Should I get an anemone?

[Sregnar35]

Just looking for some opinions on anemones. I'd like to get an anemone, they are beautiful animals. Any opinions on what species are best, or whether I should even consider getting one?

[OrionGirl]

Do you have a clown? JMO, but while clowns without anenomes are great, anenomes without clowns tend not to be, in the case of hosting anenomes. There are many that don't host, like the flowers, but if you're planning on getting one that does, you will want to get a clown for it.

In terms of survival, the 'pest' ones like condy's and curly-cues are hardiest, but they can be a threat to other inverts and fish, as can long tentacles and carpets. Pretty well any anenome may threaten your corals--they move around to find the best spot in the tank, and they will sting and kill corals as they move around.

I'd look into the captive raised rose anenomes. More people are reporting success with them, and since they clone themselves well in aquaria, you're not impacting the reef.

[Sregnar35]

I have 2 ocellaris clowns, that have been showing signs of "flirting" the past 3 or 4 months, but my hippo tang more or less shares a bedroom with them, so they can't seem to get comfortable and spawn. The right side of my tank has no coral as of right now, so I was thinking add the anemone and let it get to where it's happy, and try adding some coral on that side later. Not that the anemone can't move towards my coral, but now seems to be my best time to act. Would my clowns possibly host in a rose anemone? I've seen some of those online compatability charts for all sorts of clown species, but they have some inconsistencies.

[Sregnar35]

Has anyone had ocellaris clowns host in a rose or bubble tip anemone?

[OrionGirl]

I've seen a couple hosting in the LFS tank...Not sure about species, though. Sorry!

[Sregnar35]

Not sure about the species of clowns or of anemone?

[OrionGirl]

The clowns--sorry, they were rose anenomes. I think one was a clarkii, can't recall the other.

[Sregnar35]

With the research I've done this morning, I guess it does happen. One more quick question, is a rose anemone just a rose colored bubble tip anemone?

[OrionGirl]

I don't think so, but am not sure. Maybe maxilaria will chime in...

[wastememphis]

yes, RBTA, rose bubble tipped anemone.

[Sregnar35]

Thanks for the help. I'm officially shopping for a nice RBTA now I guess!!!

[carpenterwrasse]

i've had a maroon clown that liked my L.t.a. and also buddied with my flower he didn't take to b.t.a much but yhey are like people to a degree they pick and choose their friends. Right now my 3 ocelleris clowns dodn't care for any of the 4 anemones i have but I am in considerastion to get 2 more a ritteri and a rose we'll see what happens after that.

[wastememphis]

I can't think of any reason to have 6 anemones in any size tank.

My maroons have hosted with a long tenticle and RBTA, they are agressive and beat the anemone to death though, both times.

[TKOS]

Is your tank suitabel for holding an anemone and do you understand what it will take to feed it and keep it alive in the long run?

[Sregnar35]

I have heard many contradicting accounts on what it takes to keep an anemone. Many experts recommend feeding, others feel that feeding them is not warranted. Lighting is also highly debated. But from conclusions I have made, and betting on my tanks success, yes, I am confident that I can keep an anemone.

[TKOS]

The only people I would take advice from on anemones is those that have managed to succesfully keep them for years. Conflicting advice from people that get new ones every 6 months doesn't mean that much. Source checking is very important. Realize that anemones die very slowly, living for months as they slowly starve to death.

[Sregnar35]

Understood, most of my decision came from reading FAQ's and other articles from wetwebmedia.com. A few other sources slip my mind, but were reliable as well.

[wastememphis]

Heres some advicde I have learned:

Don't buy an anemone from an LFS unless your sure its healthy.
Anemones need MH lighting.
Anemones need to be fed MORE than once a week.
I have had two anemones, from different stores... each for 4months (until my marrons beat them up, they were much larger than the anemone)

Anyway, most LFS that I have seen keep their anemones under NO lighting, which is rediclious. They are animals... they are photosynth and they need meaty food. When I got my rose buble tipped anemone it hid in my tank for weeks because it wasn't use to the PC lighting, while it hid under a rock it was hard to feed becuase of its position and my clowns didn't leave it alone once it grabed on to food. I was so dissapointed that my beautiful anemone couldn't get use to the light, even when I tryed to slowly acclimate it to the light cycle.

If I were to buy anemone again I would purchase it from an online source, which is reputable, where you can see the anemone before you purchase it, and know the conditons its living in their tank, lighting.

Its very terrible idea to have 6 anemones in a tank.. JMO, Theres no way you can know anything about them to think its alright to have more than two... their demands are so high and I haven't seen more than a dozen people who have kept them over a year... with the last 2 years i've been in the hobby, in person or on a forum.

[Max]

Well I've had some of my anemones for a pretty long time 2.5 to 3 years. In their life cycle that's just a drop in the bucket but, they seem to thrive and have reproduced in my tanks ,"that's not always a good thing by the way somtimes they do it due to stresses,". Metal halide is an absolute must for most species," the exception being tubes they don't need the light at all and aren't really a true anemone. " They also need a tank that is at least 8 monts old and very stable no c.c. or fish that will pick at them.
Please listen to what wastememphis said about clowns beating them to death they do a lot of the time. I would also limit them to 1 or maybe 2 varieties per tank ,"rose and green bta being counted as different types." That absolutly must be feed I feed my roses every other day with a bit of meaty raw sea food and on the off days I dose with phyto/zoe plancton they also need dietary suppliments like selcon for example.
I'm not sure that they aboslutly need a host I have one tomato clown and 12 roses ," at last count and I count every day :)" It seems to host mostly in 2 or 3 of them and ignore the rest unless the giant hand comes into the tank. If you must get a rose please get a c.b. one from a trusted source they don't have all the bleaching collection issues that a lot of the wild caught ones do. Also be harsh when selecting if they are ANY signs of bleaching a ripped foot open mouth etc reject it. The chances of someone with a lot of experience nursing anything more than a slight bleaching back to health are really low. Also if you want multiple anemones make sure that they are cloens of one individual other wise if they clump up in a colony even the same species will often times sting each other to death.
My honest advise to you would be to start out with one of the anemones that don't host clowns like a rock or a tube anemone. Rock being the first choice because it won't reproduce in your tank won't move around much and it can take the bio-chemical weapons produced by your roses when you get them down the road. Always keep their bio-chemical activities in mind if you have other inverts like corals etc in the tank . You'll need to run charcoal or other carbon filtration to deal with these issues.
They really are great critters but, they aren't for every set up out there. IMHO you really should build the tank with the anems in mind that's more true for some varieties than others of course.
I hope this helps you and please be sure that you really want a creature that your grand children will inherit from you. They live longer than parrots and need VERY stable conditions that also means if you get them and something gets out of whack you'll have to adjust your conditions back to normal very slowly.
chris

[Sregnar35]

I read from multiple reliable sources that MH lighting in NOT a must? That would be my only hold up right now. I'm running 260W PC's on my 75g.

[TKOS]

Once again I would look to see who had managed to keep the type of anemone you want alive for more thana few years and follow their setup. That is the best way to approach it at this point. The fact is that no one really knows what is needed for a home tank setup and the keeping of anemones is really a new thing and much harder than keeping fish, invert or corals. Find the most successful people and take what they have as a starting point.

[Max]

I agree with you here TKOS. They really do much,much, better under halides Streg yes they can make it under p.c.'s but, they have so much more color and need a little less food under halides. "tubes, curly ques and lta's being a bit of an exception. Yes the roses will also live under p.c.'s but, they thrive under halides. You chances of getting them to reproduce are also IME much better under halides.
**TKOS You really do have a point to man. Even if you keep one of these critters alive for 20 years that is only a small portion of what a lot of them can make it in the wild. On the other side of the coin though a lot of them don't make it there whole possible life span in the wild either. I wouldn't encourage any one under any circumstances that isn't a really experienced reefer to try one of these wonderful critters. As a matter of fact I would encourage anyone that has to have one to try a tube or a rock anem first . They are much more forgiving and seem to adjust better to tank conditions than most.
Other than that go /c.b. all the way .

[carpenterwrasse]

maxilaria, I have had several anemones over the years that i have been into salt and buy far my best luck was with a l.t.a that i had for years untill I had to move my tank for painting then it went south....My flowers are doing fine and my bulb is soso at best. After I start back to work i will adding 260 watts to my 220 watts along with 4 lunar lights. does that sound like good lighting? When you say to buy from a trusted source do you have anyone that you recomend...I am intersted in your opinon

[Max]

Well, what I do is make a post in the want adds here or elsewhere on the net. You can also find captive raised anemones on some sites but, it's been quite some time since I've bought one. The last rose I purchased was from a member of a local reef club he had no problems with me comming over and looking at his set up and his critters.
I know that won't be possible for lots of people so what I'd do if I couldn't get one from a fellow reefer is go to the local lfs and ask when they are going to get some in. The day they come in go and get one with good colour; no rips or tears on the foot; closed mouth and ask the lfs store to feed it.
Something else to keep in mind is these guys eat fish. They aren't picky either anything meaty is on their list of fave things to eat so plan accordingly.
When you say your bulb is doing so-so how do you mean? I might be able to help you out a bit bro.
hth
Chris

[wastememphis]

I'm sure chris can help you, hes the "one" to ask on this site, IMO.

Chris: I know carpet anemones need alot of current/light. What about RBTA, can they survive in chaotic current in an SPS tank? I dont know if my clowns could, but was wondering about an anemone for them in my new tank. SPECS: 65gallon tank, 2 x250wattDE 10000k metal halides (PFO mini pendant), EuroReefES5-3 Skimmer, Mag5 return, right now I have 5maxi jet 1200s but I'm thinking of doing two closed loops instead, and if I need more I'll get a tunze 6060. The tank doesn't have water in it yet, and I'm ordering the lights in a month or two, but thats what the set up will be... I have everything but the baffels in the sump and the lights (i bought a bucket of salt for this tank and its next to my new RO/DI unit yay!)

[Max]

Without any problems if you give it long enough to stick somewhere. Also if it's in too much flow it'll move to a more sheltered location. In a set up like they'll reproduce for you if they get enough food. They really don't need clowns just target feed and away you go bro.
Also fwiw try if you can to put them in b/4 the sps or they might move across the top of them and sting/get stung.
That sounds like a rocking set up keep us posted
W.M thanks for the compliment it really made my day!