anemones in nanos

[user nayme]

Hey guys, i have been in the reefing hobby for quite a few years. i have quite a bit of experience with anemones and have successfully kept some hardier anemones (bta, lta, sebae) in smaller tanks. however i have never kept an anemone in a tank smaller than 20 gallons.

now right now i have a 7 gallon nano tank and i was just thinking what sort of care it would take to keep a small bta in such a tank. i know i need to wait until the tank has been established for nearly up to a year but i like to plan ahead

i would love to just keep a tiny little bta in it and a single clown. but i know that this is probably frowned upon as anemones can be quite tricky. thoughts?

i am in no way new to anemones so let me know if i would be able to do this if i took all the necessary precautions and steps to keep it healthy.

 

[Morganfbs]

I too have this exact desire! I have a 7 gallon tank that's been up about 8 months and I'm starting to want a RBTA...

 

[user nayme]

it would be helpful if i had a larger tank, so if the anemone started doing poorly i could just switch him right over to the big tank.

 

[OrionN]

I would keep a H. malu in a small tank. BTA move around too much. In a small tank liek that this can easily end in disaster.

 

[icedearth15324]

I kept an RBTA is a 12g nanocube successfully for well over 6 months (moved it over to a 75g). It can be done, just turn off any powerheads and let it find a place it likes.

 

[rhdoug]

I kept a sebae in a 10 gallon for about a year, until I broke down the tank. Wish I would have kept it...

 

[gsechen]

i have many rbta's in nano's over the years and all did well until i had to move to a new city. right now i have two small rbta's in an 8g. as long as they find a spot they like they usually don't move in my experience

 

[ausram]

I have had a RBTA in my 24 gallon nanocube for the past 6 months successfully. If you can add it first that's best otherwise give it enough empty space to decide where it wants to go. Mine stays put for the most part but every once in a while it decides to move a few inches in any direction. I keep mine isolated on its own rock so it doesnt cause any issues

 

[DrPheel]

If you have the time to let the tank fully cycle to make the condition perfect for keeping the anemone I would introduce it first and let it find its sweet spot ! then you can add corals accordinglyt to what spot it chose. Like other users say, BTA are quite little movers. In the 6ish month I had mind It was about 3 months on the first spot it had picked. It then moved to the back of the rockwork and wen I took the tank down I had 3x small RBTA all hiding in the back of the tank. Another good tip I was given is to chose a peice of LR with a large enough hole that It can fit its foot in and maybe by change it it attache there

I have heard sotries of them moving all around , and some of them not wanting to move no mather what you did to them! but the feeling of seeing your clownfish hosting and playing with it is in fact priceless and worth every headache

 

[user nayme]

yeah i do seem to have quite a bit of luck with malus, i have only ever kept 2 bta's as i hate waking up in the morning and seeing all my coral killed haha. good news though, exactly what i wanted to hear
ill wait probably quite some time before introducing a tiny malu into the tank. or possibly a tiny bta and have it be the only thing in there. probably no corals.

 

[JReefaddict]

I just put a rock flower in my 3 gallon nano. It is a little bit bigger than a quarter, when it outgrows the tank I plan on moving it to my 180. It's only been in the system since Friday but love watching the rock flower feed.