Anemone proof???

[Kenreefer]

Hi all,
My son n I have a 55g corner tank and we would like to put both clownfish n anemones in it. Tank has corner overflow box. How else can I protect n anemone from clogging the OF? The tank is new n cycled we have some time. Can we add clownfish now or wait 6 months n put them all in together? BTW a clarkii is in there now but he will be rehomed. Way to aggressive.
Thanks Ken

 

[OrionN]

Depends on if you can keep the anemone happy. Anemone can move so unhappy anemone will move.
Can't anemone proof a tank. Need to set a tank for a specific anemone species. If you can keep him happy then there will be no problem.
New reefer should not keep anemone.

 

[Kenreefer]

We had a 40g breeder reef tank for just about a year. We wanted a separate anemone tank as a carpet decided to walk through our corals, so back to the LFS it went. The carpet n clarkii were great to watch. So we were interested in setting up tank so prevent flooding etc... So any suggestions?

 

[shifty51008]

You would most likely have to drill a backup drain on the tank, one that sit's a little higher than the other.

But as stated anemones usually dont move if they are happy if your carpet was fine for a while and then one day went for a walk it usually means something changed and they didnt like it.

 

[OrionN]

Sand dwelling anemone like Haddoni carpet are easiest to keep. They need to have nice clean water, adequate light and not too much water movement. They will stay put unless water condition poor or too little light or too much current or not enough sand, then they move. Slightly unhappy Haddoni will just move around, really unhappy Haddoni will just get his foot up and really move around.
The easiest anemone to care for is the BTA, however thy move around a lot. You should consider get your tank up to par and keep the Haddoni carpet (I assume that you had a Haddoni) or get a H. crispa. Crispa is an easy rock dwelling anemone to keep. You should avoid BTA (easy but they move around too much), Magnifica, Gigantea (both really difficult). You may want to get a H. malu (sand anemone), but they do not get very big.

 

[manilaboy1vic]

Hi all,
My son n I have a 55g corner tank and we would like to put both clownfish n anemones in it. Tank has corner overflow box. How else can I protect n anemone from clogging the OF? The tank is new n cycled we have some time. Can we add clownfish now or wait 6 months n put them all in together? BTW a clarkii is in there now but he will be rehomed. Way to aggressive.
Thanks Ken

if your thinking bubble tip. just make sure there is a nice crevice for him to put his foot in.. it will feel secure with its foot not exposed... not too much flow and not too little.. let him settle then feed it..

when you introduce it turn the flow to low setting if you have that option or completely off..

they move around if are looking for food too as well as being in a bad spot (light and flow wise)..


when i got mine.. it tried to move to the back and i actually stopped it in his tracks and moved it up front again to a good crevice.. i stopped it by pointing a power head right at its foot and massaging the foot so it would release..

and my current clowns didnt take to it.. because they had a home already.. i got rid of them and got a maroon clown that went to it immediatly.. but now hes eating it.. currently working that issue out

good luck

 

[Kenreefer]

I believe the clarkii made him move as he was quite aggressive and than got behind the carpet. The carpet was stationed between two rocks but the clarkii went through the two and started swimming behind him. Yhe carpet was in that spot for 3 weeks than we added the clown, properly named in this case. So we decided to setup a separate anenome tank. Thanks for the advice. I have read karenanemone site and a lot of postings. I'm going to put a separate pipe running on both sides of the tank so I'll have one overflow and two other flow pipes that will also drain into the box. I'll use both holes for down flow pipes and run the return on the outside.

 

[m0nkie]

Good luck. A separate emergency drain pipe is your best bet.

If you get rid of the corner overflow, you can attempt a coast to coast overflow.

 

[manilaboy1vic]

i dont understand the corner overflow box issue/concern?

my overflow is in the corner.. do you have ample supply of live rock?

 

[Kenreefer]

The overflow box is like 7? Inches wide so a good sized anemone could block it imo. So I'll use the return pipe whole to run another flow pipe to the box. I have the diy skills and real hate floods. Yes I have plenty of rock 55g n 50 pounds of rock. Going to break rock into smaller pieces as their not fitting together nice. I plan on having my 40g reef n anemone tanks run through the same 55g sump, more water volume. But I'll have to wait until the newer 50g is better established.

 

[akida]

Sand dwelling anemone like Haddoni carpet are easiest to keep. They need to have nice clean water, adequate light and not too much water movement. They will stay put unless water condition poor or too little light or too much current or not enough sand, then they move. Slightly unhappy Haddoni will just move around, really unhappy Haddoni will just get his foot up and really move around.
The easiest anemone to care for is the BTA, however thy move around a lot. You should consider get your tank up to par and keep the Haddoni carpet (I assume that you had a Haddoni) or get a H. crispa. Crispa is an easy rock dwelling anemone to keep. You should avoid BTA (easy but they move around too much), Magnifica, Gigantea (both really difficult). You may want to get a H. malu (sand anemone), but they do not get very big.

I disagree with the H.Crispa being an easy anemone to keep. Most people have trouble keeping them. I'm sure with good water chemistry and great placement it'll help the chances of survival but sebae anemones aren't easy imo. Just my 2 cents though I'm no Minh or Dnak . I also think sebaes are more of a sand dwelling anemone that will sit at the base of rocks where they meet the sandbed.

 

[ThRoewer]

I disagree with the H.Crispa being an easy anemone to keep. Most people have trouble keeping them. I'm sure with good water chemistry and great placement it'll help the chances of survival but sebae anemones aren't easy imo. Just my 2 cents though I'm no Minh or Dnak . I also think sebaes are more of a sand dwelling anemone that will sit at the base of rocks where they meet the sandbed.

I have to agree.
With one exception all H. crispa I've tried have given me nothing but grief. Usually they come fully bleached (some exporters intentionally bleach them so they are nicely white, or even worse dye them in all kinds of colors) and have due to that a very short live expectancy.
Also, as reef dwellers they need rather pristine water quality.

I was equally unsuccessful with many other "easy" anemones, most notably BTAs.

My success with H. malu is so far mixed, but they seem to be on the easier side. The issue with them is that the only anemone fish that take them as natural host are juvenile A. clarkii (though 2 of my percula pairs took them on too).

To my surprise I found the easiest anemone to keep (once healthy) to be S. gigantea. All they need is loads of light and ideally a flow that alternates between very high and very low (to simulate tidal flow changes). Another thing they need is a good oxygen saturation of the water, so a skimmer is a must.
It is also the anemone I found least likely to move around if it's foot is put in the right place.

 

[OrionN]

Up until about 5 years ago, rarest host anemone in captivity is S. gigantea, then H. magnifica.
Captive keep specimen of S. haddoni, H. crispa, E. quadricolor, H. malu, M. doreensis were not unusual 10 years ago.

Because of this reason, it is my believe that Gigantea and Magnifica are difficult anemone to keep.

 

[ThRoewer]

I feel it is just the transport stress and bacterial infections that make gigantea and magnifica anemones difficult. Once that hurdle is taken they are rather easy as we now understand their needs.

H. crispa might be easy too if you get a good one. Unfortunately most that arrive here are fully bleached. So far I only had one recover and that was in 1984. All I tried subsequently never recovered from bleaching and just slowly withered away. They would take food but then spit it out undigested.
It is still one anemone I want to keep successfully and I have not given up yet.

BTAs are fickle beasts and I simply have no luck figuring out what light they like. The last I tried was always hiding form the LED light and ended up in a pump.

S. haddoni may be hardy but it gets big and is for sure a fish eater, so I try to stay clear of it.

S. mertensii are just plain rare to find. I don't think I ever seen one in a store.

M. doreensis is one I have not tried yet.

My assessment that S gigantea is one of the easiest to keep once healthy is my success rate so far: out of 5 only one died due to infection/transport stress, and possibly antibiotic poisoning, but the other 4 are doing fine. Of those 4 I only had to treat 2 for infection. That's the highest success rate for any anemone I've tried so far.
The only special thing I do for them is light. As shallow water anemone they need lots of it.

The problem I had with magnificas in the past was that they would always walk around. Now that I know why and how to make them stay put, I'm sure I could keep them easily as well. It is just that I currently don't have a tank for one.

 

[Sandberg1222]

Most people don't really understand anemones and the relationship that clowns have with them. Yes anemones will move around when not happy, but the host female usually runs the show. Mine for example, a 4 - 5 inch Red and Black, made my anemone move over 3 feet to HER spot. She rammed it 3 times in the side, buckling it over. Over a 3 day period, it moved, with her persuasion, over 3 feet. There is a communication process that goes on between them. Once they are bonded, they work together for the survival of each other. Why do you think the clowns always attack you as soon as your hand enters the tank. I watched my clowns spawn one time, about 20 minutes before they spawned, I noticed the female tickling and nudging one of the anemones closet to their spawn area. The nem moved out of its spot, the clowns spawned, then the nem moved back to it's spot and covered the eggs. Fascinating. Sometimes you have to let them figure it out.

 

[Kenreefer]

Thank everyone for their input. I really can't wait to get one. I'll have to read this post again n again. Until then I just have to wait. Thanks Ken

 

[OrionN]

Most people don't really understand anemones and the relationship that clowns have with them. Yes anemones will move around when not happy, but the host female usually runs the show. Mine for example, a 4 - 5 inch Red and Black, made my anemone move over 3 feet to HER spot. She rammed it 3 times in the side, buckling it over. Over a 3 day period, it moved, with her persuasion, over 3 feet. There is a communication process that goes on between them. Once they are bonded, they work together for the survival of each other. Why do you think the clowns always attack you as soon as your hand enters the tank. I watched my clowns spawn one time, about 20 minutes before they spawned, I noticed the female tickling and nudging one of the anemones closet to their spawn area. The nem moved out of its spot, the clowns spawned, then the nem moved back to it's spot and covered the eggs. Fascinating. Sometimes you have to let them figure it out.

:lolspin::lolspin::lolspin:
This is really a "creative" interpretation of clownfish and anemone behavior.
:lolspin::lolspin::lolspin:

 

[Sandberg1222]

Thank you Mihn. It is based on my personal experience. Since anemones do not have a brain, that I am aware of, I believe that there is some sort of communication between them on a cellular level. I maybe wrong, but there is truely some way they communicate.

 

[Kenreefer]

Sandberg. Based on your story I beginning to think my 2.5 inch clarkii was making my 9 inch carpet anemone move too. The first few days it was rub a dub dub but than he started swimming behind it all the time. Then it moved. So I'm going to agree with you that the clown could in fact make a anemone move....I definitely was not ready or expecting that. Pretty interesting.

 

[m0nkie]

Sandberg. Based on your story I beginning to think my 2.5 inch clarkii was making my 9 inch carpet anemone move too. The first few days it was rub a dub dub but than he started swimming behind it all the time. Then it moved. So I'm going to agree with you that the clown could in fact make a anemone move....I definitely was not ready or expecting that. Pretty interesting.

I have read several posts on Clarkii owners saying their clowns made Haddoni carpets move due to constantly swimming under it.