Can I support and anemone?

[CleverBs]

I am currently cycling a 20gallon tank that will house a pair of clown fish. I was wondering what kind of anemone I would keep.

The tank is 20gall tall. Has a 2x24watt t5ho fixture on it with reflectors on each bulb. The tank will not have a skimmer but will have pwc down weekly.

 

[Gboy66]

Sorry, i dont think thats enough light for an anenome. I have heard of people keeping them under biocube stocks though.

Your tank is so new though, that you shouldnt even consider an anenome yet..

 

[CleverBs]

K no problem...not really a let down. I'll stick with my original idea and do a mushroom tank

 

[EriksFish315]

A mushroom tank would be nicer IMO

 

[Flreefer]

You are at 2.4 watts per gallon, should be enough light for an anemone or soft corals, but just barely.

 

[mr_X]

Watts per gallon is not a good gauge to go by. The height of the tank top to bottom is a more important consideration.

 

[Flreefer]

True, height of tank is a consideration, but without a PAR meter, watts per gallon is a pretty generalized gauge. It is what, I would think, most of us used at the start of our reef endeavors. It's not perfect, but it gives you an idea. Especially with an anemone, it will rise and fall in the water column as it sees fit anyway, to find its optimal light and flow.

 

[mr_X]

It's a terrible gauge though, IMO. 100 watts of power compacts has no where near the intensity that 100 watts of individually reflected T5s has. And don't forget about LEDs which are even more efficient per watt. If the OP has a very tall tank and very little live rock, The anemone may not have enough real estate to climb.
Bottom line is, the dimensions of the tank and distance from the bulb is very important when deciding what light to buy.

I went to a guys house and helped him with his tank the other day. He had 2 x 250 watt metal halides over a 75 gallon tank. he had them mounted so high above the tank that the PAR reading on the sand bed was barely 25.
he had no shortage of watts, but his sps was all brown.

 

[Reefnoob84]

How high above the water mr x?

 

[mr_X]

I didn't measure, but he was using 20k lamps and they were about 18" or so above the water.

 

[Flreefer]

I didn't measure, but he was using 20k lamps and they were about 18" or so above the water.

I agree, but in this op's situation, 48 watts of T5 on a 20 gal. If lights are typical( legs above tank) and tank is typical ( less than 24" tall), he should be able to keep an anemone.

 

[carey]

Hate to jump in but I wouldn't put a nem in a tank with only 2 bulbs. Even if it were my 20g or 10g tank. It's not that big of a deal to get a 4 bulb fixture, they can be had for $100 or so. After putting in good bulbs that $100 fixture should be able to keep most anything the OP would want to keep.

In addition, as mentioned earlier, an anemone shouldnt be in a brand new tank anyways,

 

[CleverBs]

well its alright I just thought if i could i would, i really dont want to mess with one but felt my clowns may like to have one in the tank. I personally would rather have a tank FULL of mushrooms thats why I got a 2bulb fixture because this is a temporarily tank for about a year so I didnt want to spend much on it. all it really needs to do is house two clowns happily

 

[Flreefer]

Respectfully, the op asked if he could keep an anemone. I feel that he could...barely as stated before. Skimmer would help a lot, but weekly changes will help. When I first got my Sebae, I had 372 watts of T 5 on a 135 tall (30") . The anemone went to the top of the water column, but did fine( silverside 1/week). With a little rock for it to be able to move somewhat I think you could keep one. This is that same Sebae

 

[Flreefer]

Sorry, didn't load

 

[Flreefer]

Yeah

View attachment 79778

Sebae

 

[mr_X]

I still say it's far to general a measure. I like the anemone pic!

 

[Flreefer]

I agree with you, but for this sit, not nearly the build of yours, it works. Seen some pics of your tank, looks great! I need to get out of the T5 market myself, and evolve.