Looking for upgrade on lighting

#1
My 55 gallon has two lighting fixtures. Each has an 18" bulb. The bulbs in them right now are ECLIPSE Natural Daylights. I am planning to get a few anemones for my tank, and I was wondering if I could upgrade just the bulbs that are in there, as to buying different fixtures. And what bulb do you recommend. I wont be trying to keep coral for some time, so I wont need anything too extreme. I was looking at getting some candy anemone from my LFS, but everytime I go they suggest something different, thanks for the help.
Jeff
 

dgodwin

Large Fish
Dec 2, 2002
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Buffalo, NY
www.dgodwin.com
#2
I wouldn't recommend keeping anemones under normal output (NO) bulbs. Almost all anemones need really bright (aka: metal halides) lights. Also, the tank needs to be pretty stable; usually at least a year old. As for upgrading just the bulbs, you won't be increasing the amount of light you have in the tank now (~30 watts) To change the amount of light, you need to change out the whole fixture, or retrofit it with a VHO or PC retrofit kit. Doing a retrofit kit involves changing the ballast, endcaps, and bulbs.