Anemone question

[MDE203]

I have a black & white ocellaris in a 29g Bio Cube... considering getting an anemone now while my tank is still pretty young and my corals are frags located more towards the top of the tank. Im assuming the fish would adapt well with somthing from the pacific, Ive seen a Atlantic Anemone at LFS but the guy there said none of his clowns have chosen to make it home and has been in that tank for over 4 months.. any suggestions? much appreciated
:fish:

 

[andylee]

Assumpution is correct, but not a guarantee that the clown will host the anemone. Anemones are considered the more difficult to keep reef animals, especially in a newly estbalished tank. How stable is your tank and what is your lighting like?

 

[MDE203]

the lighting is stock from the biocube.. not the hqi.
i started the cycle with nutrisea and have been using fresh r/o and shop salt water to do small water changes. got the b&w clown, green/blue chromis, magenta chromi and a royal gramma
about 20 hermits and 15 snails, a cleaner shrimp and 2 peppermints
1 duncan frag with 3 almost 4 heads, a frogspawn frag and a zoa frag

 

[MDE203]

its been running 3 weeks now...oh and live rock and sand too

 

[E.intheC]

Not a good idea to add an anemone. The tank is too "young".. there's not enough light, and really not enough space, unless you get a BTA..
Further, the Atlantic anemone is probably going to eat your clowns.

Sorry.

 

[isnyc300]

Not a good idea to add an anemone. The tank is too "young".. there's not enough light, and really not enough space, unless you get a BTA..
Further, the Atlantic anemone is probably going to eat your clowns.

Sorry.

+1 you have to let you tank mature more. power compact lights wont be enough either.

 

[andylee]

Sorry, but I agree that you don't really have adequate lighting for an anemone, plus the tank is really just up and running. Anemone probably won't do well. Clown probably won't use it anyway. I'm not sure about the condylactis eating your clowns, but I'd stay away nonetheless.

 

[MDE203]

wow so no hopes of finding this guy a home..i guess i need to get a hammer or 2 and hope he falls for the trick..sorry im new here whats a BTA? better tank arriangment? lol..ive seen people post videos of upgrading the 29biocube with led's but wouldnt that start to heat the water to where id need a chiller?

 

[MDE203]

i can already tell this tank will be in my sons room within the next 6 months and ill be setting up a 75 - 90 gal ..lol..this is my 1st salt setup, ive have alot of sucsess breeding cichlids in my past and always wanted to do salt, just got a job at a LFS in my area and got a decent enough discount to start up and continue to run. thanks again for the insight and info

 

[andylee]

An advantage of LEDs is that they don't generate nearly as much heat as halides do. I think your assessment of impending upgrade is correct. You are probably already just about maxed out in your tank.
I ran my last tank for about 4 months before I upgraded.

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/tank-threads/120127-57-zeroedge.html

 

[MDE203]

and led's would help me to grow acros and montis? instead of just softies and lps right?

 

[andylee]

High-powered LEDs. There are also LEDs that generate light for viewing fish, but don't really have much power. These are suitable for fish only tanks.

 

[E.intheC]

Bta is a bubble tip anemone... E. quadricolor.
A halide or LEDs/T5's would be necessary for an anemone. You're also going to need to let your tank mature and get very stable. Weekly water changes and a good skimmer are strongly recommended.

 

[MDE203]

cool. ive seen a few skimmers made for the biocube. any suggestions?

 

[fishman1069]

Try to get a remora or a tunze nano for a good skimmer. Stay away from the bio cube skimmer, they suck!

 

[MDE203]

thnx fishman1069
anybody have any suggestions for a better set of lights or to add in some leds to upgrade?

 

[LavaToad]

I'm by no means an expert, but I'm pretty sure condy anemones and bubble tips can do well under pc lighting. I have a haitian pink tip anemone for the past 6 years under the stock pc lighting of the jbj nano cube and it seems to be doing pretty well. I just change out the bulbs once a year. It has never split but is about 4 times its original size. I also have a bubble tip in the same tank. But this is besides the point, I think your tank needs a little more time before you add an anemone as the others have said. Also, there are many more anemones which definitely do require stronger lighting than pc, but from what I've read these two are the least demanding as long as your water quality is very good. If you go with stronger lighting you can also get some of the more interesting corals besides softies which is what I plan to do in the future. Also, as I believe was said before, there is no guarantee your clowns will ever go into an anemone if you get it. I had my anemone together with my clowns for 2 years and I thought they would never host, but I had a blackout and when the power came back on they were in the anemone... go figure

Edit: I just want to say this may be an exception, not the rule, but this was my personal experience with anemones

 

[MDE203]

Appreciate all the info every1..I'm going to let everything cycle a little longer