anemone Q&a
- Thread starter amp94
- Start date
enchelycore808
Member
I'll admit, I have though I don't condone it nor do I want to lead people to believe that a proper tank cycle isnt important. If you can hold off on getting one, just be patient. You will have far less headaches and the animals will be a lot more likely to thrive.
well heres the thing, I have never had an issue with up and down parameters. I started my tank back in april using a fishless cycle, by using cocktail shrimps to cycle my tank that took approximately 5 weeks. since then I haven't had any issues with ammonia nor nitrate, seems to always be 0 for both. My tank is still considered new but is hitting the 4 month mark which to me seems like things are just about almost settled so to speak. I had one green bubble tip anemone from a local fish store that doesn't really take good care of their saltwater selections and the anemone was first introduced after 2 1/2 months and only lived for about 6 weeks. It didn't deteriorate, it just wasn't attaching its self much and bleached and wouldn't except food. shortly after that is when I had started using trace elements. But when it turned about 3 months I decided to go ahead and purchase a small rbta that is still thriving one month later and hasn't bleached, has always been stuck to a rock and eats literally everytime I feed it a long with the small gold stripe maroon clown I have. I haven't noticed much of a lack of nutrition or close to death stage but it seems like its growing a bit. Ive just heard that they could die after a few months and when that happens itll be the 6 month mark which is supposedly the minimal length requirement for these animals. I was just curious to see what people have experienced because mine is truly a beautiful anemone and it would be unfortunate to see it die. Also I bought a splattered green bubble tip the other day, a couple inches bigger, really nice looking ! and my gold stripe maroon clown seems to like it a little better lol. but any advice or feed back would be sufficient, thank you.
ocellaris123
Active member
I usually just wait for my tank to finish the nitrogen cycle than introduce anemones. Been doing it like this for years and have not had any issues, with bta's, lta's and haddonis. Not really sure where the 6 month rule came from, but i'm guessing it was meant for people newer to the hobby to get comfortable with their tanks maintenance/parameter wise before introducing inverts.
SwampyBill
New member
Am I reading correctly--you've already had one anemone die in your new tank, you've got 2 more & NOW you're asking for help...? The reason the 6 month suggestion is so new tanks can mature some & the hobbyist can get a handle on water parameters. Nems need stable water parameters & new tanks fluctuate too much. What lighting do you have over the tank & how many gallons is it?
CoralsAddiction
Active member
I waited 7 months and it worked out really well with my rainbow BTA. Traded it later when I got hooked on SPS. Anyway, if you are willing to wait 4 months, what's another 6-8 weeks? 
SwampyBill
New member
But OP didn't wait...already had one nem die in a 2 1/2 month old tank; then got 2 others after that...
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my rbta now is doing Great! and the other one is still getting use to the tank, its only a few days old. I mean I was just wondering if anyone had good luck with them doing the same thing I did. for some reason the rbta is really healthy has some growth to it and eats when ever its fed. I have 4 bulb high output t5 lighting in a 40 gallon breeder tank
UCaggie
New member
It's pretty easily doable if you have a tank that isn't as old, but the tank owner has more experience. I think people see it more as the time it takes for you to be able to handle all the situations that can arise with them.
If you have enough experience adjusting for unexpected problems with the reef tanks then they can definitely do it. I've seen others do it and I've had it work with both a bta and a crispa.
If you have enough experience adjusting for unexpected problems with the reef tanks then they can definitely do it. I've seen others do it and I've had it work with both a bta and a crispa.
BonsaiNut
Premium Member
Yes you can do it in less time, but as UCaggie has said, it depends...
Very tough to do it in a reef tank that quickly if you are also adding corals, fish, etc. If you take a bare-bottom tank and add seasoned-live rock (REALLY seasoned - like 1 year or more out of the ocean) and don't add fish, corals, other inverts, so that you ONLY have a BTA... you can do it faster.
It all comes down to bio-load and established bacteria colony. A BTA (by itself) will not generate a huge bio load unless you are feeding it heavily.
This assumes you have all other conditions optimal - like lighting, high oxygen levels, protein skimming and water movement.
Very tough to do it in a reef tank that quickly if you are also adding corals, fish, etc. If you take a bare-bottom tank and add seasoned-live rock (REALLY seasoned - like 1 year or more out of the ocean) and don't add fish, corals, other inverts, so that you ONLY have a BTA... you can do it faster.
It all comes down to bio-load and established bacteria colony. A BTA (by itself) will not generate a huge bio load unless you are feeding it heavily.
This assumes you have all other conditions optimal - like lighting, high oxygen levels, protein skimming and water movement.
MickeyDime53
New member
You said you started adding trace elements and such..
Have you been testing before adding anything to the tank? Its not bueno to blindly add stuff every week unknowing of the parameters of what you are adding
Have you been testing before adding anything to the tank? Its not bueno to blindly add stuff every week unknowing of the parameters of what you are adding
melvinakshay
Member
My RBTA is gigantic and refuses to split. I feel that they do better with clowns hosting in it. I rarely feed them as the clowns seem to take care of the spot feeding part as they share quite a lot of food
