Anemone Questions

All,
Since there is a ton of knowledge here, I'm sure that there are some experts in the anemone arena. When my 125 gets setup, one of my "ideas" is to have a BTA. I love the looks of them and have always wanted to see one in my tank, but have yet to try.
What are the do and do nots with anemones? Are BTAs easy to keep? Is there a better choice for the home aquarium? What are the feeding requirements... etc?.?...

Thanks and can't wait to get some feedback!!!
Richard

Originally Posted by whiteheadfamily2415

All,
Since there is a ton of knowledge here, I'm sure that there are some experts in the anemone arena. When my 125 gets setup, one of my "ideas" is to have a BTA. I love the looks of them and have always wanted to see one in my tank, but have yet to try.
What are the do and do nots with anemones? Are BTAs easy to keep? Is there a better choice for the home aquarium? What are the feeding requirements... etc?.?...

Thanks and can't wait to get some feedback!!!
Richard

Really what most will say is if you have good lighting, you should be more than happy with an anemone.... Many will say you need an established tank for one as well - they can be finicky.

Getting a clone from a fellow reefer is always good - the nem usually isnt too stressed from shipping to the LFS, and it is of a strain that does thrive in a home aquarium.

Basic nem checklist (at least according to me)
- T5 or better lighting (no PCs)
- Tank stable, prolly 6+ months old
- Powerheads with mesh or foam over the intakes
- An acceptance that you will need to move corals, as the anemone decides where it wants to live whenever it wants (they like to go on 'walkabouts' when they dont like their lighting/flow/neighbors/or are splitting)
- An understanding that it will get to be 12" + and take up some prime real estate

Thanks, I'm all good except the thought of the space requirement:

Originally Posted by estanoche

- An understanding that it will get to be 12" + and take up some prime real estate

I'm not sure I would want to dedicate that much space.......hmmmm. More planning at this time. Thanks for the heads up and the wake up call.

I couldn't agree with estanoche more on this one. Also keep in mind that sometimes they split and you end up with 2 anemones that want to take up 12" of space or more.

The longer the tank has been established the better.

I LOVE BTAs - you can get a variety of colors, and you can keep more then 1 in a tank. They are probably the easiest desirable nem to keep and require little to no direct feeding.

I'll just have to do some studying and planning.... I love the looks of BTAs, so I may end up going that route....

You can cut them in half when they are getting too big and sell one of the frags, this is a pretty common practice. Also note that brighter lights will bring about brighter colors. BTAs can survive in relatively low light, but they will brown out and not look as pretty. I would also suggest getting a valuable color morph, because when the time comes to sell a split or fragmented anemone, you'll be greatful for having the more valuable one.

Also, buying a captive bred anemone, preferably from a local person will grant you a better, helthier individual. Nems don't ship well.

Thanks for the advice from all of you. I have MH on my 75 currently and I'm going the same route on the 125. Hopefully lighting won't be an issue. I will check the local reef clubs to see if anyone has one for sale....great tip on them not shipping well.

Have you thought of building an Anemone/Clown fish only tank?

It doesn't have to be a huge tank and a smaller less expensive T5 light would be sufficient for the Anemone's needs.

Originally Posted by beast1961

Have you thought of building an Anemone/Clown fish only tank?

It doesn't have to be a huge tank and a smaller less expensive T5 light would be sufficient for the Anemone's needs.

I have not thought about that..... Great idea, but I don't see that in my future do to space. Where can I hide another tank??? LOL

I absolutely LOVE anemones! ......but they do require the "care" suggested here so far....also, you'll need to be careful of possible fish deaths depending on the fish ....flighty small fish sometimes aren't as careful around them as they should be and could end up as dinner...I think the best advice so far is making sure the tank is healthy and established - all params in check - good flow, good lighting and space.......when they move they can knock over corals and rock

I wish my nem would find my blue damsels

the problem i have with them, is if you are going to have corals they can and will sting your corals, they never stay where you want them to, at least mine never did,

Great info!

Originally Posted by rgrking

I wish my nem would find my blue damsels

Evil

Okay guys, my tank is finally ready for corals and such. First thing I got was a anemone for the LFS. I have one clown fish with nothing to host in. The fish hangs in one corner of the tank every night so I put the anemone near and let it settle where it wants. It chose to hand sideways on a very tall rock and doesn't get a lot of light. It moved very quickly from the fist sized rock it found first to the major anchor of the tank. Reading these posts tells me why I see some brown on it but since it chose this spot I thought it would be okay.

Last night I fell asleep in the recliner that is inches from the tank. In the morning, the first light came on and woke me so I was admiring the tank. The anemone was open and doing its thing. The Ocellaris still isn't paying any attention to it. However my BLACK DOMINO DAMSEL is. This damsel is all over it and rubbing in it like the clown fish should be. He moves every time I approach with the camera. But this morning, I watched him get into the middle of the anemone and play in it.

In less than 30 minutes, the anemone closed up and now the stringy fleshy stuff is eeking from the middle of the anemone.

WTF? The pics were taken with my laptop I was using as this was going on.


First pic is at 0633 in morning, second at 0649 and third at 0704. Every time I moved the camera toward the glass, the Damsel took off so I don't have a picture of him playing in it...yet. The anemone is off to the lower right of the pictures.

[IMG][/IMG]

This is at 0730

It's not the first time I've heard of damsels not being stung by an anemone - clownfish afterall are in the damsel family -especially BTAs as they are not very sticky and their sting is not that strong.

The brown stringy stuff oozing out of your anemone is poop. It's probably not the damsel as they don't digest that fast but rather something that it ate a few days ago.

Nem does look healthy though.

I'm not sure if he won't stay away from it or if he is hanging around where my face is waiting for me to drop food in. The clown keeps chasing him away from it but that could also be because the corner of the tank is the clown's turf.

I had no idea what that was because I've seen the mushy stuff before, but just before the nems died off. Maybe my tank is working now...

Originally Posted by anicemess

I've seen the mushy stuff before, but just before the nems died off. Maybe my tank is working now...

I have another thread around here regarding the brown stringy stuff. Unfortunately I've met to many people that saw this and paniced, removed the nem from the tank so it didn't cause a crash, and ended up killing a perfectly healthy animal that was just trying to take it's morning poo.

Its normal for damsel's to host in anemones. I have a few pics of wild anemones full of damsel's. As for the brown stuff coming out i agree with Craig but i want to add that a new tank is not the best environment of an anemone. All too often people think that once the cycle is complete their aquarium is ready for anything however there are still a bunch of chemical and biological processes that are happening in a new aquarium that will stress out corals, anemones and fish.