What ONE showstopper, healthy, hearty coral/anemone would you get for this tank?

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SharkRacer

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What kind of light are you currently running?

Given your previous information, I have No idea why people are advising a Torch, especially a $500-$750+ torch when your stated desire is that it may host your clowns. That's just Silly.

If your tank was started (assuming from dry?) In January, you may not yet be ready for a nem in the tank. You Very well could plop a BTA in there and it survive long enough for your tank to mature, but that's also not what you asked for.

Reading your prompt, I would say to start looking at and researching Long Tentacle Anenome. They come in varying sizes from 3" to 12"+ (Show stopper much??) Prep to buy when the tank hits the 10 month to 1 year old area.

LTA Are not overly aggressive (not fish eaters) and clowns Love them. They are sand dwellers with beautiful movement and colors. Here is my Green LTA, about 10" across in mostly Whites
PXL_20220523_234638106.jpg
I've never seen these before - VERY cool!
 

ClownSchool

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I am looking for help choosing one big showstopper coral/anemone that I hope will host my clownfish. I like the look of green toadstools but am looking for suggestions.

What would you suggest I get?

I started my reef tank in January of 2022, and aside from being in "the ugly stage" everything is going very well!

I currently have 4 small corals that my neighbor gave me (and all have been healthy for ~2 months):

- Duncan
- Trumpet
- Green hammer
- Mushrooms


Conditions:

- Tank is 55 gallon
- Stock: 2 clowns, pistol shrimp, watchman goby, purple firefish (and after I complete my current QT I am adding a flame angel, 6-line wrasse and 3 bengai cardinals and a cleaner shrimp)
- I leave the tank for 3-5 days on vacations and during this time I have pellets and lighting on automated systems.
- I can set up a webcam to watch my tank when I am gone (so if something dies I can call my neighbor to get it out)
- I do not currently dose anything (open to it, but want to keep things simple)
- I currently am running a Fluval Marine 3.0 36" light (and another higher power one I could add if necessary)

*Image attached is before I added livestock but shows the aquascape I have to work with.

Aquascape.JPG
Sun God Torches look pretty neat under any lighting…but, if you’re looking for something to host your clowns, rainbow anemones won’t break the bank, look awesome under all the same lighting conditions through the day, and are definitely clown friendly. Good luck!
 

radiata

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Get a toadstool leather. You can get the regular or green variety. They can get big and spread and are neat corals. They add movement to the tank w polyps extended and they add height without necessarily getting too wide. They also don't sting. I used to have a softie/lps tank that had a couple of large ones and a lot of smaller to medium ones that came from the larger ones.
A few years back a LFS in NJ had Sarco named "Steve". Steve was in a 55G tank. And Steve took up more than half of his tank. I don't know what happened to him. The LFS went belly-up - I hope Steve survived the bankruptcy.
 

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While it isn't a Coral or Anemonee I love clams. More intersting than colored stocks IMO. I love large reef displays in public aquariums with big clams. Even the "boring Gigas Clam" in the picture below looks awesome and show stopping to me. A nice maximum or Blue Squamosa would definitely steel the show in a tank like yours.



1655853751631.png
That clam is unbelievably gigantic in person!
 

Chrisv.

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Can't go wrong with one of the Tyree neon green toadstool corals. Cheap, grows like a weed, moves in the current. It's the coral that draws ooohs and ahhs from guests who notice it from across the room. They look past my coveted sticks and gawk at the sarcophyton...

And clowns may inhabit it (but you never can tell with them!).
 

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mindme

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I am looking for help choosing one big showstopper coral/anemone that I hope will host my clownfish. I like the look of green toadstools but am looking for suggestions.

What would you suggest I get?

I started my reef tank in January of 2022, and aside from being in "the ugly stage" everything is going very well!

I currently have 4 small corals that my neighbor gave me (and all have been healthy for ~2 months):

- Duncan
- Trumpet
- Green hammer
- Mushrooms


Conditions:

- Tank is 55 gallon
- Stock: 2 clowns, pistol shrimp, watchman goby, purple firefish (and after I complete my current QT I am adding a flame angel, 6-line wrasse and 3 bengai cardinals and a cleaner shrimp)
- I leave the tank for 3-5 days on vacations and during this time I have pellets and lighting on automated systems.
- I can set up a webcam to watch my tank when I am gone (so if something dies I can call my neighbor to get it out)
- I do not currently dose anything (open to it, but want to keep things simple)
- I currently am running a Fluval Marine 3.0 36" light (and another higher power one I could add if necessary)

*Image attached is before I added livestock but shows the aquascape I have to work with.

Aquascape.JPG

Can't really beat clownfish in an anemone IMO.

But I also wouldn't put other coral in there, because they move around and grow pretty big. They can stretch out in many different directions. So I pretty much keep only them in my tank, along with softies like xenias.
 

Chrisv.

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The problem with any anemone is that they may try to go for a stroll, and in a narrow tank, that might have catastrophic consequences.

Fiji yellow leathers are nice but really are much more difficult to care for than the neon green. They are rare because they are susceptible to bacterial infections, not because there is no demand for them.
 
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SharkRacer

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Can't go wrong with one of the Tyree neon green toadstool corals. Cheap, grows like a weed, moves in the current. It's the coral that draws ooohs and ahhs from guests who notice it from across the room. They look past my coveted sticks and gawk at the sarcophyton...

And clowns may inhabit it (but you never can tell with them!).
Love this one. Thanks for the pic!
 

Chrisv.

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Love this one. Thanks for the pic!
If you lived in ma I would give you a chunk. i Just don‘t feel great about shipping coral given how the postal service has been. Ask around your local reef club, I’m sure plenty of people have it.
 

Chrisv.

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Why hasn’t anyone suggested a Heliofungia?
They have always been hit or miss for me. Neat corals though. His tank is quite narrow, so the sand bed requirements might interfere with the aquascape. There are some people who put them on pegs. I've never tried this. Doesn't seem great given the natural growth form of the coral, but I haven't tried it. Have you had good luck with them?
 

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