ChizerBunoi' Anemonefish Anonymous

[chizerbunoi]

How are your clowns dealing with each other?

They are always at war with each other. The pink skunks own the tank.

 

[dbraun15]

I’ve had Haddoni move just by changing bulbs...they can be a real PITA...I picked up some fish a few weeks ago, Orange shoulder and Chocolate Tang and Pink Tail trigger...trigger didn’t make it a week and got caught by Haddoni...colors in your tank look great..wish we had as much access to nems that you do.

 

[chizerbunoi]

Thanks. I wish I kept it bare bottom with PVC containers of sand instead. So much easier.

good luck with your new fish.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Reef is looking good!

 

[chizerbunoi]

Thanks.

Sand is now on the way out. Haddoni walked across from one end to the other and now I have that rotten sulphur smell. I do weekly vacuuming too. Eh my haddoni are gonna have to learn to adapt. If no then I’ll have to do the large PVC trick.

 

[Leslie Tabor]

This is AMAZING! And very unique! Congrats and keep posting!!

 

[pabst]

This is great I love how simple it is, I am soon closing on my new house and would love to do an anemone themed tank! What’s your advice or what would you have done differently if did it all again? Thanks!

 

[chizerbunoi]

If you can go with a larger tank then I would highly recommend it. Some anemones are not compatible with each other such as long tentacle or Sebae with haddoni carpets. When they touch, they normally move away. But in such a small nano like mine, they have no where to go. It would have worked better. I should not have stacked my rock like a mountain. But with no sump I needed to get as much filtration via LR as possible.

Anemones produce a lot of waste. Good mechanical filtration is a must or else expect to do water changes religiously every week. I have macro algae in the tank which is unsightly to many reefers. But I know it keeps the nutrients at bay.

There is also the problem of water flow. Different anemones have different needs. It’s very hard to provide high flow to some, and very low flow to others when they are right next to each other. Slight changes in placement of powerheads causes them to move. And with my Tunze there is always the risk they wander into the powerhead. I have lost many anemones to these powerheads. Very sad to find a $300+ in there that you have had for a long time.

Sadly I can count on both hands all the anemones I have loss. Not as many as SPS and LPS over the years. Most of the newly (within 3 months) introduced anemones losses has been due to negligence on my part as a new reefer to anemones and their care requirements. Not knowing when to treat for infections. Anemones ship very poorly and LFS often don’t know how to treat and care for them when they have bacterial infections. Spend all your time in the anemone section and you will learn a lot. I’ve been stuck there for the past 4 years. LOL. But once you have had them for over 8 months they are bullet proof. That is as long as you don’t introduce another sick anemone to the tank that can spread the infection to others all over again.

Gloves that cover your forearms and elbows is a must. The stings turn to hives and the itch/rash is very severe. Some of our well known experts have been in the hospital before from the nem cyst sting poisoning.

For anemonefish, there is lots of aggression. If you stick to one species and do a harem it would be more peaceful than to mix species. Especially 3 different pairs. It’s recommended by me to only have one pair in such a small tank. But mine works due to all the anemones they host. And they do host every anemone. It’s fun watching them bounce from one to another. If I could catch them out and stick to one pair I would. Those pink skunks are even more mean compared to my mated maroons, tomato’s and clarkii. As I go bare bottom with this tank and ready as ape I might do that and just stick to one pair going forward.

good luck.

 

[Jack Ravensbergen]

Great tank

 

[Crabby48]

Beautiful tank

 

[chizerbunoi]

Had a major Dino outbreak but UV took care of things. Raising temperature for over a week did not do anything. Both haddoni carpets are on each end back corner.

Now there is only the 3 false perculas. What is funny is that they host in all the anemones. They don’t seem to have a favourite. No more war between different species.

Tank is now bare bottom. I am still doing weekly water changes but raised to 8gal to help siphon out sand. Got an ugly bag of carbon on the right.

 

[chizerbunoi]

Experimenting with haddoni in cups. No sand. still get a nem in the powerheads every few weeks. Oh well.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Well, I just finished the thread. What an adventure with your tank. I love all the nems and the clowns. Beautiful tank.

I was never successful keeping more than one species and a pair at that in a tank for over 2 years. Always one won out. I did not have the nems you have though.

Currently I had to remove my saddlebacks from my haddonis as they actually were harming it. They passed from I have no idea what. The hadonni is looking much better though.

I have two malus in my main system. I like them, but one likes to look bad, bounce back, look bad, bounce back. I have treated it twice, so I think that infection is unlikely.

I will continue to enjoy your tank updates.

 

[chizerbunoi]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I do miss the clicking noises that the saddlebacks make. I do miss them.

Perhaps one day I could try H. malu. My H. Crispa is a very slow grower, so I am not certain that mail would do well in my system.

 

[dbraun15]

Have you thought about having sand in the cups for the Haddoni and bare bottom rest of tank? Might be a good compromise. Still love your tank.

 

[chizerbunoi]

I thought about it but the cup I am trying has a 6” diameter which is a little small for this haddoni foot. So hopefully it will be secure and staying out. The disc doesn’t spread out like in old days, but the cup is also very tall. If it works longer term I will try a flower pot with Live Rock glued around it.

 

[chizerbunoi]

Well to grow and split the BTA, you just need to feed them heavily. I fed them daily until they were a good size. Then I performed a minor WC where the salinity changed a few degrees. You can also raise or drop the temperature too. Anything to stress them into splitting.

I’m starting my annual purge in RBTA again to make some more room. Skimmer is back in as I am reusing old sand that is not cycled.

Also caught this weird bug in the tank. It’s like a worm with long legs. Lots of them. It’s very small and in front of the Mertensii which has grown significantly.

 

[chizerbunoi]

Mertensii is growing very fast. Magnifica and Sebae starting to make a come back. They got stung by other anemones and haven’t really been happy until this year. Starting to see major tentacle regrow the again on them.

blues 100%
whites 80%
12 hrs on off per day
WC 4% once a month
I don’t feed any anemones. Been a very long time since I have fed them now.

 

[Ardeus]

I can't even keep different bubbletips near each other. Over the course of a few months/a year, one of the fades away.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

I love everything about this thread oml. I too am an anemonefish addict, sadly my tank is 20g and I can only keep 2 of them. I need to take another go at BTAs