Anemones

[Almondsaz]

Need some help. I have a reef tank and will only be keeping corals, 1 serpent star, 2 peppermint shrimp, 5 common hermits and 3 snails. I am wondering if there is such a thing as an anemone that is reef safe. The only fish I want/have are two clowns and while I know they don't have to have one...if it's possible it would be nice to get one.

Please let me know. Thanks for the help

David

 

[Mabel]

Easy for you to say

 

[Bryce]

Before I want to give an answer to this question I would like to ask how big your tank is (for the reef safe part) and what type of lighting (for the health and type of anemone) you have?

[FONT=&quot]Thanks[/FONT]

 

[Almondsaz]

Currently the lighting is Corallife CF 30" for a 45 gallon. I can add MH but don't want to spend the $$ unless there is a reason.

 

[Fishieness]

i, personally, wouldnt keep an anem without MH.
they are reef safe as long as they are happy where they are. but you can never judge where they woudl be happy. lol

 

[Reefscape]

Currently the lighting is Corallife CF 30" for a 45 gallon. I can add MH but don't want to spend the $$ unless there is a reason.

Well, your reason is quality of lige for the nem. They are a very delicate creature and should only be put into an enviroment that it is going to thrive in, and i agree that MH is the only proper way forward for these..

What size tank is this by the way mate?

Niko

 

[armagedon48]

I disagree, halides are not the only way.
my flower anemone thrives under 80 watts PC. tube anemones dont even need light, just lots of food.
and then the almighty debate on if T5's are better or worse than halides, and in alot of cases, T5's can be.
BTA can be kept under PC, T5, and halides. i dont wana say VHO because i just dont like them, never did..
but i would leave the carpet anemones for the much more intense light of halides or T5's with proper individual reflectors.

looking for reef safe? flower anemones, BTA, and a few others may qualify. though ANY anemone can become a problem if it decides to walk, which can be triggered by poor water movement, poor light, poor water quality and whatever else the anemone might not like. many of the pro's argue that no anemone is reef safe, but actually just a disaster waiting to happen (such as a 10 inch carpet anemone walking 30 inches to the left, leaving a path of dead corals.).

 

[Fishieness]

tube anemones dont even need light, just lots of food

but you wont get a clown to host a tube anem. at least not for long :grinyes: :mad2: ahahahaha
and yes, there have been reported cases of clowns doing well under PCs, for the majority of them (and i am talking about even in a species, not just the class) do not do well.

 

[Reefscape]

I disagree, halides are not the only way.

With respect, i never said Halides are the ONLY way, i said they are the proper way, in my opinion.

Thanks

Niko

 

[Bryce]

I am going to assume that your 45-gallon tank is a standard size and is 36inches long instead of the 45-gallon long which is 48 inches long. This being the case I think you could keep an E. Quadricolor (Bubble Tip) anemone if:

You add another coralife fixture to use in conjunction with the one you have. I would suggest the 36inch Aqualight Deluxe that has two 96-watt 50/50 pc with built in cooling fans. They are on sale many places at around 180.00.


Build a live rock island in one end of your tank that will separate the anemone from the rest of the animals in the tank in case it decides to take a walk. They don’t like walking on substrate and will normally stick to their island.

Get the anemone to plant itself near the top of the island so it is as close as possible to the light. This can be done by finding a piece of rock that has a nice hole in it that the anemone will naturally want to plant its foot. Another thing you could do is position a piece of two inch PVC at the top of the island and surround it by live rock which would give the anemone a nice secure place to plant its foot.

And lastly feed it a couple times a week (no more) with either very small (under a quarter inch) pieces of silver sides or small pieces of raw shrimp.

I successfully kept an E. quadricolor and had it thrive (doubled in size and color intensity) for six months under the above conditions prior to adding Metal Halide lighting. Even now the anemone isn’t directly under the MH and it and my clowns are doing great together.

Picture of E. quadricolor one week after bringing it home:

As it looked six months later. Note there had not been Metal Halide lighting added to this point.