What lights are you running for your anemone specific reefs? Could use help planning a 250 gallon mag specific reef.

[Seancj]

I hope to be upgrading to a larger tank within the next few months and I'm starting my search for lighting options. The tank will be 72" long by 36" wide by 18" tall. Roughly 250 gallons.
This new tank will be an anemone specific reef, focusing heavily on multiple specimens of Magnifica (I'm addicted to them). My plan is to create an atoll slightly off center and towards the front of the tank with a second smaller atoll off to the right and nearer to the back of the tank. Open sand in between and all around the perimeter. I'm thinking to initially put lights directly over each atoll. Not planning on lights covering the entire tank hoping to provide some shadow and depth to the remaining open water.
I would love to hear some of your experiences and options that would provide the right intensity, cover the area above each of the atoll's, and also be the most cost effective.
I currently run 4 Kessil A360WE's, two 48" LED strips, and 2 48" ATI blue plus T5's, over my 48"x24"x16" tank now, but its a bit messy looking and requires a lot of plugs/cords. I'd like to keep fixtures to a minimum and keep a clean look over the tank. Still pondering a floating canopy or just hanging the lights pendant style to keep the top of the tank completely open.
I am leaning very heavily towards Kessil again for the new tank as I really like the shimmer and the spectrum. My only concern with the Kessil is spread.
I also have to say that I prefer to buy good used equipment whenever possible.
Thanks in advance for the suggestions and advice!

 

[Seancj]

This is what I hope to come close to emulating to the best of my ability.

 

[Magnifica P.I.]

Sounds awesome! Keep us posted. No real thoughts, other than keeping the atolls very low (uniform depth) and narrow with an 18" tank depth. The low rockwork will help maintain flow and the the narrow/uniform depth will keep them from piling up at one point (which mine do) - I could be wrong, but I envision a rings of mags by the way you described it, so all are individually visible.

Mags are my favorite as well, I currently have three in my tank, however, if I ever end up with the tank/time/money, I have thought about doing the same thing. I would want a cube tankwith one central island, then bulk order mags to keep them all from the same source (assuming I could find somewhere to order them, I haven't seen any mags in ages). Below is a video of what I would be going for.



Good luck! I hope it turns out great!!

 

[Magnifica P.I.]

Also, I have been using gen 3 radions for years with no problems. I have blues in the morning and evening with white light in the middle of the day. All my nems seem happy, and it's not too messy. I have them suspended from an aluminum bar (4 over a 300 gallon (96x32x24),

 

[Seancj]

Thanks for the reply Magnifica P.I. and great recommendations! Great minds think alike and its nice to meet another Magnifica addict!
Plan is to keep the rock scape low so that there is plenty of open water above. I really enjoy top down viewing, tide pool style, hence the shallow tank. I'm constantly drawn to this video from Pacific East Aquaculture:

I'll also be running a closed loop system with all returns either coming down from the top or through the bottom. Nothing except the external overflow will be visible on the sides.

 

[piranhaman00]

Halides

 

[Seancj]

I have strongly considered going back to halides for this new tank. They would be perfect for the day light spectrum and intensity that the anemones would benefit from and give me that natural sunlight viewing experience and shimmer to be sure. However, I also very much enjoy the deep blue LED look at night time that really brings out the fluorescence of the anemones. Creating an appealing canopy or pendant style system to hang both halides and LED fixtures will be a challenge. It would be much easier with an LED fixture that can give me both the day light spectrum, night time spectrum, and also the shimmer. This is where the Kessils fit the bill. I am thinking initially of going with 2 Kessil 500's, one over each atoll, adding more as the reef expands.

 

[Racenrich]

Guess this is my first post here...used to be part of RC back in 2003...and never left the hobby...the aquarium is still going, no more SPS, but life is simpler without them...i do miss that tank...
I was the "home of the $15 dollar frags"...good ol days.

The current setup is a 69g softies reef, has more RBTA then i can imagine.
Light setup is 2- Radion G5 Pro's, 2 MP40's and 20g sump/refuge with Kessil AW350

mind you i ran 2-250MH and 4-VHO actinic
good luck on the endeavor.
Rich K.

 

[August]

Having reflected on what I have learned about par and my inability to plan for it my particular tank, I would recommend caution. MH are not as easy to tune as a slider on a controller app. I used to run MH on my reef back in the day, but I always seemed to have to have a backup ballast and bulbs on hand. You can get a higher K (light temperature?) bulb to aim at the range you want but as I said before, there is not much you can do to tune them after you get them in there. I also believe from my own experience that the excessive heat generated by the bulb is a sign of the inefficiency of MH illumination. You said that you are putting them in a canopy, so plan to run fans or excellent heat ventilation so the bulbs don't burn out prematurely.

Happy reefing

Oh, my anomines have grown and split better under LED lighting than with MH, though I was doing a lot of things wrong back then...

 

[Seancj]

Thanks for the reply August! Like you, I ran halides back in the day, started with single ended and then double ended. Loved them.
But, as you've pointed out, there comes some challenges with them.
I'm leaning more towards either multiple Kessil 360X's or 500X's to take advantage of higher mounting and lens options.
I think the spotlight effect that their narrow lens provides would look great focused on the magnifica atolls.

 

[Sir Bubb]

Sounds like a REALLY nice set up you have planned! I had a look at the videos on your magnifica garden thread, and wow! Super nice mags!
When it comes to lighting mine, I’m a Halide guy. I tried switching to LEDs, but wound up going back. Granted the lights I tried out were far from top of the line. Anyway, here are a few pics of my 2 mags with a few different attempts at lighting.

6700k. Right after adding the nems. As you can see, they lost a bit of zoox from not being properly acclimated to the halides.

10k Hamilton- way too blue for my liking.

6700k reefbrite.

Took these yesterday. Recovered their zoox, and then some.

 

[Seancj]

Thanks for the reply and for those great photos, Sir Bubb! Your mags look great! Thank you also for the compliment on my mag garden!
I just purchased another small, 8", diameter purple with yellow tip magnifica this weekend. It's in quarantine for the next several days to watch it for any signs of infection. So far, it has remained inflated, tight mouth, and foot is sitting firm. It's tentacles are not sticky though. I hope to add it to the display in a few days.
Like you, I really like the 6500/10,000K look during the day with a lot of shimmer! However, I'm finding myself really enjoying the tank in the evening with the blue, violet, UV LED lights on and a pair of orange, 'blue light' blocking, glasses that really bring out the 'pop' of the anemones fluorescence. Its amazing how intense their colors become.
I can get various form of used halides locally for cheap, but I still think the Kessil 500X's can be programmed to give me the best of all lighting options, high white during the day, tapering to heavy blue/violet/UV during the evening, as well as that great shimmer.
Thanks again for adding to this thread! I really enjoy chatting with other Magnifica addicts!
I hope others join in!

 

[Hemmdog]

No proof in the pudding yet but I’m running a 360x over a 20g nem only tank. I hope to have success with it.

 

[AV corals]

3 reefled 90’s for my reefer 350

sebae, rock flower anemones & bubble tips are nice and healthy.

 

[Seancj]

No proof in the pudding yet but I’m running a 360x over a 20g nem only tank. I hope to have success with it.

You should have success with the 360X over that tank with many species of anemones. Mine are all doing well under my old A360WE's. I am running 95% intensity and 60% color during the day time peak period.

 

[Seancj]

3 reefled 90’s for my reefer 350

sebae, rock flower anemones & bubble tips are nice and healthy.

Thanks for the post Anthony. Can you post pics of your tank? I'd love to see it.

 

[GARRIGA]

Considering a red carpet anemone in a 60g cube with just a center island. Wouldn't PAR be the first requirement before selecting a specific light? Have a Kessil but because it's a puck style there's a definite hot spot and perhaps a panel style light being preferable for that which spreads over a large area.

As for this setup. Perhaps an XR30 or XR15 over each island being a better choice with a single Kessil in between to add shimmer. Considering the depth only being 18' and having the panels to the side then a 500 likely overkill and a 360 or smaller sufficient.

 

[Seancj]

Considering a red carpet anemone in a 60g cube with just a center island. Wouldn't PAR be the first requirement before selecting a specific light? Have a Kessil but because it's a puck style there's a definite hot spot and perhaps a panel style light being preferable for that which spreads over a large area.

As for this setup. Perhaps an XR30 or XR15 over each island being a better choice with a single Kessil in between to add shimmer. Considering the depth only being 18' and having the panels to the side then a 500 likely overkill and a 360 or smaller sufficient.

Thanks for the reply Garriga! A red carpet specific tank would look great! I've always loved this photo:

I may find space for one of these on the sand bed in the next tank down the road, but I've always been hesitant about Haddoni due to them being prolific fish catchers! I've read many a post where hobbyists have lost nice fish to them. They have an unforgiving stickiness!

Regarding PAR, I'm not concerned with PAR actually. Any of today's name brand LED fixtures will provide plenty of PAR for these anemones in an 18" tall tank, especially as the light demanding Magnifica will be sitting quite high in the tank.
I have considered the A360X's and the Radions and they are still contenders.
However, my experience with the A360WE's is that they only provide sufficient coverage of around 12", hence the reason I have 4 over my current 48" tank. The 360X's have the same coverage. I've seen reviews of the A500X's and the coverage area is closer to 24" and I can hang them higher up to get the look I want outside of the tank for my top-down viewing. Less lights hanging over the tank and mounted higher up, both positives for me.
I did a brief trial with 2 G5 XR15 blues over my current tank and I really preferred the look from my Kessil's. Not enough shimmer from the G5's for me. I am a shimmer addict!

 

[Hemmdog]

You should have success with the 360X over that tank with many species of anemones. Mine are all doing well under my old A360WE's. I am running 95% intensity and 60% color during the day time peak period.

Thank you! Is the high color a must for anemones? I currently am only running at 20% color.

 

[Seancj]

Here is a picture of the tank I hope to acquire for this Magnifica dominant reef. The current owner has it set up as a shark/ray tank with center overflow. He's building himself a bigger one and will pass this beauty on to me!
I plan to remove the center overflow and install an external overflow on one of the sides to fully open up floor space for the aqua scaping I plan to do and for better flow. I'm strongly considering a closed loop/OceansMotions combo through the bottom of this tank to avoid any powerheads inside the tank.