Host anemone under PC lighting

[mrcolbeck]

Can anyone recommend a host anemone that will do well under PC lighting?

I want to get an anemone for my tomato clowns. I've heard that host anemones need MH lighting to do well. I have 220w PC lighting on a 40 gallon tank (50/50.) I had a host anemone several years ago that failed due to poor lighting and low water flow. Since then I've increased lighting and water flow (two heads combined over 400 gph.)

 

[returnofsid]

Hmmm, most will tell you that you don't have enough lighting for any anemone. However, I disagree, based on my own experience. I'm not at all advocating that others attempt this though, as everyone's individual experiences are different.

I've got an RBTA in my 46 Bow tank under a 2X96 Watt fixture. It's been in there over a year and is doing great. It's split once and has grown like CRAZY since. I do feed it about 2 or 3 times per week as well. However, I've been lucky in that when it decided where it wanted to finally "put down roots," it was in a great spot for light. Others aren't so fortunate.

If you're interested in upgrading your lighting, but not interested in MH lighting. Look into T5HO. In water depths of 28" or less, it puts out more PAR and Lumens than MH. I've currently got a 6 bulb Tek5 unit, made by Sunlight Supply on my 75. I LOVE IT!!

 

[morgan]

i keep bta under fluros, also feeding is essentiall the tips still bubble up also

 

[barrierreefcf]

We've had plenty of success keeping RBTA and GBTA under PC and VHO. If you can find one that has split off in captivity thats probably even better.

 

[Jan]

Morgan, what do you feed your BTA?

 

[Juanfer]

you could try with a long T., since they do not like light that much

 

[mrcolbeck]

Thanks for the responses. It sounds like bubble tips are my best bet. I'd still like to know if the spectrum or intensity of lighting is the main factor for anemones. Right now I have 3 actinic A3 and one 10000 K 55w pc bulbs. I don't have much room to add lights, but I could change the balance if that would help the anemone.

 

[kendog261]

I had a RTB split under one 10k and one actinic 65w on a 30 gallon cube. I feed mine once a week shrimp

 

[DonW]

Unless they are pretty darn big they usually split because they are NOT happy, stressed in some way. May be the lack of lighting.

Don

 

[Damsel13]

I have a BTA. I feed the crap out of him. So far so good. I am still a newbie but I know that silversides are good for Bubble Tip Anemones

 

[Damsel13]

Oh, I am only running 96 + 96pc's

 

[Damsel13]

Don mine wanted it's foot to be in the dark for a month. Today I turned that rock over fed and tonight I will turn off the power water movers :| . Anyway, I feel I am taking good care of my Anemone. My clowns ( A. Ocelleris) pay not much attention to it. :lol: Oh well.

 

[rayjay]

For 13 1/2 yrs now, I've used nothing but NO lighting on all of my tanks. Mind you, that's "wall to wall" lamps in the hood. (i.e. 8 fourty watt NO's over my 90's, 75's and 65 are no problem to fit in, with 6 over my 55. I can, but don't have at the moment, fit 6 20w NO's in my hood for my 20g tank)
I keep all kinds of softies, LPS clams, and, including my very first purchase in Jan 94, my sebae anemone.
I don't even feed my corals and anemone directly as I feel they get enough food from what I feed my fish.
I remember Dr. Ron on his RC forum once had a thread about anemones where lighting and feeding were covered. While he wasn't recommending it, he stated that lower lighting could be supplimented with extra feeding, and that even a bleached anemone could survive easily when fed a sufficient and proper diet.
Now that I've stated the above remarks about lighting, I am about to change the lighting in one 90 to 2 fourty watts, and 4 T5HO with SLR's, overdriven by an IceCap 660. Hopefully now I can keep sps corals which up to this point have only numbered one piece.

 

[Jobiwan]

I have a real problem with my bubble tip rose anemones, the things must be really stressed because they just keep splitting, but they won't stop growing either.... Lighting does not seem to matter as long as other conditions are optimal, I do frequent water changes and have lots of current/flow in my tanks, they really like that, I never feed them, with good flow they get a few bits of whatever the fish eat, directly feeding them is a great way to get your nitrates up IMHO. I also believe that bubble tips are the only way to go, I doubt you will find a hardier host anemone. OH, and one more thing...all these anemones came from 2 (TWO) that I was kindly given 14 months ago after a stuck heater wiped out the ones I had! Following this are several photos of different tanks of mine, all have different lighting. The first two photos are of a 40 gal, it is lit with 2 55w power compacts, which is 1/2 the lighting you have on your 40 of course, the bulbs were last changed in Jan of '06, I'll get around to changing them out again in a few days. The next photo is a 60 lit by a 400w 14K MH, and the last photo is a frag tank lit by a nasty yellow 250w 10K MH (one of those $10.00 chinese eBay bulbs). Sorry bout the poor photo quality and the dirty plex, just want to take a few quick pics....

 

[Jan]

nice color on those girls, Jobiwan.

 

[Jobiwan]

Thanks Jan, I'll be trading most of those off here on RF once I get my new system running, I'm gonna dedicate 1 tank to getting the little buggers to move off the rocks into some pvc pieces I hope....