First Anemone

[Damion123]

Hey every one. I am looking into getting my first anemone. I am thinking about a rainbow bubble tip. Any tips on what I should look for when I go to pick one up? Any acclimation tips? Any type of dip or pest removal I need to do? Placement tips?
I have an IM INT 75gallon, with two kessil A360X. The tank has been up and running since Sept

 

[Jseimo]

Make sure the foot is not damaged. Do not dip. I live 5mins from my lfs so I’ve never had to acclimate any. Placement doesn’t matter they’ll move. Just turn your powereheads off until the nem has attached itself. Don’t feed it either

 

[GillMeister]

Hey every one. I am looking into getting my first anemone. I am thinking about a rainbow bubble tip. Any tips on what I should look for when I go to pick one up? Any acclimation tips? Any type of dip or pest removal I need to do? Placement tips?
I have an IM INT 75gallon, with two kessil A360X. The tank has been up and running since Sept

I'm going to hijack your thread, because that's how I roll. ;) plus I think an answer to my question will help you with yours. See, I'm not all bad.

I'm also considering adding an anemone for my clowns. I resist it because of my previous experiences with them walking all over the tank, clogging powerheads, stinging everything around them,, and puking snot all over the joint. Are there any species that behaves themselves?

 

[Damion123]

Do I put it up high on my scape or down low? Are you saying I should never feed it or just not to feed it while its acclimating?

 

[Jseimo]

Do I put it up high on my scape or down low? Are you saying I should never feed it or just not to feed it while its acclimating?

It doesn’t matter where you place it. They move on their own. Never feed it any more than you would corals. They are photosynthetic

 

[Jseimo]

I'm going to hijack your thread, because that's how I roll. ;) plus I think an answer to my question will help you with yours. See, I'm not all bad.

I'm also considering adding an anemone for my clowns. I resist it because of my previous experiences with them walking all over the tank, clogging powerheads, stinging everything around them,, and puking snot all over the joint. Are there any species that behaves themselves?

Bubble tips if you want the nem look. Mini carpets and rock flowers rarely move

 

[GillMeister]

It doesn’t matter where you place it. They move on their own. Never feed it any more than you would corals. They are photosynthetic

There is another thread in this forum that says feeding isn't necessary and feeding more than weekly might even be bad for the algae in the anemone.

 

[Jseimo]

There is another thread in this forum that says feeding isn't necessary and feeding more than weekly might even be bad for the algae in the anemone.

I feed mine coral food once a week with the rest of my tank. Anything bigger they spend more energy digesting food than they get

 

[ScubaFish802]

I just want to add, I check out both your build threads and your tanks look great! But I see both tanks appear to be younger than 2 months old? At this point you may be wise to continue waiting for the tank to stabilize further before adding any anemones

 

[Mical]

I'm w/ScubaFish on this - let the tank mature. I give RBTAs away, but not to anyone with a tank less than 6-8 months old. I don't want them blaming me for unstable params. So far have given 16 away and they're all doing well.

Here's my latest offering to local folks

 

[Damion123]

So how old of a tank is old enough? 6-8 months? Of course the LFS guy tells me 2 months. The reason I was asking about the nem is because a local guy is selling some rainbow bta cheap.

 

[TriggersAmuck]

+1 to what @802ScubaFish and @Mical are saying. I added a few bubble tips to my 14 gallon cube during the 5th/6th month, and only one of those original ones survived all the way to the tank's birthday by sheer dumb luck. (The others all melted very soon after addition, causing great stress on my part doing more frequent water changes to clear the water. And trust me, you never want to smell a melted anemone....horrible!). I'm not sure there is a magic number of months at which one knows that the environment will safely sustain a 'nem, but clearly the longer you hold off the better those chances are.

 

[TriggersAmuck]

So how old of a tank is old enough? 6-8 months? Of course the LFS guy tells me 2 months. The reason I was asking about the nem is because a local guy is selling some rainbow bta cheap.

Note that a few added just a few months later fared very well, less than a year, but probably more like 8-9 months in. Even then there are no guarantees. One of my $100 nems bought from LA seemed to hide from direct light more than the others, and it finally melted away in the last couple weeks. Make no doubt that while once 'nems like BTAs and Rock nems settle in they tend to be tough customers, but getting to that point and staying there are one of the more challenging aspects of this hobby.

 

[Damion123]

Oh man. I guess I have to wait then

 

[TriggersAmuck]

By the way, love your build thread! Awesome looking setup and rockscape.

If one is looking for an anemone specific tank, I'm afraid that is a challenging question: what do you do with the tank for roughly the year it takes to mature it (especially if you are wanting to add 'nems known to move around a lot which can pose risk to an established coral collection)? The less movable anemones won't be as much of a problem, but even Rock 'nems do move, as I found out in frustrating manner, and I don't even have any corals in my current build.

Any advice from any other 'nem enthusiasts here (@OrionN)?

 

[Damion123]

By the way, love your build thread! Awesome looking setup and rockscape.

If one is looking for an anemone specific tank, I'm afraid that is a challenging question: what do you do with the tank for roughly the year it takes to mature it (especially if you are wanting to add 'nems known to move around a lot which can pose risk to an established coral collection)? The less movable anemones won't be as much of a problem, but even Rock 'nems do move, as I found out in frustrating manner, and I don't even have any corals in my current build.

Any advice from any other 'nem enthusiasts here (@OrionN)?

Im glad you liked my build thread. I liked yours too. The HOB fuge was a cool idea. The idea of an anemone filled tank sounds sweet. But part of me also wants some hammers and frog spawn.

 

[TriggersAmuck]

You will definitely have an easier time with those corals, and you can introduce them much sooner than the 'nems. Also, they require less light intensity, which gives you a better shot at controlling algae during that difficult first year.

 

[Maritimer]

Bubble tips if you want the nem look. Mini carpets and rock flowers rarely move

Those two species don't move much ... but also don't host clownfish.

~B.

 

[TriggersAmuck]

There is a trade off in picking compatible clown/'nem pairs. On the one hand are the clowns that usually are easier to get to host a 'nem: Clarkii/Sebae, Tomato, Maroon, Fire. But these also get pretty big and downright aggressive, often to the point of biting the owner (ask me how I know). These host almost effortlessly with the easier to keep anemones (Bubbletips mainly). On the other hand the smaller, slightly (emphasize only slightly) less aggressive common clowns (percs/ocellaris) tend to host better with the larger, harder to keep anemones (carpets, Malu, Riteri, etc), but often they take longer to host up, if at all. And has been pointed out, while the BTAs tend to be easier to keep and adapt, they do like to wander and thus end up in many a blended milkshake if one doesn't take measures to protect any intakes or pumps from being able to suck up said wanderer.