Anemones and why you should wait.

[Aaron-A2]

@Crabs Mcjones Question for you!

I have a 250g tank with marine pure bricks in the sump that's been up and running for a year. If I moved those marine pure bricks to a new tank (90g cube) while using all new rock, would you think that would satisfy the "wait" period for keeping anemones?

I use sponge filters from my sump to instant cycle QT/hospital tanks, but that's not quiet the same thing. Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Crabs McJones]

@Crabs Mcjones Question for you!

I have a 250g tank with marine pure bricks in the sump that's been up and running for a year. If I moved those marine pure bricks to a new tank (90g cube) while using all new rock, would you think that would satisfy the "wait" period for keeping anemones?

I use sponge filters from my sump to instant cycle QT/hospital tanks, but that's not quiet the same thing. Thoughts?

Thanks!

When you say "all new rock" are you using live rock or dry rock? If it's all new live rock, depended on where its coming from and if you have any die off, you'll still want to wait, but probably not as long with the marine pure bricks. If it's dry rock, still wait, but you'll want to wait longer for the dry rock to turn live

 

[Aaron-A2]

When you say "all new rock" are you using live rock or dry rock? If it's all new live rock, depended on where its coming from and if you have any die off, you'll still want to wait, but probably not as long with the marine pure bricks. If it's dry rock, still wait, but you'll want to wait longer for the dry rock to turn live

Dry rock with marine pure brick. I'm sure it would take time for that rock to become live, but wouldn't the mature bacteria population in the marine block be able to maintain stable parameters?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Dry rock with marine pure brick. I'm sure it would take time for that rock to become live, but wouldn't the mature bacteria population in the marine block be able to maintain stable parameters?

Possibly. As the dry becomes live your bacteria will increase in the display tank. But the only bacterial bed you'll have temporarily will be in the sump. And as your dry becomes live would that cause nutrient swings as your tank is able to handle more and convert more nutrients? That I'm unsure of. I would think if you have established biomedia and it can handle the load the tank has at the current time, you would be ok.

 

[Aaron-A2]

Possibly. As the dry becomes live your bacteria will increase in the display tank. But the only bacterial bed you'll have temporarily will be in the sump. And as your dry becomes live would that cause nutrient swings as your tank is able to handle more and convert more nutrients? That I'm unsure of. I would think if you have established biomedia and it can handle the load the tank has at the current time, you would be ok.

I'll take it slow regardless. I have never kept an anemone and my 250 is an SPS dominant tank. I can wait till my rock becomes live.

 

[Lollipop]

Ugh and cover the powerhead! Mine was doing great until it found its way to the uncovered powerhead...

I bought a rose bulb from liveaquaria. It wont attach for a couple of days so i had to pull it out of the rocks and moved it to a crevice i could find. fish would nip at it too. Then, i finally found it stuck on one of the powerheads - some tentacles and part of body were damaged!!... i thought it would die as at that point, it really looked like tiny mush. i put it in the frozen food feeder cup so it wont move around and placed near top so it could get lights. it would not attach in there either for 4-5 days. but it did get better and its wound got healed. Fast forward, he is a pig in the tank and didnt move an inch from where i put him after the hospital cup. My advice is "don't give up, powerhead wounded anemones can come alive!

 

[dreamsr]

You don't need all the rock since once the bioload increases, the bacteria population will multiply. I'd recommend getting a 29 since it's the same footprint as a 20 long, gives you more room for error, and gives you more options as far as livestock.

Thanks!

 

[dreamsr]

Consider also that there are some very successful, well-known reefs that have nutrient levels sky-high. Nitrates literally into the triple digits. Phosphates to match.

Those tanks tell you something about what corals think about high dissolved nutrient levels. (They don't understand what all our fuss is about – or why we have such a problem with them. )

Stability and Time are the two things we usually short change our reefs on when we're starting out. Apply that to your tank's nutrient inputs as

(That's just a re-statement of the Golden Rule of Reefing, BTW. "Nothing Good Happens Fast In A Reef Tank.")

So that’s one set of measurements I don’t need to worry about worry about, unless it starts to bother me?

 

[JBKReef]

Just adding a follow up here, I was/am having issue with adding an anemone too early. From my earlier posts it would not actively feed and was looking "hockey puck"-esque.

I think we're a little over a month later, going on three month since the Anemone was introduced into the tank and its starting to get some color back and reinflate. It has been taking frozen mysis 2x per week and I give it a squirt of reefroids 1x per week. its being fed a small amount every 2-3 days basically.

I apologize for the royal blue treatment but this was just before lights out when the Kessils were ramping down.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Just adding a follow up here, I was/am having issue with adding an anemone too early. From my earlier posts it would not actively feed and was looking "hockey puck"-esque.

I think we're a little over a month later, going on three month since the Anemone was introduced into the tank and its starting to get some color back and reinflate. It has been taking frozen mysis 2x per week and I give it a squirt of reefroids 1x per week. its being fed a small amount every 2-3 days basically.

I apologize for the royal blue treatment but this was just before lights out when the Kessils were ramping down.

Glad you were able to bounce it back I love the little house keeper you have there

 

[JBKReef]

Glad you were able to bounce it back I love the little house keeper you have there

HA! The house keeper seemingly likes to play Godzilla... He stomps around the poor anemone and is almost the same size.

 

[JJ-SLC]

Anemones and Why You Should Wait
​

When is the proper time to add an anemone to your tank? Right away? 1 month? 4 months? WHAT!? A YEAR YOU SAY!?

That is correct. In most instances it is better to wait 8 months to a year before adding an anemone to your tank. And here is why:

A tank is first started with rock, sand, and saltwater. That tank needs to cycle before adding any livestock to it. This we all know. But what you may not know is even after your cycle has completed your tank is going to go through many different changes. Parameters are going to raise and decrease (some even dramatically). You’re going to see algae come and go, and find all kinds of new and exciting hitchhikers. Not only that, but if you are a new reefer and are just getting your toes salty, there are many mistakes you’re going to make. It’s just the nature of the hobby. Don’t feel bad as there are mistakes that even expert reefers make. It’s our nature.

With that being said, anemones are extremely sensitive and generally cannot handle the parameter swings of new and maturing tanks. A new or maturing reefer may add one to the system and find that the anemone looks good to begin with, but as time progresses it starts looking bad; inflating and deflating, closing up, losing its tentacles, losing its color. You may also notice that the anemone won’t pick a spot and keeps releasing its foot and floating around the tank. This could potentially be due to a number of things:

1. Parameter swings

2. Parameter out of acceptable range

3. Insufficient lighting

4. Anemone isn’t getting along with neighboring coral

5. Handling (when you want it to attach in a certain spot, but it doesn’t and you keep moving it back to that spot)

6. Starvation (could be correlated with insufficient lighting depended on the circumstances)

With the exception to insufficient lighting, all the other potentials listed above are common of new and maturing tanks.

When an anemone dies it releases toxins into the tank that could potentially wipe out all your other inhabitants and coral. Avoiding that by waiting is the best thing you can do for your tank and inhabitants.

How do I know if my tank has matured? Aside from the time, other indicators that your reef is mature enough would be water quality stability. No swings or shifts in parameters after several weeks. Also you haven't observed any random outbreaks of algae that you cannot explain.

I hope that this info is found useful to those thinking about an anemone.

Remember that in this hobby nothing good happens quickly, only bad things. Take it slow, and let your tank mature before adding your anemone and your inhabitants will thank you.

I have a question about the article, my tank has been running for about 5+ years mostly a coral tank with just a few fish and no problems to speak of. I added my first anemone a couple of months ago and it seems to be ok but I do notice it does some of the things mentioned in the article like inflating, deflating and closes up from time to time. It also moves around but it does not let go and float around it just moves around the same rock it’s always been on. It has never lost any tentacles or change colors.
I will give it a clam every week or so and it pulls it in and eats it.
Does this sound normal or could I have some issues.
Thanks

 

[Crabs McJones]

I have a question about the article, my tank has been running for about 5+ years mostly a coral tank with just a few fish and no problems to speak of. I added my first anemone a couple of months ago and it seems to be ok but I do notice it does some of the things mentioned in the article like inflating, deflating and closes up from time to time. It also moves around but it does not let go and float around it just moves around the same rock it’s always been on. It has never lost any tentacles or change colors.
I will give it a clam every week or so and it pulls it in and eats it.
Does this sound normal or could I have some issues.
Thanks

Can you provide us with your parameters and lighting setup?

 

[JJ-SLC]

I have a 50 gallon all in one cube with a 300 gph return pump and two 130 to 1050 gph wave markers set at about mid level. The lights are 24” fluorescent tubes, 10,000 daylight and an Actinic 03 blue that are on for about 4 hours of just the Actinic and 10 hours of both. There is led moonlight that is on the rest of the time. Let me know if you need more information.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I have a 50 gallon all in one cube with a 300 gph return pump and two 130 to 1050 gph wave markers set at about mid level. The lights are 24” fluorescent tubes, 10,000 daylight and an Actinic 03 blue that are on for about 4 hours of just the Actinic and 10 hours of both. There is led moonlight that is on the rest of the time. Let me know if you need more information.

Water parameters?

 

[JJ-SLC]

For water parameters are you wanting ph, nitrates and that type of info or something else.
Thanks for your help and patience.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Yes, whatever you have. Ammonia, Nitrate, Phosphate, temp, pH, Alkalinity, all would be great and any else you know. Helps everyone eliminate more obvious issues. Thanks!

 

[JJ-SLC]

Nitrate 10
Nitrite 0
Alk 185
Ph 7.6
Salt 1.026
Temp 80
Thanks

 

[mcarroll]

@JJ-SLC how about phosphates?

 

[JJ-SLC]

I don’t have a phosphate test kit.