Bta lighting

[hokey11]

Hello! I’ve had a 10 gallon up and running for about 5 months now, with a pair of clowns and a fire shrimp who all seem very happy. I recently added a bubble tip anemone and I’m just wondering if I have my lighting set up properly. The BTA has only been in for a day I’m just trying to get ahead of the ball here. I have the 12” AI Coral Grow blade set on a 9 1/2hr timer with a 3 hour ramp. Royal Blue and Blue are at 16%, Cool White is at 15%. Does this seem appropriate for the anemone? I’m seeing my total wpg should be 40-80 for a 10 gallon, range on the AI grow is 20-140watts I believe. After mathing that out it seems my Royal Blue and Blue should be around 30% minimum which seems high, I’m almost certain my LFS told me to keep them at 15%. Any input is appreciated, thank you.

 

[Cell]

I'm not sure you can calculate it like this. Par meters exist for this very purpose. I'm not super familiar with the new blades, but the 15% seems rather low output to me.

 

[hokey11]

I'm not sure you can calculate it like this. Par meters exist for this very purpose. I'm not super familiar with the new blades, but the 15% seems rather low output to me.

I do have the Apogee MQ-510 full spectrum in the mail. I know it’s a bit overkill for the 10 gal but I’m sure we will be upgrading reef tanks as quickly as we did our freshwater tanks. Will a week of potentially low lighting be detrimental to the BTA’s survival?

 

[j.falk]

From my understanding (based on the information on AI's website) the 12" AI Blade Coral Grow light can only do up to 40 PAR on a 24 inch deep tank. Bubble tip anemones require a minimum of 200+ PAR to survive.

 

[Boreas_SA]

The nenny will probably move higher up on the rocks or on the glass if the light is not sufficient, it does sound a little low, and optically on the pic it looks extremely dim, but the nenny will walk if it doesn't get enough light, so that might be a good indicator if you need to up the lights. It can be dangerous though, as it might get sucked up into your wavemaker. Watts per gallon is not really a great measure, depends a lot on the types of corals, scaping and dimensions of the tank itself.

 

[hokey11]

The nenny will probably move higher up on the rocks or on the glass if the light is not sufficient, it does sound a little low, and optically on the pic it looks extremely dim, but the nenny will walk if it doesn't get enough light, so that might be a good indicator if you need to up the lights. It can be dangerous though, as it might get sucked up into your wavemaker. Watts per gallon is not really a great measure, depends a lot on the types of corals, scaping and dimensions of the tank itself.

I bumped up the lighting a bit, PAR meter is in the mail. I do have the wave maker off currently for that very reason. Was going to give the nem a few days to find some decent footing. I appreciate the supplied pic, it does seem as if you’re right with the 40par max. I swear my LFS said it would output much higher. They specifically recommended this light knowing I had intended to put a nem in the tank. With that, I also understand even the LFS’s don’t always have all the info. Will my nem be okay for a week in some low light? If the PAR meter verifies it’s capping out at 40 I’ll be buying an appropriate light immediately. Again, thank you for all your input.