Anonomes w/ light

[Ctetra18]

Do I need a special light for anonomes

 

[obscurereef]

Yes they need strong lighting and the tank needs to be an established tank. Best to wait 6-8 months min. before adding one. What lighting do you have or thinking of getting?

 

[Ctetra18]

I really have no expirience with saltwater. Do I need one of the expensive coral lights?

 

[obscurereef]

If you're going with T5 HOs over a 38 gallon I believe you said in another post, then a 4 or 6 bulb light fixture would be best. That's really general. That could cost $250-300 for the light.

 

[Holygral]

If you have no experience in salt water, you should not try it, as it will not live. Yes you will need high end lighting, you will need a experience and you will need a mature stable reef tank that has been running a year. Nems are for experienced reefers

 

[begginersluck]

Totally agree with the above comments. Look away from the fascinating Anemone's until you have the right equipment and a well established tank. If an anemone dies in your tank and you have other living organisms in there it has the potentail to kill everything!

 

[Gregcoyote]

Try some soft corals first. They provide lots of movement, homes for clown fish, need far less light and are easier to keep.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Try some soft corals first. They provide lots of movement, homes for clown fish, need far less light and are easier to keep.

This is always my preferred option, even in an established reef. My clowns always hosted in corals and I never had to worry about an anemone roaming around stinging other animals in it's path.

 

[begginersluck]

Anemone's are amazing in some ways but very troublesome in others. BTA's are not so bad but still require a stable aquarium!

 

[Ctetra18]

Do soft corals need extra light

 

[Ctetra18]

I have decided not to get any special lights. To expensive

 

[Gregcoyote]

Most soft corals need low to medium light levels. More than a fish only tank, but less than a hard coral tank, somewhere in between,

 

[Ctetra18]

But they need a particular light made specialy for coral

 

[CorallineAlgae]

But they need a particular light made specialy for coral

There are tons of light choices for keeping corals. Lots of people use different light options but yes, the light needs to be capable of supporting corals.

 

[Gregcoyote]

38 gallons, I would use a LED in about the 70-120 watt range for soft corals, up to +200 watts for hard. Depending on the LED fixture.

 

[Ctetra18]

I thought you had to have a specialty light.like made by zoo med.200-300 dollar bulbs?

 

[CorallineAlgae]

I thought you had to have a specialty light.like made by zoo med.200-300 dollar bulbsdde01

There are lights sold by FishNeedIt.com that are not as expensive but grow anything in most tanks. Lights by Odyssea are super cheap but fine for growing soft and LPS corals, or even SPS corals if the tank isn't to deep. There are even cheaper options on eBay like LED floodlights, but I would let other people experiment with those first.

 

[Gregcoyote]

The floodlights aren't a good option as they will grow a lot of algae as there is no blue, just warm white generally. And many of them are really lame as far as output. But there are plenty of fixtures out in the marketplace now that forum members have used extensively.