Par needed for LTA?
- Thread starter el aguila
- Start date
el aguila
Member
I have a spot that I was wanting to put a LTA at the edge of some rock work by the side of the tank. When I checked the par in this location it was 65. I know that this is too low, but trying to figure out what I need to get it up to.
My main light is a DIY LED fixture with about 29" water depth. I can rework the fixture some with different optics to get the par up some, but 200 is probably out of the question. Just trying to figure out what I need to keep a LTA healthy.
My main light is a DIY LED fixture with about 29" water depth. I can rework the fixture some with different optics to get the par up some, but 200 is probably out of the question. Just trying to figure out what I need to keep a LTA healthy.
Fish Friend
New member
If you DIY, add white (full-spectrum light) and not blue, as they live in shallow waters (does not block out so much of the spectrum as the deeper oceans where, as a consequence, mostly blue light can penetrate).
They will adjust, like individuals, and have slightly different preferences nomatter what breed you chooce. Make an attempt to at making an overall appealing environment for the anemone of choice, as you won't know the exact preferences of the animal you pick and usually get zero information about it's actual previous location in the wild - the LTA I placed, likes the spot, so I would suggest a softish flow that is carefully designed to come from more directions at once, just simple dispersal around live rock so it feel like food might come from many directions. I had seen videos on YouTube of macrodactylas in dedicated but rather empty tanks and suspect they will move easier, if they feel there is a specific current to hunt food on. If thr current comes from multiple direcdirectiothe LTA might miss out on food from one current by moving.
If you cannot dim the LED, make sure you have something to block it with so the anemone can be acclimated slowly to the LEDs - they are very efficient compared to the older generation light.
People with good exp seem to observe that 40 PAR will do for BTA. The LTA I got on October 19th, is acclimatising to it's overpowered LEDs, so it can only take up to lvl5 on white channel and I only give it lvl1 on blue channel after observing the anemone looking more uncomfortable in the "moonlight" periods I programmed before and after the whites. I had it on 12h total but just read today that statistics indicate that 11h light period is better for anemones.
When first introducing the anemone, it is exhausted from the travelling - and making it move will exhaust it's energy further, so allowing them rest can prevent unnecessary deaths - but
I was advised not to feed it for a week and after giving it a very small piece of shrimp so it knew food was "around", I gave it "rest"
.. mine started chewing off tentacles on day 3 or 4 - I would advice to feed anemones everyday, especially if they are small.
You can take a look at this rather informative survey, that I personally wish I had found before today, it seems the most important thing you can do for your anemone, is to feed it every day
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/seaanemoneprofiles/ss/sbsanemonesurvey.htm#showall
Good luck and have fun
They will adjust, like individuals, and have slightly different preferences nomatter what breed you chooce. Make an attempt to at making an overall appealing environment for the anemone of choice, as you won't know the exact preferences of the animal you pick and usually get zero information about it's actual previous location in the wild - the LTA I placed, likes the spot, so I would suggest a softish flow that is carefully designed to come from more directions at once, just simple dispersal around live rock so it feel like food might come from many directions. I had seen videos on YouTube of macrodactylas in dedicated but rather empty tanks and suspect they will move easier, if they feel there is a specific current to hunt food on. If thr current comes from multiple direcdirectiothe LTA might miss out on food from one current by moving.
If you cannot dim the LED, make sure you have something to block it with so the anemone can be acclimated slowly to the LEDs - they are very efficient compared to the older generation light.
People with good exp seem to observe that 40 PAR will do for BTA. The LTA I got on October 19th, is acclimatising to it's overpowered LEDs, so it can only take up to lvl5 on white channel and I only give it lvl1 on blue channel after observing the anemone looking more uncomfortable in the "moonlight" periods I programmed before and after the whites. I had it on 12h total but just read today that statistics indicate that 11h light period is better for anemones.
When first introducing the anemone, it is exhausted from the travelling - and making it move will exhaust it's energy further, so allowing them rest can prevent unnecessary deaths - but
I was advised not to feed it for a week and after giving it a very small piece of shrimp so it knew food was "around", I gave it "rest"
.. mine started chewing off tentacles on day 3 or 4 - I would advice to feed anemones everyday, especially if they are small.
You can take a look at this rather informative survey, that I personally wish I had found before today, it seems the most important thing you can do for your anemone, is to feed it every day
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/seaanemoneprofiles/ss/sbsanemonesurvey.htm#showall
Good luck and have fun
Fish Friend
New member
I apologise for the typos, I cannot seem to edit my reply now, so I cannot go back and fix it.
Either way, people have anemones under very different setups - I got a cheap&awesome LED fixture that promised 450-ish PAR in the spot and I had read that 350ish would do for light demanding anemones but - if I turn the fixture above 5 right now, the LTA begins to jerk it's tentacles around and even started bleaching. On lvl5 it seems to become happy again (altho I cannot say what PAR it is at specifically as I only know that the fixture is a 50% at lvl30, running both channels).
Either way, people have anemones under very different setups - I got a cheap&awesome LED fixture that promised 450-ish PAR in the spot and I had read that 350ish would do for light demanding anemones but - if I turn the fixture above 5 right now, the LTA begins to jerk it's tentacles around and even started bleaching. On lvl5 it seems to become happy again (altho I cannot say what PAR it is at specifically as I only know that the fixture is a 50% at lvl30, running both channels).
Fish Friend
New member
(in case you don't know already, ignore the Watts-per-Gallon calculations when using LEDs. This is only for calculating the older generation of lights and is useless with LED that is more efficient while using less watt.)
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