anenomes

[Mr.Jingles]

could I keep an anenome in a 30g with 30# LR, aragonite, jaw fish, fire fish, cleaner gobies, (tests done with a freshwater test kit) ph 7.9, ammonia 0-1, nitrites 0, nitrates untested, 116 watts of light, and plenty of flow?

maybe I should ask this: how do you keep anenomes? are there hardier varieties?

[gcvt]

If you have any detectable ammonia, no - anemones require pristine water conditions. Check your nitrates too; inverts don't do well with high nitrates. Also, your pH looks a tad low and your lighting might not be sufficient for anemones. What type of lights are they? How long has the tank been set up?

[Mr.Jingles]

my tank is a week old. I wasn't really planning on trying to keep much of anything anytime soon. I was mostly wondering what needed to be done in order to keep anenomes alive.

[gcvt]

Basically, you just need a very well established tank, consistenly perfect water conditions, and lots of light :)

[g. mcclean]

I'm curious Jingles? Do you really mean that you tested your marine tank with a freshwater test kit? I thought all tests for marine are to be done with a saltwater test kit.

[gcvt]

Some kits...like Salifert...can be used for both fresh and marine :)

[Kit Walker]

I'd let your tank really mature. I've found anenomes aren't that hard to keep given the tank is mature and the conditions correct. They are quite low maintenance with regards to feeding, but all the difficulty is in the water chemistry. If they are not happy they will generally move, eg to a shaded area or to a higher area closer to light. If he walks away then he generally is happy there, so don't keep moving him to where you want him to be! Give your tank time and try one of the hardier ones such as a bubble tip or the brown long-tentacle anenome.

[Ray Pollett]

gcvt,

I have to respectfully disagree as to anemones and nitrates. I keep anemones ( BTA & LTA) in water that has high nitrates (One tank is almost always over 100 and goes over 200 on a regular basis). They grow and divide. I'm going to run out of tanks to move them to in another few months if they do not slow down.


Ray

[OrionGirl]

Okay--this is just an idea, so give it a thought and let me know.

Photosynthetic critters need nitrogen to be happy and survive (nitrogen is a key component in chlorophyll). This is why planted FW tanks are supplemented with nitrates. So, wouldn't the same apply to photosynthetic SW animals? I read somewhere--can't recall where right now--that anemones with clown fish do better than those without, and it was speculated that the ammonia from the clown fish respiration contributed to the well being of the photosynthetic critters within the anenome. As in plants, wouldn't ammonia be preferentially used, but nitrates would suffice in a pinch?

This is just something that has been bothering me for a while. I wonder how many reefs have low nitrates because of the load of photo synthetic animals, rather than because of the anaerobic bacteria in DSB/LR.

Disclaimer--I am not suggesting anyone add stump remover to their reef.

[mogurnda]

Actually, there is a significant literature on the positive effect of ammonia on tridacnid clams. They have also been shown to reduce NO3 in aquaria.

The thing is that nitrogenous compounds in the tanks, even when our test kits can't detect them, are much higher than those over a reef. Means the corals get plenty, even if the levels are low by our standards. More NO3 just means more food for algae. Plus, it seems to inhibit calcification by some stony corals. Randy Holmes-Farley has a recent article (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm) about it.

[Kit Walker]

Just on the topic of nitrates, my anenome cloned itself during a time when I had neglected water changes and the nitrates had crept up higher than normal.

[Ray Pollett]

I happen to be a great fan of Randy. We talked by e-mail many times over the years. We disagree on this subject. Maybe my tanks are in a different Plain than everyone elses. But I have to go with what I see in my tanks. I have virtually no algae in the tanks with high nitrates. I feed way more than most people would ever even think of in their nightmares. Yet my anemones do well, most people would say exceptional. Most of my corals do good also. The fish are healthy.

OrionGirl,

That is what has been proposed By some. I can not find anything that disagrees with it. Now let's see; I have some Stump remover around here somewhere. :D

Ray