light for LTA in 20g high

[mrbill70]

Hi all,
I've posted a couple times about a LTA that has been having a bit of trouble in my tank. I finally buried him, and the next day he uprooted himself. He turned around 180 degrees and attached part of his foot to the glass. He still isnt interested in any food, mouth remains open (nothing hanging out), and wont firmly attach to anything. My lighting system is a 130w pc setup, and I noticed (could be my imagination) that he appears slightly lighter in color since I got him a week ago. He also seems to have thin white lines running down his tentacles (only a few). I was thinking of eliminating lighting as a possible cause of the stress, as several people have suggested 130w pc is insuficient. So I pose the question, what would be ideal for this guy. It is a 20g tall tank that currently runs at about 81ish degrees during the day. I was thinking a 150mh sunpod with 14k bulb and moonlights. What do you all suggest? I want to get this guy healthy.

 

[GSMguy]

150w sunpod would be good. your tank will look allot better with the the new light might not save the anemone cant hurt and the next one will have more of a chance.

 

[dodo99]

I'd go for a 10K lamp instead, and then try to use one of your 65W lamps for actinic supplementation. I used to run 130w PC for my LTA and it bleached over 6 months, even with several feedings a week. IME, if you keep the halide far enough from the water's surface, you'll have minimal heat transfer. I run a 400w lamp about 14" off the surface of my 29g, my temp is rock solid at 77-78f. (open top...)

 

[mrbill70]

Another question. I'm trying to plan my new lighting arrangement in such a way as to allow upgrade to a bigger tank. I have my eye on possibly a 29g tank (30 inches long instead of 24) or perhaps a similar custom build slightly bigger. To be able to use the lighting on the new tank, I was thinking about a pendant fixture, specifically a pfo. From what i've seen, most of the pendants small enough for this setup do not have cooling fans which concerns me. I was thinking about going with a 250w bulb in the 14-15k range and mounting the pendant further off the tank. This would allow me to still have plenty of light while keeping the pendant off the tank (im thinking maybe 12" off or so). Going with the 250w will allow me more flexibility with a slightly bigger tank as well. If I need to I can install a small fan to keep the temp down in the current 20g, but im worried that 250w may be too much for the corals/anemone. By going with a bulb with a bluer spetrum, I was hoping to slightly reduce the intensity of the light as well as eliminate the need for actinic supplementation. Thoughts?

 

[dodo99]

That sounds like a good plan. My first 400w lamp was a Venture (PFO) 10K, but it actually looked like 13-14k, so I wasn't using any actinics. SInce I swapped out the Venture for an XM 10K, the corals have reacted so well to it, but it's SO yellow... I was only recently able to rig a 65w PC actinic into my homemade hood. The color is still a bit yellow, but way better than without it.

If you slowly acclimate your corals/nem to the new lights, they'll be fine with the extra light.

 

[GSMguy]

here is my old LTA in a 29 with 175w mh

 

[GSMguy]

my current setup is 2x250 over 50g 36x18x18 tank and i am able to run a 20k bulb and still get great growth

i highly reccoment the 250w with a 20k