[lwkimbley]

I have a 6 ft 125 gallon U.S. Tank. I built a stand with hood. I placed my two MH right at 3 feet 11 inches off the water with 3 6" fans blowing on the surface. I have 4 40 watt Atcentic bulbs. Now this gives me 660 watts of light for approximately 105 gallons of water after LR and DSB (5") displacement. I currently have zoos on a rock and put them under the MH and they are doing great. My carnation anemone has died he moved to 5 different positions then started to die my lfs told me that MH lighting is too bright for anemones. At 660 watts of light what else is going to hide from the light. I wanted to get green and red star poylps? How will they do with this lighting. Oh, my Nitrate, Nitrite and ammonia is 0PPM my PH is 8.4 Salinity 1.024. What can I have with this set up and what should I avoid?

[lwkimbley]

Well does no one have any ideas?

[dougc]

I placed my two MH right at 3 feet 11 inches off the water

I hope this is a typo. My light pendants are about 8" from the water surface. Hopefully, you intended to say that the lights are 11 inches from the water and are 3 feet apart.

Most people put 3 MH lights over a 6 foot tank. The lights and reflectors only cover about a 2 foot square area effectively. You can get away with 2, but you will have darker areas. It will just limit where you can put light-hungry corals. That being said, you should be able to keep most corals under the lights.

My carnation anemone has died he moved to 5 different positions then started to die my lfs told me that MH lighting is too bright for anemones.

I'm not sure what a carnation anemone is, but most commonly kept anemones require lots of light. As a group, anemones are not easy to keep, but that is impossible to judge without knowing what species you had. Moving around is a sign that the anemone is not happy about the conditions and is trying to find a better spot.

I wanted to get green and red star poylps?

Star polyps should do fine in this tank. They are pretty undemanding. In fact, they can become a curse as they encrust the surrounding rocks and corals.

[lwkimbley]

So the star poylps will do great to the point of spreading all over the rock.
I also have a 5 1/2 foot spray bar I made with 2 mag 18 and 1 mag 7. So I guess I am pumping out around 2000gph. Plus 2 300 gph powerheads in the end corners of the tank pointed to the center. So that is 2600gph of circulation.
The carnation anemone had a red foot and short yellow tenticles. I think it was a type of carpet anemone.

[lwkimbley]

I have lined the inside of the hood with mirrors. It looks like I have 3 MH, I am a little disappointed in the 14k I think next time I will get 10K. The 160 watts of blue lights seems to be plenty!

[Poseidon]

Originally Posted by lwkimbley

My carnation anemone has died he moved to 5 different positions then started to die my lfs told me that MH lighting is too bright for anemones.

You may want a new LFS!! Anemones are some of THE MOST light demanding animals we can keep!

Check this out, it has some good info... Lighting Question for Rose BTA

[Ninong]

What's a "carnation anemone?" Is that the same as a flower anemone? Did it come from Floridian waters?

[lwkimbley]

I am not sure the outside and foot were dark red. The inside and tenticles were bright yellow!

[lwkimbley]

I have a 26 inch sealife venturi protein skimmer. I pull a half a gallon of protein a day out of my tank. Then I put more protein in the water with the filter feeder food. Am I just pulling all of the food out of the water for the anemones and zoos? I use a syringe and airline tubing to spray accross the zoos and anemones. So hopefully they get some of the nutrients.

[Reefland]

3 feet 11 inches off the water

Is this correct? That is much too far from the surface of the water and is not doing you much good. 11" would be much more appropriate spacing between the bulbs and the water surface.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by lwkimbley

I have a 26 inch sealife venturi protein skimmer. I pull a half a gallon of protein a day out of my tank.

That's entirely too wet for a 125-gal tank. You need to set your skimmer to produce a drier skimmate. Something around one to two cups a day of skimmate would be much, much better than half a gallon a day.

[lwkimbley]

My lights are 11 inches off the water and 3 feet from the end of the tank. I have the inside of the light hood lined with mirrors. I have about a 4 1/2 foot section with Zoos along the top of the Live Rock and they are spreading like wild fire. I also have 6 actinic 40 watts each. I do one hour of blue lights then turn on MH for 8 hours, then one hour of blue lights. I also have moon lights and I am following the Lunar Schedule for turning on and off moon lights. I will adjust the air flow on my Protein Skimmer. The Skimmate is very dark and thick as it is. I also have Calupra in my refugium and 24 red mangroves floating in styrofoam with the roots in the water and I keep the leaves and Flowers trimmed off. My Nitrates have stayed at 0ppm since I put in the Refugium. It has made a huge difference in my Zoos growing and speading and cut down on algae.