Anemone right for me?

[ichthyogeek]

Hi everybody, a few weeks/months ago, I posted a thread on an anemone substitute. Y'all did a very good job of convincing me to get an actual anemone. So here I am now, debating what type of anemone to get. Feeding shouldn't be an issue, but water quality might be. I tend to be lazy when it comes to water changes. Another issue is tankmates. I've got a Galaxea and Pocillopora coral, as well as a planned stocklist of ocellaris clownfish(the main reason for the 'nem), banggai cardinalfish, barbershop pole gobies, and either elongate or orchid dottybacks, all in pairs. Would the anemone sting them? My LFS can get Green Bubbles for $25, Carpets for $30, and Red Bubbles for $45. Due to me being quite frugal, I'm wondering if the green bubbletip anemone would be a good host for the ocellaris clowns? Also, what would a GBTA need in terms of care? Can I put it on the sandbed? Or will it like rock? Will it move everywhere? There's a good spot on my sandbed that I'd like to stick the anemone, but I know that they move, mostly due to conditions not being in their favor. How can I avoid the anemone moving to the side of the tank where I have shrimp gobies and a forest of Caulerpa?

 

[A1t2o]

Anemones like to have their foot on a solid surface like a rock or the glass. They usually want their foot to be shaded and protected, so if they find a hole, they are likely to stick their foot in it. You need stable parameters or the anemone might decide that it needs to go. Also high lighting is a must or they will not likely be happy. The rose bubble anemones look really nice and you want something you will be happy with long term.

Any anemone will host a clown , the clowns are more than happy to host something that just looks close enough too. If you want it to stay still then you need to make it happy, then place the rock where it has attached in a very similar location on the correct side of the tank. Feed it weekly to keep it happy and make sure you have the right light beforehand.

Good luck.

 

[ichthyogeek]

Lighting is a BML 14000K reef spectrum fixture, positioned an inch above the water's surface of a 55 gallon tank. Intensity so far has been kept to 50% because 75% I found to be very, very intense, and I didn't want to burn my mushroom anemones so much. I'll get my parameters tested next time I get to the LFS.

This may sound odd, but can I isolate the anemone to an "island" of rock surrounded by sand?

 

[A1t2o]

You can try to isolate it, but if your anemone decides that it wants to move then you wont be able to stop it. It could just let go of the rock if it doesn't like where it can get to.

If I were you, I would get an LPS coral or two that have similar care requirements to an anemone but a little hardier. That way you can tell if your lights are bright enough without the risk of it moving around and ending up in a power head. Just think of it as a trial run since mushrooms are very tolerant of conditions so they would survive just about anywhere.