# anemone sofe or not ??



## tbub1221 (Nov 1, 2012)

Iv been considering getting a neme for my clown fish , the symbiotic bond is so cute , I tried giving him coral first to host , frog spawn , a Duncan , and palm palm , he wants nothing to do with them (instead he's hosting my powerhead) 
I do not want something with long tentacles so I'm thinking carpet or a bubble , but would like some opinions from ppl with them , something preferably on the lesser stinging side for my corals sake , I said nothing to long because its not the deepest tank and wont want him stinging everything all spread out . 
Thanks . T


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

They all need room for their tentacles. Most Nems will walk around the tank if they don't like their initial placement, thats where you get things stung.
I like the LTA, then BTA, love the Carpet Nems, you can get those in way to many different colors.


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## tbub1221 (Nov 1, 2012)

im thinking a carpet or a bubble possibly , going to look today, thanks friend


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

I'm excited for you. Anemones are my favorite.

How large is your tank? How old is your tank? What kind of lighting do you have? How deep is your sand bed? And what species of clownfish are you keeping?

The key to successful photosynthetic anemone keeping is water chemistry, bi-directional current, and correct lighting...in that order. All of which = whether or not the anemone's nutritional needs are being met. The sum of those 3 may or may not support the use of supplemental feedings which will not sustain the anemone long-term if any of the those 3 qualities are significantly out-of-wack.

It's difficult to speak to the lighting needs of your anemone without knowing what species you're keeping, so I won't.

With regards to water chemistry...an established and stable system is best, (for me it was the missing link), with nitrates similar to what's recommended for softies and LPS...basically not to many, not too few. Stable temp obviously. Absolutely no ammonia or nitrites. In my experience, brief phosphate spikes didn't bother any of my nems. And these are just the basic water chemistry needs of an anemone. Like all living things anemones require minerals/elements...some in concentrations vital and specific to their needs. Google that stuff.

Beyond that...

Sometimes it's difficult to get an Ocellaris to host a Bubble Tip Anemone. BTA's are not their natural host nem. If you end up getting a Bubble Tip and you have Ocellaris clowns, I'd try floating the anemone and the clowns together in a spaghetti strainer at the top of your tank until the clowns begin to aggressively host. Do be careful not to scorch the anemone. You will need to diffuse the light somehow. Again, do not place a Bubble Tip anemone directly under reef lighting at the top of the tank...or any lighting for that matter...regardless of what you've read in these forums. You will kill it. There is far too much emphasis being placed on the intense lighting needs of Bubble Tip Anemones. They don't need intense light...it will merely force them under a rock, only to have their novice keeper remove them from beneath the rock (over and over) and place them back in direct light until they become too weak to move so they succumb to being scorched and bleached. 

Bubble Tip anemones generally prefer to live on a rock beneath an overhang where they'll squeeze their foot into the rock's crevice. I've successfully kept 6 BTA's (and unsuccessfully kept others), and each healthy nem would reach out for the light and current when they wanted it, and would shade themselves beneath the overhand when they did not. Bubble Tip anemones want access to both light and shade... I can't stress that enough. 

Anemones require steady multidirectional current. The current is their air and they can't breath it if it's moving too quickly. Then again they can't breath if it's not coming at them at all. Multidirectional current that essentially lifts them up...supports their tentacles while allowing them to flow in the breeze, is what they want. Even with perfect water chemistry and lighting, too strong or too weak of current will kill an anemone. A bad current will kill a nem more quickly than inadequate lighting. 

Carpet anemones have very different lighting needs than Bubble Tip anemones. Google that. I've kept numerous mini-carpets but I'm new to the Giant Carpet Anemone keeping club so I can only share what I've learned with my single specimen. I was told that carpet anemones (most commonly sold), generally prefer to bury their foot in the sand bed and anchor it to something solid. I've found that to be true. Carpet anemones are far more aggressive than Bubble Tip nems and they can grab hold of things very quickly. They're super sticky. My carpet anemone is strong enough to instantly grab hold of my fingers making it difficult for me to get it loose. His stick is stronger than scotch tape but not as strong as duct tape...and it feels like sandpaper. I'm convinced if a fish other than a clown brushed up against my carpet anemone, it would die. 

I've kept many species of anemones and can honestly say I've never had a single one roam around and sting corals, so I can't offer advice regarding that. With the exception of the next paragraph, I've not had problems with anemones stinging tank mates...purposely or accidentally. 

I have a 12" Ritteri Anemone...a species considered somewhat less aggressive than a Carpet Anemone. If he wanted to, he could easily reach out and sting corals and other anemones, but he doesn't. And I know he has the capability to sting because he's left significant sting marks on my inner arm that eventually faded and then turned into an itchy rash that lasted for many days. So while my Ritteri hasn't yet purposely stung tank mates, I recently witnessed him instantly paralyze a Royal Gramma I'd only had for a few weeks. Had I not saw the event myself I would have assumed the anemone was to blame, but it was my fault. I was installing a new powerhead and I blew the gramma towards the anemone. The gramma caught a few tentacles, immediately went spastic, swam uncontrollably for a few seconds, hit the sand bed and died. It was awesome, (Did I say that?) I was curious to know if the anemone would try to consume the fish if given the chance so I laid it directly on the nems mouth, but the anemone showed no interest. I've had my Ritteri since last fall and had started to dismiss him as a threat to tankmates, but not anymore. Clearly, he is a predator and if his nutritional needs weren't being met, he could snack at will. 

I hope some of that helps. I look forward to learning about and from your anemone adventure!


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## Sully (Oct 31, 2012)

I'll play devil's advocate here and say that if you have other corals in your tank and your clown won't host anything other than you powerhead, they may never host an anenome either. Just my .02.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

For new(newer) tanks anenomes will be the most diffacult,quickest to die addition.They really won't except water quality flucuations upon entering their new settings.I've read many links and info on nems and most say a tank should be well established for 1 year.And 1^ with Sully.My clowns have NO interest what so ever in my nem and have hosted with magnet cleaner,powerhead and mostly "OWN" the upper right corner of my 75.I have a mini carpet and lost a sebae when my tank was only 7-8 months old,so I waited till a little over a year.No problems since?


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

I had numerous bubble tip anemones with Ocellaris clowns for about a year, and the Ocellaris never showed interest in hosting the BTA's. However, I put a Ritteri anemone in the same tank with the same clowns and they were hosting within minutes. I know others who've had success getting Ocellaris to host with BTA's by putting them in close proximity of each other...basically forcing the clowns to notice the BTA and focus on it long enough to realize it's an anemone. 


I've never heard of a clownfish hosting a mini-carpet anemone but with clowns anything can happen. None of my clowns have paid attention to my mini-carpets. My skunk clowns will half-heartedly host rock anemones if a BTA isn't available or if another skunk has kicked them out of the BTA. My skunk clowns aggressively hosted all the BTA's until the Ritteri entered their world. Then they wanted the Ritteri. Something about that Ritteri...they all love it...it's like a drug to them. Since adding the Ritteri I've had to separate my Ocellaris and Skunks...they refuse to share. My hope is that I'll be able to reintroduce the skunk clowns and that they'll host a new carpet nem I recently added...it's a long shot but I think it will be interesting to watch. I'm not holding my breath...I suspect the skunks will instead head straight over to the Ritteri, at which point the skunks will kick the Ocellaris out of the Ritteri. But with any luck the Ocellaris will then host the larger carpet...which is a reasonable prediction as it's one of their native nems.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Sully said:


> I'll play devil's advocate here and say that if you have other corals in your tank and your clown won't host anything other than you powerhead, they may never host an anenome either. Just my .02.


Blow up a picture of a Clown in an Anemone, and tape it to the side of the tank in which the clown is hanging out, he'll figure it out once he sees that for a few weeks.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

^REALLY^.I geuss I should have known since the "playfish centerfold" has worked wonders in my breeding tanks!
Do you think they watch tv also, because I would really hate to "corrupt" them with our poor programming(which is why I watch my tanks more than tv).
Mostly joking as I know RM knows more than most of us here(more than me),but sounds pretty funny either way!


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

*r2*r2

The picture has worked for others, or I would not even throw something of that craziness out there. =)


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## Danes R Us (Nov 3, 2012)

i always leave the t.v. on for the dogs when i'm gone. left for a few hours once with the channel on animal planet or something. anyhoo, it was back to back episodes of "tanked" all day long. i come home and what do i find? all of my clowns holding up little signs demanding new stuff...i want THAT. no, wait, i want THAT! no, no, i want THOSE!!

never again!!!


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)




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## tbub1221 (Nov 1, 2012)

Goby said:


> I'm excited for you. Anemones are my favorite.


im so excited your excited *w3
i really enjoyed reading your post and found it helpful and amusing.

i decided on a mini carpet iv been watching for 3.5 months its about 4" green, pink, yellow like most iv seen , its settled in great rite away last night and found a good spot in my center cave, not exactly the best viewing spot but i think he cares not for my thoughts on the matter.

The tank is relatively newly set up but is stable now , it is a 12G flat back hex with a 1.25G HOB fuge , good flow . ph 8.2 , ammo0, nitri0, nitra0, phos0, Dkh 10 , cal 480 , my lighting is 3w led w/60Degree lenses , salinity 1.024 ..
my clown is an Oc , i didnt feel good about putting something bigger in my pico , if he never hosts thats fine by me , but i will try that picture idea 
(Thanks RM) 
i do not have a mag kit because i bought a api reef master kit but will have one before the weekend , its on its way.
i added about 12OZ of fiji mud to my live sand bed before the rock went in (i had almost forgotten i did that) as well as the sand from my 5G pico i had up before this one .
I added half a bottle of bio spirea at the end of my cycle once the ammonia and nitrites were gone to help break down the diatom beginning to form .
I have also been using kents reef starter kit , i have a lot of zo's maybe 300+ of different color variants as well as some paly's a duncan coral and various softies and even a few birds nest , there all growing good , i feed them phytoplex and brightwell phyto gold-m and mysis or brine shrimp 2x a week so the neme will get the same.

here is the mini carpet , its folded itself a bit like a taco shell atm 


below are a few more pics of the aquarium and of my hansom clown fish.



















this pic is @ CoralBandit in regards to the culpera you sent me .
today was weekly water change day and i decided to thin the fuge of any dead or dieing algae (which was only maybe 2 strands out of all you sent me) and to vaccuum out the piled up nasty that accumulated . 
wile at it i decided to just remove the small grape culpera because i keep seeing the little grapes stuck to the power heads , so they are a few here and there slipping through and dont want it to become an issue , it attaches to the rock and within a day has roots its fast .
i found this one strand with large flat grape and small grape on the same stem, i thought they were 2 different sub species so now im a little confused. 
This was the only strand like it in the whole bunch.
Thanks again for the care package and also all the help and encouragement , this has been an awesome learning experience and i keep finding more and more i love to this hobby. 
the little clump of cheato has dubbed almost under 6500 L 9x0.5W Led on 24/7 for the culpera .Before you know it i should be ok using just the cheato if it keeps growing like this


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

Well that's flippin awesome. Nice reef. I took these pics a few minutes ago with my phone...


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Tank looks great!If the small grapes are on the same stem as flat tops then they will change over to flat as they grow.
Good move ditching the small grapes if they are escaping your fuge,you really don't want THEM in DT.


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## tbub1221 (Nov 1, 2012)

Thats a handsome clown you have there goby , he looks awfully happy in that beautiful anemone.
It's so white and him being black and white like that really pops , is he a snow flake ?


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## tbub1221 (Nov 1, 2012)

I'm not happy seeing the 2nd pwr head in the top r corner it feeds the fuge , I'm keeping my eyes open for the perfect piece of rock to stack there and obstruct my view of the plastics a bit .


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

tbub1221 said:


> Thats a handsome clown you have there goby , he looks awfully happy in that beautiful anemone.
> It's so white and him being black and white like that really pops , is he a snow flake ?


Yes, he's a snowflake of the blacker variety. The nem is sorta pale pinkish colored with pale yellow tips...a common color for that species.


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## Shaun843 (Jun 7, 2013)

Me personally, Ive had luck with tank bred clownfish hosting in my previous bubbletip...


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