What light

[Harleylay]

I have a 90 gal bow front and looking to upgrade my light. Right now I have a coralife t-5 2 bulbs that sits on my glass top. I want to add a anenome, want to get some suggestions on what to get.

 

[noy]

Depends on what type of corals you want to keep and more specifically whether you want to SPS corals. T5 - 4-6 bulbs is plenty if you want don't want to get heavy into SPS. An anemone will do fine with a 4 bulb T5. If you want a tank full of SPS eventually - i would invest now in a MH.

I haven't used LED's (except in a nano tank) so can't really comment on it but i know others that swear by it.

Just a point of reference - I run a 110g (48" tall) and use 4 T-5 mounted over an open tank. I try to keep highly photosyn. corals like montipora near the top. I also have a rock flower anemone - it seems to like my frag box.

 

[little_fish]

Anemones need much higher lighting conditions than corals, including SPS corals. You also dont need a metal halide light to keep SPS either. A 6 bulb t5 fixture with individual reflectors would be a great light for your tank, but a metal halide light will also be good. The LED lights are also very nice, but they have the highest initial price but lowest operating costs.

If you can give us a budget, we can help you find a good light

 

[salt_for_brains]

I agree that the anemone has the higher lighting demand. I swapped from a 4 bulb t5 with 2 MH's (400 watt) set up to 100 2w LEDs over my 90g. I am so glad I switched to the LEDs. Whatever you decide to upgrade to just remember to light acclimate your corals and/or anemone.

 

[noy]

Here is a pretty good article on anemones and lighting requirements.

A Beginner's Guide to Keeping Anemones - Anemones

 

[little_fish]

Nice article Noy

 

[Bifferwine]

That is a good article. Thanks for posting it!