anemone lights

[SeniorT2005]

Is there any kind of special lights I have to have to be able to keep amemone's I currently have 2, 18inch coralife 10,000K bulbs in the original hood for the tank, and just got 3 bubble tip anemone's do I need anything??? Thanks

[Reefland]

Your Normal Output lighting is no where near enough to support an Anemone. Metal Halide lighting is recommended.

[SeniorT2005]

How much? Where is the best place to buy? tank is a 55g, Thanks

[Reefland]

You should look at our sponsors page and try to locate a nice 2x250w system. Be prepared to spend some money on this though. If you decide you cannot get the lights, you should consider returning the Anemone.

[ksfireman]

You can also find some good deals on metal halide lighting on ebay. I picked up a 400w ballast, bulb, and reflector for $150 and that included shipping. It wasn't a "Top of the line" model, but my corals and clam love it.

Hope this helps,

Bradd

[ANGRY JOHN]

i would sugest that you buy a book or check at the library for information on these animals or even search the web. this is a common mistake to buy one and not know the requirements for care. some people become upset and will go on a hole tirade about how irresponcable it is but realy it is a common mistake and one wich can be corrected. vho bulbs is the least that i would recomend to care for these animals because they fit in to the catigory with the higher light requiring animals. there are icecap 66o balasts on line for like 110 dollars and this may the better route becasuse of the heat issues and they are easyer to mount. the intensity is way to low for "no" bulbs and the standard hoods do not even cover the hole length of the tank. you animals can live on stored body tissues from a few weeks to 3-4 months and this is not to be seen as sugsessful. the second addition of reef keeping buy sprung and debleek has a hole chapter on keeping and goes into more detail than even i could care for so mabe you could borrow the book or read that chap at the lfs to get you started. best of luck.

[cichlidfort]

Your Normal Output lighting is no where near enough to support an Anemone. Metal Halide lighting is recommended.

Some people just look at the label on the package of the light bulb and think that they can support corals just becaues the package has corals all over it. Plus the package misleads you when it says "Great lights for reef tanks."

NO has very low wattage and low intensity which will never support anything.

We all mistakes. The best is to correct them.

[Ninong]

Is there any kind of special lights I have to have to be able to keep amemone's I currently have 2, 18inch coralife 10,000K bulbs in the original hood for the tank, and just got 3 bubble tip anemone's do I need anything??? Thanks

You need much stronger lighting than that for anemones. Because of the relatively shallow depth of your tank, you would be fine with either power compact fluorescents (PCs) or T5's, provided you get a fixture with either four PCs (65 watts each) or four T5's (54 watts each). That might be a less expensive yet adequate solution to your problem than going with metal halides.

Metal halides are recommended as the best lighting for anemones but a lot depends on the size of your tank, especially the depth of the water column. The species you have (Entacmaea quadricolor) can get by without metal halide lighting provided it is fed two or three times a week and provided the lighting is moderately intense.

It's unfortunate that you have already purchased three of these animals for a tank that I believe was just set up very recently, if I remember your previous posts. Anemones are difficult to maintain and shouldn't be attempted until the tank is established (at least six months) and the caretaker has a little more experience. The species you have is probably the best possible choice if one is determined to keep anemones but it's still not recommended for a brand new setup.

Check out this article in Reef Hobbyist Online by Dr. Ron Shimek. It will give you a better understanding of anemones and their requirements.

Good luck!