Anemone

[amfavs]

Thanks to everyone's wonderful help I have an awesome reef tank set up. I have a 30 gallon nano reef with two 1-2" clowns. I am looking for an Anemone for my clowns to host. I understand it is doubtful they will host but since I am looking to add to the tank anyway I thought I would give it a try.

I was looking at Bubble Anemone. What do you think? I was looking at getting Marine snow as well, would this be enough to sustain the Anemone?

Thanks all.

[hpi_jeep]

I am just replying from what i read on this forum.
everyone says you want about a year old tank (obviously a tank that has been established a year) before attempting anemones

[jdyer88]

bubble tip anemones are as hardy as any anemone, but still very difficult to care for. Reef snow is not enough IMO. You should supplement with mysis or even raw squid or shrimp...get an aquacultured nem if possible and mimic the diet that it was on. I don't know why you think it is unlikely that it will host your clowns, IME it can take a while for the clowns to figure it out, but eventually they do (usually). If the clowns like the nem they will bully it until it gets used to them. Pretty cool to watch the clowns take large pieces of food and feed the nem.

[jdyer88]

what kind of clowns by the way

[djt511]

ive been scared to attempt this as well, does the anem require any particular type of lighting?

[AaronM]

Good bet i reckon: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...604&pcatid=604

[amfavs]

So I have a Black and White Ocellaris Clownfish and a naked clown (I forget the cool name for him).

I have noticed that this says that you need to feed it fish unless you have a clown. Should I still place raw food in the tank or does the clown bring him enough food from flakes/pellet and things.

Thanks!

[Chris27]

You don't need to feed an anemone as much as everyone says....mine have been alive (RBTA & Seabae) and thriving for many years without one direct feeding. When you feed the tank, their tentacles will catch food floating by and draw it into their mouth.

As far as hosting, a Seabae or LTA are best for most clowns, when it comes to hosting a bubble tip your best bets are Cinnamon or Tomato Clowns, they are anemone whores.

[billdogg]

Get an anemone if you like - they are fascinating creatures.

PLEASE research first!!! Go to the clownfish/anemone forum here. Go to www.wetwebmedia.com and read everything they have there as well.

Make sure your tank is ready. Anemones can be amazingly long lived. They can die and crash your tank in days, if not hours as well.

Good luck and Happy Reefing!

[jdyer88]

feeding nems is an often debated subject so direct or broadcast feeding are probably ok...one thing everyone seems to agree on is that they need good light, t5 at least, and excellent water quality...if you have those than you should be ok as long as you watch and see that the nem gets some food sometimes....keeping an anemone is fun, and if you add clowns to the mix you will see some of the coolest interaction you can in the hobby...

[NakedClown]

my opinion! She feeds the Nem when i though in some brine she will bring it to the mouth and feed it. Id got with a BTA for those clowns, seems like thats the only nem they will host besides my mushrooms lol

keep me updated on what you get

[jdyer88]

wow, nice rbta...

[amfavs]

I have a t5 light. I have two clowns so I guess my biggest fear is that an extreme will occur, either both clowns will fight over it or neither will host and it will die.

Thanks.

[2Addicted]

Originally Posted by djt511

ive been scared to attempt this as well, does the anem require any particular type of lighting?

Anemones need intense lighting.

Originally Posted by amfavs

I have a t5 light. I have two clowns so I guess my biggest fear is that an extreme will occur, either both clowns will fight over it or neither will host and it will die.

Thanks.

It wont die because it is not hosting a clown. Feeding is not neccisary if you have good enough lighting, but I feed my nems because I like them to grow fast. If you do decide to get one make sure it is not too small for your clowns. A clown that is too big for an anemone can "love" it to death.

[davocean]

Typically we recommend your tank be at least 6mo old, stable params, and good lighting.
You do not need to spot feed as long as lighting is adequate, many don't spot feed at all.
Just keep in mind most do get fairly big, and you need space between them and corals or they will sting.

[amfavs]

Thanks all. My tank is around 5ish months old. Maybe I will let it sit for another month while I research. How big would you recommend for the anem? The clowns are about 1-1and1/2 inches.

[jmchzn123]

I have a beautiful BTA that is hosting clowns and I never direct feed per se but food makes it's way there anyway. I have a problem however. it's consuming my tank. this thing started out at like 1.5 " and barely could host a baby clown. In 3 yrs has grown to about 10" across and is blocking the sun! I have 2 choices. Trade or sell or give it away to a good home or get a scalpel and quarter it. I would rather not do that. Then bring the 3 parts to LFS and put the 1/4 back after it heals in a week or two? Any thoughts?

[davocean]

Cutting a nem even just in half comes w/ risk.
Personally I wouldn't do it.
You can induce splitting just by feeding heavy, but even if you did that, or cut it, it won't be long before it's back to original size.
A nem should be 3-4x the size of the clowns for a general reference guide.

[amfavs]

I read somewhere that sometimes they will expand to obtain better lighting, do you think this is the case or is it just always going to be 10"?

Also how likely is it that my clowns will share an anemone?

[Angel*Fish]

Originally Posted by amfavs

I have a t5 light. I have two clowns so I guess my biggest fear is that an extreme will occur, either both clowns will fight over it or neither will host and it will die.

Thanks.

I don't know anything about lights, so someone else will have to comment on that.

If your clowns have paired up they won't fight over the anemone. The anemone is host for the clowns, they don't "host" it. The anemone doesn't need the clowns to survive, In the wild clowns do need an anemone to survive. A BTA is not a natural host for ocellaris clowns, but very often they accept it as host.

In a 30g tank, a BTA will take up quite a bit of space. It's not inappropriate for the tank size, but it will have a significant affect what else you can put in there.

To answer your other question, an anemone will sometimes try and stretch up taller to reach more light if it's not getting enough.

I believe you should do quite a bit more research and get a better understanding of these animals before getting one which is clearly what you're trying to do .

[eric@tampa]

+1 angelfish....well said

[davocean]

[QUOTE=amfavs;18321858]I read somewhere that sometimes they will expand to obtain better lighting, do you think this is the case or is it just always going to be 10"?

No, most likely it will get bigger!LOL
But yes, they do tend to stretch out for more light.
Your pair should share, but sometimes the female takes a while to allow the male into nem.

[jdyer88]

i agree that clowns will have no problem with a bta. IME, clowns are not very picky at all. I have seen them try to live in mushrooms, flowerpots, xenia ect. it will not always be 10"...they do grow, the more they eat the bigger they get. If your clowns are not paired up, they will eventually fight with or without a nem.

[amfavs]

Thanks for the responses.

So how do you tell if they are paired? The generally get along but I am pretty sure they are the same gender (since they are exactly the same size)... not that there is anything wrong with same gender pairing - I am just unsure if this occurs with clownfish.

[duncantse]

The dominate one will change to a female and the other one will stay as a male. If they are already getting alone, I think they are paried up already.