12g anemone tank, build advice please

[leftcoastreefer]

Hello RC,

I'm in the process of building a new tank for my bedroom and I want to keep a nem. This tank is going to be a dedicated species tank. If you could please critique my plans and offer any advice. I have little to no experience keeping nems. The tanks is a 12g aquapod, heavily modified. Drilled, with a 10g sump. 150watt hqi pendant. Aqua c remora(original) skimmer. MR1 media reactor for crabon. ATO, filter sock, 50w heater and 2 koralia nanos for flow. I would like to keep a green or blue carpet nem. What temp do these guys like. TIA

 

[elegance coral]

Sorry, but you can't keep a carpet in that tank. It simply won't fit.

 

[clowns101]

A blue or green carpet anemone.NNNOOO!!!They will get super big super fast!Start with a Bubble Tip and get a good aquacultered!

 

[elegance coral]

A blue or green carpet anemone.NNNOOO!!!

:lol: So what are you trying to say?:lol:

But seriously Leftcoastreefer, there are some gray areas in this hobby where we can push the boundaries, and we just might get away with it. This ain't one of them. It sounds like you have an awesome little system, but you simply can't put one of these animals in a 12gl tank.

 

[leftcoastreefer]

Really. I guess I will go with a BTA, but they get huge also.

 

[WDLV]

Really. I guess I will go with a BTA, but they get huge also.

Not always... and if they do they can be divided and sold.

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

Really. I guess I will go with a BTA, but they get huge also.

IMHO I wouldn't even do that. You'll lose it within a few months. I know you'll probably take what I say for a grain of sand, but don't put anemones in anything less than a 20g. Anemones need lots of light, which a 12g can't provide. I keep lots of BTA and RBTA in my 34g with PC lights. The reason they survive is from lots of food and high wattage lights. I'm guessing that this 12g you're talking about is a Nano Cube, and the Nano Cube has nowhere near enough lighting for it. I say get at least a 20g tank with at least 75 watts of PC fluorescent or forget about anemones all together. Either do this the right way, or don't do it at all. If you get anemones and they die, you're out a lot of money.

 

[OrionN]

Host anemone is difficult to keep in a 12 g tank. Smallest tank I am willing to keep host anmeone in is 24 g Aquapod.

 

[Qwiv]

IMHO I wouldn't even do that. You'll lose it within a few months. I know you'll probably take what I say for a grain of sand, but don't put anemones in anything less than a 20g. Anemones need lots of light, which a 12g can't provide. I keep lots of BTA and RBTA in my 34g with PC lights. The reason they survive is from lots of food and high wattage lights. I'm guessing that this 12g you're talking about is a Nano Cube, and the Nano Cube has nowhere near enough lighting for it. I say get at least a 20g tank with at least 75 watts of PC fluorescent or forget about anemones all together. Either do this the right way, or don't do it at all. If you get anemones and they die, you're out a lot of money.

Learn to read. He/she has a 150 watt MH on his tank. Smokes the 75 watts of PC light you recommend.

I have a RBTA in a nano cube with a 70 watt light and it does great. It does take up the entire tank and kills anything else I put in the tank. Had the nem for about 8 years now. Note: the nem is a captive specimen and really hearty. I purchased one 8 years ago and have almost killed it 8 time with pumps, power outages etc. It has split 2 dozen times and is a trooper. Make sure you get a RBTA from a fellow reefer. Good luck. Keep the temp/ph stable and your good to go. I don't feed the nem because it is already to big, but I use to.

 

[sur4die]

i kept a BTA in a 12G tank with a 150MH viper clamp lamp (mounted +12 inches above the water line) for well over a year before i moved into a larger tank. i did have a +7G sump, but the BTA did fine, just need to find a way to give it a shady spot to hide from the light which can be hard to do in the 12G space. i ended up just placing a piece of opaque plastic over the rear edge of the tank to give the back what amounted to an awning.

skip the sand bed and get creative with your rock work. the BTA will need foot holds but also will like shady spots. so you kinda have to have both brick wall-like stacks of rock as well as caves, again, tough to do in 12G.

i had 1 koralia nano and the return (400gph + 4ft head) for flow and no skimmer or reactor. you can totally get away with the setup you mentioned.

 

[Eight]

I currently have 12 RBTAs in a 15 gallon tank. But the tank is at work which means it stays cool due to airconditioning and it has a 150w MH over it.

I should note that I don't really have any other corals in the tank other than some shrooms and GSP. The clown is damn happy though.

 

[clowns101]

:lol: So what are you trying to say?:lol:

But seriously Leftcoastreefer, there are some gray areas in this hobby where we can push the boundaries, and we just might get away with it. This ain't one of them. It sounds like you have an awesome little system, but you simply can't put one of these animals in a 12gl tank.

LOL....to much for me to type....LOL

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

hearty

I'll try to read if you promise to learn how to spell! :thumbsup:

 

[leftcoastreefer]

Thank you all for the advice!!! I'm not concerned with lights or filtration. However the rockscape is a very good idea. I didn't realize they need hiding spots. I must also mention I will only be running the 150mh for 5-6hrs a day. I prefer a 16hr photo-period with LED's running most of the morning and evening so there will be some cree's on here. The system will be controlled with an RKL so I'm going to be watching ph and temp very closely. I also will mention again, this is a species tank. There won't be any other corals. Maybe some clowns, just maybe. I also decided on the big reactor because I know nems can put off a lot of slime. The water in this tank is going to be super clean, I'm not worried about nutes in the water, the nem will be fed a variety of fresh seafood.

 

[leftcoastreefer]

IMHO I wouldn't even do that. You'll lose it within a few months. I know you'll probably take what I say for a grain of sand, but don't put anemones in anything less than a 20g. Anemones need lots of light, which a 12g can't provide. I keep lots of BTA and RBTA in my 34g with PC lights. The reason they survive is from lots of food and high wattage lights. I'm guessing that this 12g you're talking about is a Nano Cube, and the Nano Cube has nowhere near enough lighting for it. I say get at least a 20g tank with at least 75 watts of PC fluorescent or forget about anemones all together. Either do this the right way, or don't do it at all. If you get anemones and they die, you're out a lot of money.

I know I'm the nem newbie here, but.. Aren't anemones photosynthetic, and fit into the catagory of "high light demanding" reef inhabitants we keep in our tanks.

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

I know I'm the nem newbie here, but.. Aren't anemones photosynthetic, and fit into the catagory of "high light demanding" reef inhabitants we keep in our tanks.

Yes, you're correct. That is why anemones have mouths and stick tentacles to catch things with - all because they're photosynthetic. :rollface:

 

[velvetelvis]

And they have all those funny little zooxanthellae things in their tissues, too...you're correct, leftcoastreefer, clownfish-hosting anemones are partially photosynthetic.

 

[leftcoastreefer]

Yes, you're correct. That is why anemones have mouths and stick tentacles to catch things with - all because they're photosynthetic. :rollface:

I asked because, I thought it wasn't a good idea to keep an anemone like BTA or carpet under PC lights. Which you recommended. From what I have read, BTA's are very dependent upon zooxanthellae. Thus the bright colors they exhibit are the work of symbiotic algae. I'm not sure if your comment was sarcastic or not.

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

I asked because, I thought it wasn't a good idea to keep an anemone like BTA or carpet under PC lights. Which you recommended. From what I have read, BTA's are very dependent upon zooxanthellae. Thus the bright colors they exhibit are the work of symbiotic algae. I'm not sure if your comment was sarcastic or not.

I never suggested to put BTA or Carpets under PC. Heck no for the carpets! I said that I successfully keep BTA and RBTA under PC. I've had a few of them for more than a year now, so I'm just saying... While BTA are dependent on their zooxanthalle, they also need to be fed. Why else would they have mouths and tentacles to catch things with? If they didn't need to eat they would just be a big floppy piece of colored tissue - no tentacles and no mouth.

 

[leftcoastreefer]

I never suggested to put BTA or Carpets under PC. Heck no for the carpets! I said that I successfully keep BTA and RBTA under PC. I've had a few of them for more than a year now, so I'm just saying... While BTA are dependent on their zooxanthalle, they also need to be fed. Why else would they have mouths and tentacles to catch things with? If they didn't need to eat they would just be a big floppy piece of colored tissue - no tentacles and no mouth.

Maybe I presented myself as a newbie, but I was keeping myself open to entertaining all ideas and opinions about housing anemones. I fully understand how an anemones lives and how one is kept. I may not keep them but I am no newb to reeskeeping. I have an established reef aquarium going on 5 years old alone. I keep over 50 differant types of sps, lps and zoanthids. I'm very familiar with how the organisms we keep benefit from symbiotic algae and supplemental feeding. You also did recommend that I keep an anemone in no less then a 20g with no less then 75 watts of pc lighting. I really was trying to get some good information out of this thread, but it seems it has taken a differant direction. I wish people would get there facts right before trying to tell someone else how to keep an organism they know little to nothing about. I would suggest spending as much time reading about the inhabitants you keep, as much as you spend time telling people how to keep them.