Nems and reef tanks

[Zoa_Fanatic]

So an acquaintance of mine has some really pretty really, really dwarf rainbow bubble tips. Fully grown these things are like 2” across. She’s had them for a long time and this is as big as they get.

Can I put one in a biocube without it causing too much damage to coral? I’ve only ever had success keeping a curlyque nem alive. it was massive and the tentacles flopped all over everything but it didn’t kill any coral. I’ve had condys but they want to travel to much and end up in my power heads. Do bubble tips walk a lot?

Also is it dangerous for my small damsel? He’s the only fish I have in there (16G biocube) and he’s maybe 4” long.




Corals in the tank include zoa, Ric FL, acans, candy canes, leptoseris, and a cristata. I could care less about any of those except my candy canes, acans, and cristata. I have a huge flat rock high up in the tank with nothing on it I can put it on if you guys think it will stay.

I can get a nem cup if you think it will work for one that tiny.

 

[Rtaylor]

I’ve never heard of a dwarf bta…..thinking maybe they just don’t thrive in your friends tank? Bta’s do walk a lot, but are one of the safest anemones for fish. There is nearly zero chance it would harm your chromis. I know people say they can sting coral, but I’ve had them touching coral without harm as well.

 

[Cell]

If it stays that small, how often is it splitting?

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

Mine wander on their rock a bit, but they're slow so you can move anything in their way if you're concerned

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

If it stays that small, how often is it splitting?

To my knowledge it splits a ton. She’s offering me a few of them because they have so many. She has larger sized (regular ones I guess) as well but got this one from a LFS who said it was “dwarf”’or something similar. I saw another post about them not thriving but her tank is eat up with both sizes or rainbow nems so I can’t see it being that they aren’t happy. She says the small ones get golfball sized at the biggest.

 

[Cell]

I guess that would be your biggest concern then, making sure you can deal with the inevitable multiples.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

I guess that would be your biggest concern then, making sure you can deal with the inevitable multiples.

I figure I can make a nem cannon and either sell them or take them to a LFS for credit

 

[Cell]

I think generally, if you give a bta favorable conditions and it finds an optimal position, it will stay put. I am a fan of nem cups and have had good luck with them overall ie. nem staying put.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

I think generally, if you give a bta favorable conditions and it finds an optimal position, it will stay put. I am a fan of nem cups and have had good luck with them overall ie. nem staying put.

I’m going to try that. I’d like to have one in my larger biocube too but there’s no good place for it to attach really. I’m thinking a super tiny one might stay in the cup.

 

[Cell]

The only concern I would have is if it's too small and will sit entirely inside the cup it won't get much flow and they don't look very nice until they reach up and spill out over the cup.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

The only concern I would have is if it's too small and will sit entirely inside the cup it won't get much flow and they don't look very nice until they reach up and spill out over the cup.

I didn’t think of that. If they’re really as tiny as she says then I don’t think it’ll be an issue anyway. Also if bubble tips can touch coral with no issues then it’s a non problem

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

I'd be interested in seeing if they do indeed stay small, I've never heard of a "dwarf BTA" before. I feel like they'd be more abundant if they were an actual thing

 

[Cell]

Some bta's split before getting very large, others grow and grow and rarely if ever split.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

I'd be interested in seeing if they do indeed stay small, I've never heard of a "dwarf BTA" before. I feel like they'd be more abundant if they were an actual thing

It may be the case of a single individual that stays small but also clones itself a lot. I had a curlyque that was stupidly huge but dads stayed regular size. I’m not sure what to think here but if I get one or a few and they stay small as they look in her tank then we’ll know for sure. I’m intrigued at this point to say the least

 

[argiBK]

Though any anemone is hardly a risk to a healthy fish, BTAs are capable of killing corals.

The risk with BTAs that stay small is that they tend to split often, before you know it they basically become very pretty aiptasia and can spread across a large portion of the reef within months. To me, this is a bigger problem b/c you'd have to remove multiple nems vs. one large one, and BTAs are rather a pain to remove since they plant in deep, narrow holes/crevices in the rock.

If you have space in your tank to isolate the nem to it's own island, that would be ideal, they'll still split, but stay out of your corals' hair.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Though any anemone is hardly a risk to a healthy fish, BTAs are capable of killing corals.

The risk with BTAs that stay small is that they tend to split often, before you know it they basically become very pretty aiptasia and can spread across a large portion of the reef within months. To me, this is a bigger problem b/c you'd have to remove multiple nems vs. one large one, and BTAs are rather a pain to remove since they plant in deep, narrow holes/crevices in the rock.

If you have space in your tank to isolate the nem to it's own island, that would be ideal, they'll still split, but stay out of your corals' hair.

I could get away with it easily I think. My question is could I get them loose without a whole ton of work. Doesn’t sound like it. Do you think a nem cannon would work on them? My rock work is all easily removable and the place I plan to put it doesn’t have any coral besides candy canes which I can move super easy.

 

[argiBK]

I could get away with it easily I think. My question is could I get them loose without a whole ton of work. Doesn’t sound like it. Do you think a nem cannon would work on them? My rock work is all easily removable and the place I plan to put it doesn’t have any coral besides candy canes which I can move super easy.

If they're isolated on their own rock, it would be much easier. If they propagate on rocks where you have expensive SPS/LPS, that becomes a problem. It's not a quick job to remove one once it's made itself at home in a spot you don't want it.

When I evicted all my old BTAs from my tank last year, I essentially had to remove the rock from the tank and chisel them out as nothing I tried really worked (admittedly, I didn't use the cannon). Thankfully there were no live corals on the rocks they had occupied, but it's not something I'd ever want to do again. BTAs are essentially banned from my DT (and I LOVE anemones, much more than my corals, lol).

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

If they're isolated on their own rock, it would be much easier. If they propagate on rocks where you have expensive SPS/LPS, that becomes a problem. It's not a quick job to remove one once it's made itself at home in a spot you don't want it.

When I evicted all my old BTAs from my tank last year, I essentially had to remove the rock from the tank and chisel them out as nothing I tried really worked (admittedly, I didn't use the cannon). Thankfully there were no live corals on the rocks they had occupied, but it's not something I'd ever want to do again. BTAs are essentially banned from my DT (and I LOVE anemones, much more than my corals, lol).

I don’t have any LPS anywhere near where I want to put it in the tank it’s going in. I’m giving some thought to placing a frags plate on that rock with the nem on it so if it splits I can just break the plate and sell it: alternatively, my cristata is an enforcer, it kills anything it touches. If they get outta control i can try boxing them it with it. Thsy thing straight up melted a ricordea FL that fell on ut

 

[outhouse]

They will stay small provided you dont feed them, mine only grow when I feed and then they get huge. Just light alone they grow and split but stay on the small side. at over 150 in a 210g tank I enjoy them, and most corals can sting them away. Branching hammer is doing just fine with them, and a little

better then the frogspawn. I have 5 clowns so the rbta,s are werlcome

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

They will stay small provided you dont feed them, mine only grow when I feed and then they get huge. Just light alone they grow and split but stay on the small side. at over 150 in a 210g tank I enjoy them, and most corals can sting them away. Branching hammer is doing just fine with them, and a little

better then the frogspawn. I have 5 clowns so the rbta,s are werlcome

Yeah mine are coming out when they split somehow lol. I’ll take the extra credit I can get on them from the LFS.