anemone homework

[Anonymous]

i'll try to be brief, but i fear my query may be lengthy.

needs a little history;

about 5 years ago i threw some salt in my freshwater tank.after pulling out former inhabs of course.my LFS at that time carried no marine livestock so i proceeded to go to that place that most unexperienced salt aquarists go. i know you are familiar. well of course i walked away with ten tons of useless crap and one particular doomed anemone. i must add this was not in one day but over many. anywho, the plan was of course to provide a host for my occellaris. long story short, the clown never showed any interest, the anemone died some months later, peppermint shrimp had a nice meal.

i read an article (or book) after purchase (heard this before?) that explained the anemones unique life cycle and that they are often over 200 years old.

so at that store where newbies go to learn, my new advisor had steered me wrong. i felt horrible about the experience and vowed to never own one again. then i found a better LFS.

it sucks to fit a generalization so well.

now,as of late i'm tending to stray from my pledge of anemonelessness keeping.
i've found myself scanning articles here and there. as a matter of fact, it was all i could do to keep from buying one yesterday.

i know this is a touchy subject and i apologize for any debauchery that might ensue.

my question is as follows:

should i leave 'em be?

if i were to buy one can i house it in a reef?

 

[Anonymous]

first- the info on this board should be more than enough to enable you to keep an anemone successfully.

they are not as difficult as you may think-like all animals, you just have to learn what their needs are, and how to provide them.

many people here will be more than happy to advise you, and help educate you where you are lacking(if you're lacking).

for starters,podman- where are you, experiencewise, what is your setup like, and what do you want to keep?

with most of the 'reef' anemones, the keys are water quality, proper feeding, and appropriate lighting.

fwiw- i've seen many 'newbies' keep anemones very successfully, when they had the right equipment and management habits explained to them from the start.....
what are your questions?....

 

[Anonymous]

Ask away. There is plenty of knowledge on the BB about anemones. What I didn't learn on my own, I learned here.

 

[Ritteri&Bubbles]

ANyone in my book who states that anemone keeping is for "experts" only is completely off base. As Vitz and ABuff stated, you just need to know their needs and make sure you have the proper equipment to care for them. I have many anemones in my keep including an electric blue carpet, green carpet, recently acquired red carpet, 3 Ritteri's(2 smaller ones, one massive one), dozens of bubble tips and 3 newly aquaried Rose bubble tips and an LTA. They all thrive and I have found are easier to keep than most corals.

 

[Anonymous]

I doubt that anenomes are all the particularly hard to keep. But I'd say a good percentage of them are bought by people that don't have the slightest clue on their particular needs. Some newbies do buy them right off the bat, and through some bizarre miracle, do ok at it. As my father says, " even a blind squirrel gets a few nuts."

Another good percentage know that their tank is an unlikely place that an anenome will thrive in and buy it anyway (er... guilty ). I think this is also a case of inexperience--many reefers just blow off some obvious stuff thinking that their tank has some magic quality that will overcome it's shortcomings. A man's got to know his limitations and that only comes with time, and hopefully, a minimum of mistakes.

Anyways, if you've done your research, got a good mature tank and have taken measures to give it the best environment you can, then I would say go ahead and try again.

Ty

 

[danmhippo]

If you have any paticular one's in mind, as they have previously mentioned, ask away. We will do our best in getting your basics down so you can start to appreciate the beauty of "reef keeping".

 

[danmhippo]

BTW, even you did not mention it clearly in your original post, but I suppose you still have the ocellaris. They will be fine by themselves, in fact, most clowns can do well on their own without an anemone, if that's your concern. Clowns may sometimes use other substitute as their hosts, and that can be good or bad depending on what it is they adopt instead.

Most books that talks about anemone should also indicate which anemone is a natural host for what type of clown. I think you should start looking into carpet anemone and their needs as carpet are the natural host for ocellaris. And if you have corals that you fear may suffer from the sting of the carpet, then you should make your decision wisely.

 

[Ritteri&Bubbles]

Yes clowns can survive in captivity without an anemone, and thrive even, but I have found that without a host anemone alot of their habits and personality are absent in many ways that I cant really explain in words. Natural clown behavior without their natural host cannot be duplicated.

 

[Anonymous]

i do still have many questions. i guess what i needed to hear from the anemone experienced is, as a generalization, are anemones practical for a sps type reef setup? i believe i'm hearing yes.
my acquisition of an anemone pivots on that question. if i can keep in my sps tank (which to my knowledge is perfectly capable of sustaining one) without an overcoming worry that agression between inverts will disrupt the stability of this tank, then i'm free to stock a compatible species at the time I feel my education is broad enough. if not than my only other choices are a 20g, LR no skimmer, and no lights as of now. or my 10g Q tank (just "kind of" set up) w/ std. flourescent tubes in it now.

the 20g. is an experiment that may become a nano some day, been up a few months now, but i think its too early and honestly i'm not experienced going skimmerless and would probably break down and put one on it, costing me yet even more than the light investment i would need for this tank.

now your Qs-
vitz- my experience level is probably average for a dedicated hobbyist of five years, i never paid much attention to anemones though. my proposed reef tank is 46g sps dominant (xenia and mushrooms in there too) with 2 175w ushio mh housed next to 2 18w actinics. modified berlin sys.

danmhippo-ocellaris made it four years and the pair were wiped out by a nasty white spot epidemic. i do have a clown now in 20g., a percula. i would love a symbiotic pair up but it isn't neccesary. yes i've done the cnidarian host option, it was great, sarcophyton with my ocellaris, but i would like observe these anemones behaviors again.

some of the previos posts i read on this topic were a little
FLAMEboyant 8O i have to say i'm relieved at my responses.

 

[Anonymous]

Podman-
first-don't confuse a passionate response for a flame! :lol:
alot of people here(i've observed)just respond from the gut, some quite passionately-nothing personal is meant,so just brush it off..

seems to me your main concern is the tank size.many species of 'symbiont' anemones get BIG, though their rate of growth can be manipulated, to a small extent.your lighting should be fine for a small bubble tip, and they are prob'ly abit easier than carpets or ritteris'(though i'll certainly defer to more expert opinions than my own!)there are a few different species of carpet, some are easier than others.a pacific lta is also an option.
allow for at least a doubling of size(volume) for the anemone over the way it is in the lfs, without future growth-most are fairly 'shrunken' compared to their true size expansion, once healthy and acclimated to your tank.
a small sebae anemone may be a better option, since they tend to arrive at a nice small size, and (to the best of my recollection, will hang in the substrate, more than the upper tank levels.

never forget that anemones are mobile-cover all powerhead intakes with sponge covered strainers, or you risk blendered anemone!
(i'll let some other folks take it from here..)
luck!

 

[Anonymous]

Do not forget to cover the heaters as well. A bubbletip will coexist with SPS corals. The initial problem is that a new anemone wanders until it finds a suitable spot. Usually, after that they stay put(as long as the conditions remain the same). So, add the anemone first.

 

[Anonymous]

never forget that anemones are mobile-cover all powerhead intakes with sponge covered strainers, or you risk blendered anemone

rio 800s a problem?

So, add the anemone first.

no can do, sps tank up and going 5 yrs now.

thank you all , i believe i will do this addition its now just a matter. of finishing the studies enough to select a species.
i believe i'll add it to my sps w/the expectation that things may have to move to suit the anemone.
i'm sure before my purchase i will post a new thread and ask you all to do some mythbusting for me,as the list is growing daily.

i would like some feedback on my rio PHs.
thanks again,
pod

 

[Anonymous]

any pump with a strainer intake,grate style intake should be sponged,imho.if your rios are of the type of square pump, with the 'grate' on one side,inverting the pump may do the trick(the jet of water will tend more to 'blow away' the tentacles of the anemone, before they can get accidently sucked in, if it wanders too close.

fwiw, if & when you acquire an anemone,it's prob'ly better to place it in an area of the tank where the current isn't great, to facilitate an easier attachment(the anemone will eventually move to the best location for itself, on it's own-this is when the risk of powerhead 'confrontation' is greatest)once it finds its sweet spot, it'll prob'ly stay there.

 

[Spikehs]

i would also suggest feeding regularly 1-3times a week seems to be the norm. Try silversides.