I think that T5's with individual reflectors are probably better. You can keep corals and anemones together although the anemone may walk on them if it starts to wander. Some corals are easier to keep than anemones.
if you have T5's already i would go with soft corals, and LPS corals ... MAYBE a few SPS corals up high (but that would depend on how many, what wattage, and reflectors that came with the T5's. sorry but i did not go back and read every post in the thread.
i would suggest leathers (most are extremely hardy), and maybe a few LPS like frogspawn, hammers, and torches. with the LPS's though, you will need proper flow for them to really thrive. the 3 MAIN ingredients of a reef tank are IN MY OPINION ... lighting, flow, and BIG skimmer.
__________________ Bobby
"I FORMERLY glued animals to rocks" NO TANK RIGHT NOW, but you never know when I might throw one together !! I have everything I need but the time!!
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No I have not got the lighting yet I am trying to do as much learning as I can before I buy anything I am still trying to decide between the compact or t5s
ok, since you dont know what type of anemone you want ... what type of corals will you want to keep in the tank ?? this will also be a factor as to the lighting that you will require.
with PC lights you will be more of a soft coral and a few LPS coral, reefer.
with T5HO (with individual reflectors and more than 2 bulbs) you will be more of a soft, LPS, and few SPS (possibly), reefer. i would go with at least a 4 bulb setup in this option.
__________________ Bobby
"I FORMERLY glued animals to rocks" NO TANK RIGHT NOW, but you never know when I might throw one together !! I have everything I need but the time!!
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Thanks for the advice I am actually thinking of skipping the anenome and going with some begineer corals. I think they will be more rewarding to look at
in either situation i would still go with the T5's. they will give you enough light to go with any starter coral that you want. then you can add other corals when you feel you are ready.
BTW ... individual reflectors are the key to T5 HO lamps. so make sure you get them with the reflectors.
__________________ Bobby
"I FORMERLY glued animals to rocks" NO TANK RIGHT NOW, but you never know when I might throw one together !! I have everything I need but the time!!
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It sounds like you have decided to not go with an anenome, but just in case you change your mind, I have a sebae anemone I bought in Sept. It was completely bleached out. My tank is 100 gal, 6 ft wide on the top, with only 4 T-5ho lights, 4'. (not a lot of light) The anemone was 3" when I got it. It is now the size of a basketball. It took a lot of nursing it the first 3-4 weeks, just to get it to feed. It only ate silversides, tiny 1/8" piece everyday. It is now taking 2 -3 3" silversides eagerly, every 1-3 days. Basically the key is feeding. They have to eat. It seems even more then the lighting they need meaty food. Of course, this is only my experience. They are not healthy when white, even though the lfs will tell you they are. They will become a bruised/brownish spotty look when they start to get better. And short fat stubby tentacles are not healthy eather, they should be long. Wetwebmebia.com has great advice on anemones, all kinds, but this woman truly helped me save my anemone, karensroseanemones.com
Remember, they can get BIG! AND FAST.
Just want to re-clarify, not all anemones are long tentacle, just speaking about the sebae I have researched and experienced. I have a lot of softies in my tank with this anemone too, and it by far has been easier to care for than the softies. Might just be my tank though.
It sounds like you have decided to not go with an anenome, but just in case you change your mind, I have a sebae anemone I bought in Sept. It was completely bleached out.
That condition is typical of all wild-caught/collected anemone specimens. Some LFS' will nurse them back to health a bit before displaying them for sale but many stores, particularly large franchise/chain stores, will simply slap a price tag on them and toss them in a display tank the day they arrive. Even if a specimen is bleached there are still many signs you can use to determine if it has the potential to be healthy such as making sure the foot/pedal isn't damaged, the mouth is not gaping, no tears in the tissue, etc... (this is all covered, in depth, by Rob in TR Podcast episode 40)
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My tank is 100 gal, 6 ft wide on the top, with only 4 T-5ho lights, 4'. (not a lot of light)
Plenty of light for a well-fed 100g tank, IMHO, especially if you have a DSB in your display, which effectively makes the tank shallower by another 5" to 7".
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The anemone was 3" when I got it. It is now the size of a basketball. It took a lot of nursing it the first 3-4 weeks, just to get it to feed. It only ate silversides, tiny 1/8" piece everyday. It is now taking 2 -3 3" silversides eagerly, every 1-3 days. Basically the key is feeding. They have to eat. It seems even more then the lighting they need meaty food.
You've hit the nail on the head, my friend! Light alone might give them enough "energy" to make it through the day but photosynthesis alone can not sustain any cnidarian (anemone or coral alike) for long. The carbon-based nutrients produced along with oxygen in photosynthesis are great for plants and dinoflagellates such as zooxanthellae but simple sugar-like carbohydrates and oxygen alone do not provide all the necessary nutrients that a multicellular animal requires in order to produce new tissue. Additional nitrogen-based compounds and amino acids, at a minimum, are needed by the simplest animals, and most have nutritional requirements that are much more complex. For anemones, and many other cnidarians, "growing new tissue" also includes the production of nematocysts (stinging cells) that the animal uses to capture prey from the water column. New nematocysts must constantly be replenished as they are fired to capture prey or spent competing with other sessile creatures for substrate dominance; and new nematocysts must be produced as the animal grows.
You did right by starting with small food items and I'd recommend you keep the chunks small even as you increase the actual size of the meals - the animal won't mind at all and will typically regurgitate less waste if given several smaller portions over a longer period of time. Research done by Dr. Ron Shimek has shown that you can actually starve an anemone by feeding it food items that are too large. Grabbing a large silverside or other chunk of food simply causes so many nematocysts to be fired/released that often the anemone ends up using a large portion of the nutrients gained from the meal just to regenerate these cells, leaving little leftover for actual growth, healing, or reproduction. Among the many premature anemone deaths seen in reef aquaria, oversized food items may even rank a close 3rd along with sheer starvation/lack of food ("a 400W metal halide over a mere 16 inches of water is all this baby needs!") and inadequate/dangerous environments (crushed in collapse of unsecured live rock, sucked into uncovered powerhead intakes, wandering into a colony of Euphyllia sp., Galaxia sp. or other aggressive coral kept in the same tank).
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Of course, this is only my experience. They are not healthy when white, even though the lfs will tell you they are. They will become a bruised/brownish spotty look when they start to get better. And short fat stubby tentacles are not healthy eather, they should be long. wetwebmedia.com has great advice on anemones, all kinds, but this woman truly helped me save my anemone, karensroseanemones.com
I wholeheartedly agree, both of those sites are excellent resources of information! For the record, many (most?/all?) of Karen's gorgeous specimens were grown using plain old VHO lamps (T12s), adequate feeding, regular water changes, and patience.
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Thanks so much for the info on the food size. I wll keep them to a 1/2" chunk size, I kind of like it when I can put the food in different tentacle spots, maybe I shouldn't though, that probably makes it work harder and just waste energy. OR maybe it can be its exercise regimen, lol. Help keep the whole body functional.
Nice to know that seems to be a good amount of light, I always worry that I need to run out and buy MH, but quite frankly that whole set up still intimidates me. THanks doctorthompson for the extra advice.
Thanks so much for the info on the food size. I wll keep them to a 1/2" chunk size, I kind of like it when I can put the food in different tentacle spots, maybe I shouldn't though, that probably makes it work harder and just waste energy. OR maybe it can be its exercise regimen, lol.
heh... the last thing you need is your anemone getting any stronger. My carpet anemone once wedged a couple of 23-25 lb. rocks right off the bottom of the glass (with 18" of water above them and a mature 7" DSB around them) with it's foot ... not bad for something with no muscles to speak of!
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Nice to know that seems to be a good amount of light, I always worry that I need to run out and buy MH, but quite frankly that whole set up still intimidates me.
The heat issues alone intimidate me! On your 100g you'd probably be able to keep just about any light-loving species with another 2x54W T5HO fixture added to the mix (for 6 bulbs total) as long as you kept up with adequate feeding and water quality control.
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