Anenome question?

U

Ugenstugen

AC Members
Dec 27, 2004
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I have two emerald crabs, hermit crabs, snails, cleaner shrimp, fire shrimp, and two chocolate starfish. I currently have one fish that is a file fish. I plan on setting it up as a community tank with a few anenomes.

1) Will my cleaning crew allow anenomes? Or will they kill them?
2) I have never kept anenomes nor corals. I want to start off with a few anenomes that are easy to care for. Any suggestions?

...any info will help. Thanks
 
Chocolate Chip Star fish are generally predatory on all anemones and corals. It will be a risk adding an anemone to a tank with CCS's. What kind of lights do you have? That is the big thing as to wheter you can keep anemones. You will need a minimum of 4 watts per gallon. Also what kind of filefish? Some will eat corals and anemones too. Hope this helps and good luck.
 
I think my light is made by corallife. It is a 48 in light with high wattage. The lighting is sufficient and not a concern. The file fish is a Tassle File Fish, which I read is reef safe. Thanks for bring the chocolate chip starfish concern to my attention. I just read that they can kill soft and hard corals, which I assume now also means anenomes. I think I am going to trade in the chocolate chip starfish in for the anenomes.

Any suggestions of anenomes that are easy to take for?

Any worries about my cleaning crew going after the anenomes?

Can anenomes be kept along with corals?
 
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If it is the stock lighting that came with the tank then it is no where near enough light for anemones.

A good starter choice would be soft corals like mushrooms. They need much less light and are more forgiving generally.

There really is no good beginner anemone choice. They are very delicate creatures and not very forgiving.
 
It is not the stock lighting that came with the tank. The light was around $350. I believe it is a corallife 48" light with 2 white and 2 blue lights. I can't recall the wattage, I believe it is around 300 or 350 watts. I purchased this light because I was informed with this light I could get an corals I wanted. I have a 72 gal tank with lots of live rock and live sand. Therefore, I actually only have around 50 gals of water. So I have sufficient lighting and lighting is NOT a concern...

Thanks for the info...I'll look into some mushroom corals.

Anyone else have any suggestions on corals or anemones???
 
Sounds like you have the Coralife Power compact fixture. So, if i'm right, you have 4x65watts for a total of 260watts. Personally, without Metal Halide lamps, I'd stay away from more difficult corals like the SPS or LPS hard corals. I'd stick to soft corals like mushrooms, maybe some polyps or a xenia colony. Have some success with them first, then try to move to something more difficult...

As far as anemones, like TKOS said, they're very delicate. Will you have clownfish to try and pair with it??? I wouldn't try one without a clownfish. For the most part, though, even in expert hands captive anemones just don't do very well. For every good case, there are many more bad. Leave them to the wild, IMO....
 
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I was planning on pairing the anemone with a clown. Well, it sounds like some corals are easier to manage than anemones. I just haven't had either yet. Well, I think I might look into a few of the mushrooms that you mentioned above. Thanks....

What level of care do the mushrooms require? From my understanding you can feed corals by adding certain liquid products into the water. Is that true?

Lastly, this might be a real stupid question, but is there anything to watch out for with corals and anemones, i.e. diseases like ich?
 
Adding trace elements can be beneficial, but for the most part they should be able to thrive through their natural photosynthesis. I've read that some mushrooms like microplankton, but probably not necessary... I'd recommend getting a "pulsing" xenia colony, also, as they generally are very hardy. I've heard many stories of clownfish hosting in these in the absence of an anemone...
 
One big thing to watch out for with hard corals and anemones is that they can sting and potentially kill certain fish and other corals and inverts. A lot fo reseach into specific corals is important. But it sounds like you are willing to do just that.
 
Thanks everyone for the help. One last concern....

I haven't heard really any response about my cleaning crew. Are my cleaner shrimp, fire shrimp, emerald crabs, hermit crabs and snail all safe for corals????

I think I'm going to start collecting corals then look into purchase fish. When purchasing fish and possible inverts, if it says its reef safe, does that mean safe for all corals??????
 
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