Hello,
I have a Green Carpet Anemone that I want to make the center piece of the aquarium. What is the best light, (10K, 20K, Actinic), to use to bring out its "fluorescent" green color?
Also, do you know of any sort of "spotlight" type setup that would help show the anemone’s color?
The tank is 240 Gls. I have both metal halide and actinic fluorescent bulbs. I keep mostly fish with a couple Leather Corals.
Thanks,
Wrenix1001

Carpets do need intense lighting, what wattage MH's do you have and are they SE's or DE's and what ballast do you have. I would suggest a bulb between 10k and 14k with good actinic supplementing. How tall is your tank??

I have a Single Ended 400 Watt in the middle and 2 Single ended 250 Watts on each end. The tank is 30" deep. I do not remember who makes the ballasts, but they come from an electrical company, so it is not one of the name brands.
Of the 10K and 14K, which would bring out its "fluorescent" green color the best?
Thanks,
Wrenix1001

I would say that a 14k Hamilton would be nice, if your carpet ends up under the 400 watt then you might even be able to use a 20k XM. The carpet might be better off with a 10k 250 watt or 14k 400 watt with extra flouresent actinics to bring out the color the best. If you dont have actinc supplements you might want to get some T-5's with individual reflectors for your actinics and that should really make your colors pop good and then go with some 10k or 14k mh bulbs.

I agree. 14k Hamilton, 20k radium, 20k XM, 14k Pheonix. All of these are good choice.

Also consider LED supplimentation, specifically the CurrentUSA Powerbrite modules (4 blue 1w LEDs)
I have 8 of those (so 32 LEDs) on my 180 reef and it makes it a blistering neon lightshow at night, its out of this world.

FWIW...Were this my tank and I could play the "Jedi Mind Trick" on my Carpet Anemone and get it to attach to a rock in the center and stay there, I would use a 14,000K bulb in the center mounted 400 watt halide fixture and have that flanked with 10,000K XM or a 12,000K bulb of your choosing in the 250 watt Halide fixtures. Even with the cooler color temp bulb in the 400 watt halide, it should still have enough PAR for the depth of your tank and the added blue light should really make the color "pop" on your Anemone.

You may or may not like this much blue tint in your lighting, but the cooler color temp bulbs should really bring out the colors in your tanks in habitants.

Just a thought...