What Do Anemones Prefer?

[The Shrimp X]

What kelvin rating or spectrum do anemones do better under?
The bluer 20,000k or the whiter 10,00k

This isnt a debate on buld type/brand
I would just like to know...
as this will help me to choose my new bulbs
(as of right now i have 2-250 watt XM15,000k bulbs, which the color is great but the PAR is completely horrible... I Will either be going with the XM 10,000k or the XM 20,000k, the only problem is i dont have actinics due to not having the budget to afford them XD (thats what you get for being a highschool Reefer) )



any help is much appreciated =]

 

[Slakker]

It really depends on the specific anemone you're asking about, and each individual is different. One anemone might thrive under 10k while another might do really well under 14k...It may be a little pricey to experiment, but you might just have to play guess and check for a while.

 

[Chupacabras]

Which anemone type?

It stands to reason, the shallow water 'nems would prefer the lower kelvin, deeper water the higher.

Also, if I'm not mistaken the par of the XM15k is about equal to the 20k so you wouldn't be getting a whole lot more par by making that change.

 

[The Shrimp X]

The anemone is of the heteractis genus either malu or crispa... not exactly sure which as of yet.


With the ARO (ballast that comes with HelloLights retros) the XM15k only put off about 171 PAR, the XM20k put off 270 PAR, and the XM10k put off 526 PAR... but also you have to take in the fact that i dont have actinic supliment so im not sure how white the tank will look, but i could live with that if it means the anemone will thrive more under it...

http://www.cnidarianreef.com/lamps.cfm

 

[Amphiprion]

IME, except for a few species, most are not picky about spectrum so long as there is adequate intensity present.

 

[55semireef]

Re: What Do Anemones Prefer?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9332187#post9332187 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Shrimp X
What kelvin rating or spectrum do anemones do better under?
The bluer 20,000k or the whiter 10,00k

This isnt a debate on buld type/brand
I would just like to know...
as this will help me to choose my new bulbs
(as of right now i have 2-250 watt XM15,000k bulbs, which the color is great but the PAR is completely horrible... I Will either be going with the XM 10,000k or the XM 20,000k, the only problem is i dont have actinics due to not having the budget to afford them XD (thats what you get for being a highschool Reefer) )



any help is much appreciated =]

I can relate to you since I am young myself. Senior though. My Crispa THRIVES in the lighting my Tek T5s put out. I have a 4x54 watt fixture. Two bulbs are super actinic while the other two bulbs are a 6500 K and a 10000 K bulb. I have a lot of white light. Here are some pictures of my tank so you get an idea of what my color of the tank looks likes.

And just so you can get an idea of my Crispa looks like:

I would go with either 10000 K or 140000 K bulbs. If I really had to pick, I would say 14000 K bulbs would be better because it brings out color in other corals such as sps and lps. But from what I have experienced and have read, a 10000 K spectrum will give anemones and some corals faster growth.

 

[phender]

IME, I went to XM 10Ks from Phoenix 14Ks because with 150 watt DEs I didn't feel like I was getting enough PAR.

In my case, both my S. gigantea and my H. crispa showed a great deal of growth after the switch.

The XM 10ks will likely seem a little yellow to you if you are used to the 14ks and you don't have actinics.