LIGHTING QUESTION FOR clown/anemone tank

[jcjstl]

I bought a 40 extended hex from the good ole petco sale .. my wife is really wanting a clown/anemone tank... what is the absolute minimum lighting ( buy minimum yes I mean cheapest) that I could get away with for the time being... I was thinking of the diy mh I seen on nano reef ( http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/ind...1165&hl=pendant ) but not sure if it would be powerful enough. Thanks for your input...

 

[dantodd]

You might be able to get by with the 150w version, the 70w version is probably much too little light. I haven't built the project before so I don't know how well it will work in the long run for you.'

edit: this is assuming you are looking at a bubble tip anemone.

 

[jcjstl]

OK folks I am in this... the anemone/clown forum to get anemone/clown advice and so far only one person has any advice ???

 

[Nikon_Guy]

The 150-Watt MH is the minimum that you should even think about. And with that you are really limited to adding a BTA and placing it near the top of the tank.

I would recommend going with a 250-Watt pendant. The reason behind this is that in most cases as you gain knowledge and experience in reef keeping you will want to add different types of corals to your tank that will require higher light. It would be cheaper in the long run to start out with what you need for the future rather than buying the 150 and six months down the road having to sell it for a loss and then upgrading to the 250.

More importantly, being as you have just purchased this tank, I am assuming that you are setting it up from scratch. I would really recommend that you have your tank up and running perfectly for at least three months prior to adding any type of anemone.

 

[COreefer]

I think a 150w HQI would be plenty of light fopr an anemone in a tank of this size...

 

[jcjstl]

thank you for the input guys... I will not rush this tank .. I want this tank to be a showcase tank in my living room so i will take as much time as I need to .. I just want to plan it out very carefully before I even get started.

 

[raoul]

You may get more answers by being more specific about the type of anemone you want to get. Some require more light than others.

If you're just starting this tank, then there's preparations in things like the rockscaping you can do that will be beneficial to your nem. The type of anemone you choose may affect the types of livestock you place in your tank as well, like the types of clowns you get. Or, the type of clowns you want may affect the type of anemone you get.

Anemone type can also affect the placing and types of corals you're willing to put in the tank, and the order in which you stock your tank.

I have a 75 I'm waiting to get to the safe point for adding an anemone. I'm going with the 6 month waiting rule. I know I want a rose bta, and I know I want black occel's. I already know that these clowns may not host this anemone and if I wanted to see hosting behavior I'd be better off changing one of those out so I have a more compatible combination. Luckily I have a pair of clowns hosting an anemone in a different tank so it won't be the end of the world if this pairing doesn't work out.

I'm also holding off on putting a lot of corals into the tank before the nem so it doesn't kill anything off if it moves a bit to find a happy place

There's a lot of planning that goes into things like this, and I want to thank you for planning things out a head of time, this way you can provide the best home possible for the animals you are taking stewardship of.

Good luck!