Quick q for a friend

J

JeepTJ

[have a friend that's setting up a 72g bowfront. the lighting is 2x65W actinic and 2x65W daylight power compact lights.

Would this be sufficient to allow for an anemone?

If not, would 2x110w daylight and 2x110w actinic VHO lights be capable, or do you have to go MH?

Thanks for the info!]
 
[It would be iffy with the PC but a BTA might be OK. I can't say that I would recommend it! The VHO would be better for sure, but MH the best.

Also make sure the anemone goes into an established tank. They are not the easiest of creatures to keep for sure! Read the sticky's in this forum as they are very useful!]
 
[Why would VHO lighting be better than PC for anemones? I would think that since PC lighting has better penetration, it would be more adequate ???]
 
[65W PC compared to 110W VHO is a no brainer. The VHO will give you a lot more PAR.

If you had a 110W PC vs a 110W VHO then we could debate but with the higher wattage the VHO will produce more light for sure!]
 
[@kwl1763 wrote:
...with the higher wattage the VHO will produce more light for sure! said:
Ummmm.... I am not for or against any post here but...

I wanted to mention that wattage is not an indication of how much output a lamp produces but how much power it consumes (volts x amps = watt). Lumens or candellas measure light intensity output. This is why a small 28watt Compact Flourescent produces the equal amount of light as a 100watt Incandescent.

Sorry, back to your regularly scheduled topic...
:beer:]



Edited By feasible on 1112647306
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[Rather than discuss the wattage of the bulbs and/or fixture, discuss how many watts are directly over the anemone itself. On a 48" long tank, the only lighting that matters is what is directly over the creature in question, as well as how much depth that light has to penetrate to reach it.

My 29g had 165w of PC lighting over 14" of water, and my BTA was fine for more than 2 years.]
 
[The hard part about this creature is it moves! It will find a place it like which isn't always the optimal light spot believe me!

But in general I agree with Marc. If your anemone is perched just under the water right under the center of a VHO for instance it will get a lot more light than one 12" down at the end of the tank!

And I also agree that it is all about PAR (Lumens are weighted for the human eye and not very useful for a reef measure) and not wattage. Problem is I have yet to see a good scientific comparison of florescent bulbs!]



Edited By kwl1763 on 1112652307
 
[
65W PC compared to 110W VHO is a no brainer. The VHO will give you a lot more PAR. said:
I didn't see that there was a choice of 65 watt pc and 110 watt vho...I thought you were making a general statement that vho lighting was better than pc for anemones...sorry, I was confused.]
Click to expand...
 
[Thanks for all the replies. The reason I'm asking is he just bought a setup, and it came with a lighting setup that has 2x65w actinic PC, 2x65w daylight PC and a moonlight. Not 100% sure what the maker/parts are to know if it could go 96w or not.

He happened to mention to me he hopes to have an anemone(s) - so, I was thinking - that may not be enough light for them. He just blew a bundle on the whole tank setup, so it's not an option to go MH right now - but for the ballpark price of the lights, I could make him a 4x110w VHO setup.

Think it's best to use the PCs and he could get by for now for fish, soft corals and some LPS, and maybe an anemone, and wait til he can afford to go MH, or return the lights and get a VHO setup.

Thanks again for your help! I know very little so far about keeping anemones - other than they'll eat my small fishies!]
 
[Scroll down to the anemones section of this page (when it comes back online... my site seems to be down currently):

http://www.melevsreef.com/links.html

That should help answer some questions, via those pages and articles.]
 
[I kept btas under 440w VHO in my 55. They positioned themselves (it split) at midlevel (in my tank that would be about 20" from the anemone to the lamps). Bta are probably the best anemone to keep under any kind of flourescents as they seem to tolerate lower light than other species. :)]
 
[@kwl1763 wrote:
And I also agree that it is all about PAR (Lumens are weighted for the human eye and not very useful for a reef measure) and not wattage. said:
Thanks! I learn something new everday! :bow:
( I do mean this seriously :) )]
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[Dont forget about a T5 setup as those are less expensive than MH's and get the same par at lower wattages. You are also able to adjust the spectrum easier with a multi bulb configuration as well. This is my opinion and has been shared and augued on RC. Please I am not trying to start a light war but only adding an additional option into the lighting world.]
 
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