting a larger grade size.

Conrad

 

[jacobzking]

Use a larger PVC, minimum of 1" and stick it in the tank towards the bottom. Than you can dump the sand that needs to be washed out and everything first thru it like a funnel. It won't cloud or anything doing it this way. It has worked numorous times for a lot of us on here including myself that has recently changed mine out due to me wanting a larger grade size.

Conrad

that was my guess, thanks!

 

[jacobzking]

An observation; if you are worried about spending too much for lighting now, how is the "300-500" gallon tank going to happen?

so I just got back from the LFS and looked at some HO T5 lights. Same as what I have now (CoralLife T5s) but HO versions. Each light puts out 39 watts as opposed to the 21 watts that I'm running now. For each 36" setup, they run $150. Do you think these will suffice?

 

[Toddrtrex]

How many bulbs are in each fixture? For an example, I am in the process of setting up a 40 breeder -- 36 inch long -- I am going to have 6*39 watt T5's over it.

 

[SkullV]

Why are you looking at 36" lights again? Your 125g tank is either 48" or 72". If you are really interested in upgrading in the future I would invest in 2-3 250w Metal Halide pendants, ballasts, and bulbs. That way you can still use the fixtures when you upgrade.

My 24g Nanocube with my anemone in it has a 6x18w t5HO Current USA fixture with individually contoured reflectors. So that is 108w of T5HO over only 24g which is only 20" long.

I am fairly certain that the Coralife fixture you are looking at is the same thing I have over my FOWLR tank but in a 48" version. I would NOT recommend that fixture or those bulbs for anything that requires light to thrive.

 

[jeffreylesser]

+ 1

Good suggestion.

If you can do pendants than that will give you the greatest flexibility. Here are some ideas from Marine Depot who is a sponsor here.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_searchItem.aspx?SearchText=pendant&parsed=1

Seeing how you are planning to upgrade in the future you could get two pendants now, and go with three or four later on a bigger tank. If you get a setup that has a ballast that can handle multiple watt bulbs then you can dial your lights(and your electrical bill) back with lower watt bulbs if you no longer house photosynthetic organisms. Some of these are not too expensive, and some are very expensive/sexy. Depends on what look you are going for. This is not an inclusive list of all pendents but gives you an idea. Seeing how your next tank will probably not share either dimension that your current tank has, these lights would be very re-usable.

 

[jacobzking]

How many bulbs are in each fixture? For an example, I am in the process of setting up a 40 breeder -- 36 inch long -- I am going to have 6*39 watt T5's over it.

Why are you looking at 36" lights again? Your 125g tank is either 48" or 72".

i would be doing 2x 36" fixtures (like I have now) but they would both be High Output (HOs) instead of the normal ones. each fixture would have one 10k bulb @ 39 watts and one actinic bulb @ 39 watts.

in short, I'd be going from a total of 21 watts x4 (84 watts total) to 39 watts x 4 (156 watts total).

plus... if I upgrade to a 9' long tank, I can just add a 3rd 36" light.

http://www.marineandreef.com/Coralife_Aqualight_High_Output_T5_36_inch_p/RES08602.htm

what do you think? doubling my output going to be enough? as an experiment, we took both of our regular t5 fixtures and put them on the side where the anemone was and he responded well to it (basically said to us, "yay! more light!")

 

[SkullV]

That is still not even close to enough light you MIGHT be able to get away with 2 36" 4 bulb fixtures but what you are proposing will still allow the anemone to die. To put it bluntly the lighting you are looking at is appropriate for a FOWLR tank and nothing else.

I had 216w (4 48" 54w bulbs) of T5HO over a previous 55g that had an RBTA in it and even that was questionable.

With a tank your size you really need to start looking into 6-8bulb T5HO fixtures or MH lighting. What are the exact dimensions of your tank? Specifically water depth (height)?

 

[jacobzking]

That is still not even close to enough light you MIGHT be able to get away with 2 36" 4 bulb fixtures but what you are proposing will still allow the anemone to die. To put it bluntly the lighting you are looking at is appropriate for a FOWLR tank and nothing else.

I had 216w (4 48" 54w bulbs) of T5HO over a previous 55g that had an RBTA in it and even that was questionable.

With a tank your size you really need to start looking into 6-8bulb T5HO fixtures or MH lighting. What are the exact dimensions of your tank? Specifically water depth (height)?

72 long x21.5 tall x18 front to back

 

[Toddrtrex]

I am going to have to agree with "SkullV's" previous post - you might be better off with MH pendants, will be easier to reuse when/if you get a bigger tank.

The fixtures you are looking at adding now, are better, but really aren't going to help. Like I stated earlier, my new 40 breeder has 6*39 T5s, which would be enough for an LTA -- that is more then what you are planning for "72 long x21.5 tall x18 front to back" tank.

 

[jacobzking]

http://www.marineandreef.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=RES08606&CartID=3

x2? total of 8 36" 39watt bulbs? any better? 312watts

 

[SkullV]

I THINK that the anemone would be able to live under those lights in your tank but it still wouldn't be thriving.

If you are set on that price range and the 4x39w setups I would take a look at these:

http://www.marineandreef.com/Nova_Extreme_T5_Aquarium_Lighting_Current_USA_p/rcu01121.htm

They come with better bulbs and also have individually contoured reflectors.

In reality though for your setup if you plan to keep this anemone long term and add any other LPS/SPS corals I would seriously consider getting some MH pendants or some of these:

http://www.marineandreef.com/Nova_Extreme_Pro_T5_36_inch_Current_USA_p/rcu01080.htm


You really need to make a decision on whether you want a FOWLR tank or if you want to keep photosynthetic inverts though because once your start adding all this light to your tank that ray of yours is not going to be very happy.

 

[bues0022]

While I'm a huge T5 fan, the MH route does give you considerable flexibility in using them over nearly any size tank. You can scale easily by just getting another ballast and pendant.

Remember, the total wattage doesn't really mean much. I've kept BTA's under 4x39W before, but the tank was small (58ga) and I had individual reflectors, good bulbs, and active cooling - and the nems were all up relatively high in the tank. I say this to show it's not as easy as getting more wattage and you're fine.

Do some front-end research (pain in the butt and tedious maybe) and it'll save you a lot of headaches in the future. For example - try to find out the difference between a $250 4x39W T5 fixture, and one that is $600. What features are different, what does each feature do, how relevant is it to your setup.......Once you can tell the difference, you will be better able to make your own decisions.

oh, and +1 to SkullV about the lights/stocking list ideas.

 

[tubntxawg]

I think the anemone should be fine under the T5's... but if it was for me... ill go MH...

 

[jacobzking]

You really need to make a decision on whether you want a FOWLR tank or if you want to keep photosynthetic inverts though because once your start adding all this light to your tank that ray of yours is not going to be very happy.

i'm much more concerned about keeping my ray happy, if I went with the 4x 39 watt ho t5 setup like I showed above, will that be too much light for the ray? 10 hours a day?

 

[MD Ocean Girl]

i'm much more concerned about keeping my ray happy, if I went with the 4x 39 watt ho t5 setup like I showed above, will that be too much light for the ray? 10 hours a day?

I'm really new at keeping a saltwater tank, but I really felt the need to say something here. Just my own two cents....if you're much more concerned about keeping your ray happy, and it likes lower light, you really should take the LTA back and just keep a FOWLR tank. Without the proper lighting for the LTA, you're basically starving it to death, which is not fair. The clown fish will be fine without an anemone as a host. I'm sure the LFS you bought the clown and anemone from would be glad to take the anemone back and sell it to someone who has the proper setup and lighting to properly take care of it so it thrives.

I think sometimes we get excited about saltwater creatures and forget that they need specific living conditions to keep them healthy and happy. Before I had set up my 10 gallon nano, I was planning on keeping a clown pair and an anemone in it. The best thing I did was do a bunch of reading and asked many questions on the forums. I quickly realized my tank was in no way right for keeping what I had envisioned. I instead decided to turn it into a coral and invert tank, which is better all around; better for the critters in the tank and better for me because I can enjoy my tank instead of dealing with sick/dying fish and corals all the time.

 

[SkullV]

The anemone MAY survive with the lighting you posted about but it certainly would not be thriving.

I agree with the post above me. At this point I think it is really time for you to consider taking back the anemone and maybe even the clown if you are not too attached to that specific clownfish. If you do want a clownfish you may want to consider one of the more aggressive species like Maroon, Tomato, or Clarkii for your FOWLR tank. No clownfish needs an anemone to be happy or thrive. This way you can keep your ray happy, save your money on lighting, and still have your clown.

 

[jacobzking]

so in short, you are saying there's no way to keep a LTA and a ray in a tank together?

 

[bues0022]

You could likely keep them alive in the same tank together, (the LTA will need more/better light than what you have proposed)but neither one would thrive. They both require lighting in different quantaties - LTA=high lighting, ray=low lighting. Pick which one you like best and decide where you want your tank to go. Attempting to keep both will keep them both constantly stressed and you may end up losing one/both in the long run.

 

[SkullV]

you could likely keep them alive in the same tank together, (the lta will need more/better light than what you have proposed)but neither one would thrive. They both require lighting in different quantaties - lta=high lighting, ray=low lighting. Pick which one you like best and decide where you want your tank to go. Attempting to keep both will keep them both constantly stressed and you may end up losing one/both in the long run.

+1