Anemones

  • Get the NEW AquariaCentral iOS app --> http://itunes.apple.com/app/id1227181058 // Android version will be out soon!

yellow tang

AC Members
Jul 17, 2006
127
0
0
Ok, so I'm poking around at the LFS like I usually do. As I was looking through there invertebrate tanks. I spotted some really nice looking anemones. They were being hosted by different variety of clowns. I got kind of curious when I saw their lighting. There light was up pretty darn high from the tank. In the tank it kind of looked like when the lights are off in your tank but with a light on in the room. But the anemones were THRIVING. They were all pretty good sized and looked extremely healthy. They weren't using blueish looking light either. So are anemones just grown by the intensity/and or the wattage that the bulb puts out? And does that mean you could use another source of light, even something like those high output work lights that you can get for 30 bucks at Menards? If you were to use 4 of them for a standard 90 gallon aquarium with individual reflectors would it satsify there lighting needs. As long as you followed the watts per gallon rule? And how many watts is the rule per gallon? And what do you feed anemones? Bit of a long post I know but I am interested in keeping an anemone. And as they say the only bad questions are the ones not asked:grinyes:
 

Subliminal

AC Members
Feb 21, 2007
1,806
0
0
48
Princeton, NJ
Pet stores don't need the same equipment that you would. nems have a very slow metabolism, and the goal of any pet store is to move the product as fast as possible, while your goal would be to keep it as long as possible.

They eat meaty foods, and a package of frozen silverside fish from the lfs would be fine.

Shop lights probably wouldn't be a good bet because the spectrum would be wrong. you need a balance of intensity and spectrum. Check out this link for more info: (pdf file)

http://www.carlosreef.com/download/fclick.php?1
 

fsn77

AC Moderators
Staff member
Feb 22, 2006
3,076
2
38
SC
Watts per gallon is not a valid rule these days. That rule was developed when there were very limited lighting choices. Each lighting type (MH, PC, T5, VHO, etc.) converts watts (energy) into light output differently. 400w of MH does not equal 400w of PC lighting in terms of light intensity / useable light / lumens / PAR (whichever term you care to think of light output in).

Most LFS have inadequate lighting over their sale tanks for keeping corals / anemones over the long term. They don't want to keep anything long term -- that defeats the purpose of being in business. Their tanks are merely holding tanks. Do you know how long they've had those anemones in their tanks? It takes some time for an anemone to look bad under poor lighting conditions.
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store