Anemone/Light Change?

omard · 11-22-2007, 10:59 AM

Last month I swapped out all bulbs, pc's & MH.

For a change I changed the MH from a 250w/10K to a 250w/14K .... I like the difference it made in tank appearance. Not such a sharp white color.

However my anemones are reacting much differented to the lighting change. Am not really sure if it is a good thing/or bad. Or just "different."

Large BTA before change. (fully expanded, brownish in color, growing out of control.)

Large BTA after light change: (Pale, about as big as it gets, no "stretching for more light (?)...)

Small BTA Before light change:

Small BTA after light change:

I like the light change...Anems ? --- do not care about small size, neither do clowns...seem healthy enough. not sure.

Camilsky · 11-22-2007, 11:16 AM

Hmmm... interesting... Thanks for sharing ... It looks they are having hard time...

lunatik_69 · 11-22-2007, 11:28 AM

That is weird, I dont think that changing from one K rating to another should make that much of a difference( I could be wrong ). Try putting the other bulb back and see what happens. Good luck Omar

Nemo 22 · 11-22-2007, 05:06 PM

does it seem brighter or darker in the tank?

omard · 11-22-2007, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemo 22

does it seem brighter or darker in the tank?

With 14k MH...it appears distinctly "bluer" .... not that much darker.

omard · 11-23-2007, 09:55 AM

Have decided to switch back to a 250W 10K bulb to see if makes a difference.

Good test in the name of hobby.

Anybody have a good 250w 10K HQI double-ended sitting on shelf, looking for new home?

Tangster?

omard · 11-23-2007, 10:35 AM

Ok, definitely not a "good thing"

RE: The Anemone FAQ (For tropical, clown-hosting anemones) by Greg Peterson (BonsaiNut) with help from Marina Peters (MarinaP) and everyone on Reef Central:

General appearance of healthy anemones are full, firm and out in the open. They are not shrunken, soft, or hiding in the rocks. If the anemone doesn’t look “right” to you, trust your instincts and come back to look at the anemone another day to see if it has perked up. Do not buy a sickly-looking anemone in the hopes that it will do better in your system at home. Color You should know the natural coloration of the species of anemone you are interested in.

Look for an anemone that is vibrantly colored, not faded or pale. Make sure it is not dyed or “bleached”; both conditions are often deadly for the anemone and will require specialized care to fix. Healthy clown anemones are all photosynthetic creatures, and zooxanthellae is brown in color, so there is no such thing as a healthy white anemone.

The absence of zooxanthellae is called bleaching, and can be caused by stress to the anemone, or lack of suitable lighting. Bleached anemones exhibit whitish translucent tentacles and often hide from light. A bleached anemone will require specialized care until it can grow its zooxanthellae back – a process which will take 3 months or longer even in the best conditions.

(Tangster helping out with new Bulb. TG, hope to get soon. ---

)

Tangster · 11-23-2007, 10:37 AM

First thing Monday (: The 14K is for a deeper water animal and depending on your anemone type the 10's are closer to real sun and it may not be getting enough of the Proper PAR wavelength that it is accustomed to or needs I know all the anemones we culture do better under the 10's even the 6500's Like I was telling someone here yesterday Its more about the wave length of light at a particular place in the tank .. One day I'll do a simple to read thing about lighting well I'll have the boss lady do it she is the typist LOL But in a nut shell PAR strength is not uniform across the emitted visible light area. Different light sources emit PAR values that change depending on where within the lighted area they are measured.
This is of importance in placement of corals as you would not want to place one in an area where the PAR happens to be low the area underneath the end of VHO tubes for instance.
All animals receive the light with different receptors and you changed the way they where getting their light.. But anemones will always do better with a cooler K value then a coral. Like I mentioned its about water depth that a K is supposed to emulate not a pure light source one does not fit all and with Soft corals you can do no better then 65 or 10 K and pure actanic's that you can control separately..

omard · 12-02-2007, 08:49 AM

Have tried various combinations of light which has had little effect on bleached out anemones.

Other then what looks like a total loss of zooanthelle, they look like they are surviving Ok.

Just received the following light from Tangster...(Good deal!)

SPS 250w 14K HQI

Is a much better made light bulb appearance wise pyhsically then the one it is replacing. A "cheapo" (sorry, don't remember brand name, if even had one

) - that I bought off internet.

Anems still looking like this (pics this AM) - Old bulb replaced today...

Will see if new MH bulb change makes a difference.

Probably once again a case of going cheap, does not pay off in long run...

Reefdiver72 · 12-02-2007, 10:11 AM

I just had the same problem the only diffrence I added lumearchs at the same time I lost a awesome blue digitah and it looks like my big leathers all where sunburned I went form 20ks to 14 k I change them back and forth all the time but the lumenarchs make so much more light its unbelievable. how old where your old bulbs?
you might need to put a piece of screen over your tank or turn the time there on down till they like it.