Minimum lighting for RBTA?

[cvonseggern]

I'd like to consider adding an RBTA to our 100g in the family room, but right now we just don't have the lighting to keep it alive. We have 260W of 50/50 PC over that tank. Later this year or early next I'm planning to move the PC fixture from one side over next to the other one and hang a MH pendant in its place. The final config will have 2x130W PC on one side and the 200W MH on the other. Will the side under the MH be sufficiently lit for keeping an RBTA?

[pilot_bell777]

The RBTA will move to where every he wants and is getting the most light. I don't know what the min for them are cause I had one in my 75 under 4 65watts PCs and he didn't make it. Not saying that it was the lights cause there could have been 1000 other factors. So cant answer your light question but on the RBTA it doesn't matter were you stick him under which lights cause he will move when he wants to.

[Instar]

A Rose colored BTA needs actinic light and thats 03 actinic at 420nm not that blue light at 460 sold by Custom Sea Life and not 10K or other. Rose BTA's original and wild environment is from very deep in the ocean. Other color variations with less to no red come from progessively shallower water upwards from 100 feet deep. The more Rose colored it is through and through, the deeper it came from. At 130 to 180 feet the RBTA is a dark irridescent red something like the maroon clown. Very beautiful! They should have an overhang/hole to attach to that is up off the bottom and they will extend outward from that to catch the light. If they hole up in a spot right at the bottom due to poor structure or lighting, they are most likely to die.

[cvonseggern]

So the spectrum seems to be more important for the rose-colored specimens than the intensity...at 130 feet there isn't a whole lot of light available. I'm thinking then if I had maybe a dual MH fixture, with one 10,000K and one 03 actinic, that would do it? My 260W of PC are 50/50 Coralifes. I've been unable to find any documentation on whether they're true 03s or not, but the actinic portion has a very purple look to it, not blue, so I *believe* they are.

[TAXMAN]

I have mine under a single 250w MH with a 20k XM bulb With 2 T5 Actinics. It looks awsome and is doing very well. It is the one I got from Tim M. It stays right in the middle of my 40g and is getting huge.

[Instar]

that would do it? My 260W of PC are 50/50 Coralifes

Coralife is an 03 actinic in their 50.50's. Don't think they use the cheaper blue at 460 in any of their bulbs.

If you have 260W of PC stretched over 6 feet, then thats not a whole lot. These bulbs are not nearly as effective as the sunlight that penetrates the oceans, so you have to figure out how much would or could be directly over top of the anemone. Your photo period length will also matter. If you don't have enough light and the photo period is not long enough, then the anemone will die. TAXMAN has 250 of 20k MH plus the actinic F bulbs and it stays right in the middle, under all that blue light. Thats a single point, very strong light supplimented with more that fills in the gaps and shadows. I think you will be risking it if all you have is 260 of pc's. I have seen BTA's and LTA's do well under 2x the amount of light that you have with your pc's though. An example would be 4 130W VHO bulbs (520W tl) over 4 feet of length and not deeper than about 18 inches from the lights including distance from the surface for the lights. More bulbs actinic than 10k and replaced at about every 6 months with brand new bulbs.

[cvonseggern]

Might have to wait until I get a lighting upgrade, then. I'm planning to hang a MH pendant over one end of the tank (other end is near the stairwell and I don't want my kids burning themselves or dropping the lights into the tank). Maybe I can manage that sometime this fall, and then we'll see.

[Instar]

I hope you make out well with the upgrade, understanding the kids thing too. I may have painted a picture of a low light environment with the 130 to 180 feet fact in the earlier post, but, the ones we have in the aqarium trades are from much less depth that this. They also come from some crystal clear water. And its not really all that easy to tell if they are tank raised or not. If they have adapted to MH with VHO actinics, then that or similar is what you will need. You should do well with it after your upgrade.