Anemones NOT advised for novices...seriously

[davocean]

^^ It's not that they are not smart, it's that you do not have a natural match'd nem as they would be found in the wild, if you did most likely the clown would dive right in fairly quickly

 

[Reefer PT]

My clowns never were in the wild. So who knows. I had a sebae nem once . It grew too big for the 180 it was in so I sold it. The thing dominated the tank! Never again. This BTA has been a nice slow grower. He started as a 2" clone.


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[davocean]

Regardless of whether your clowns are wild or tank bred the instinct is still very much there, post this in the nem forum w/ other nem keepers and you will see and hear of countless similar experiences, pretty much just like I described.
It would take many many generations of breeding to eliminate that natural instinct.

 

[MattGatten]

My clowns seem to love the empty upper right back corner of my tank near one of the return nozzles. I have a ton of rock and corals in my 120. No luck. They come out to eat and then return to their corner. Oh well!

 

[BigEZ77]

Wise words as always Sk8r. I made this mistake and almost had a dying nem poison my tank. I will not try again for a long long time, if ever.

 

[leviburns89]

I agree with everything but the "no powehead" part.

Yes there is a chance the nem could move into it and get torn to shreds, so be proactive.

They have mesh covers and various screens to prevent such a thing.

I personally do not run a sump, how then would I get ample flow? Nems do require a fair amount of flow to be happy.

Many many hobbyists have successfully housed Nems with powerheads. In fact I would say most who do, also have powerheads. Including myself.

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[Sk8r]

Re powerheads: yes, screen them, and screen them securely. By my observation, an unhappy nem may loose and wander about the water column (some species are more apt than others to do this) and one inquisitive tentacle trying to follow a current and getting sucked into the powerhead is the start of really bad things.

 

[Sandybw1]

Thanks for posting lthis.....I killed my first nem :-(

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[mav3rick478]

Totally agree with the biting, before my Percula just used to bite me when I was near the anemone now it bites me whenever I stick my hand in the tank to pull out algae even when I'm at the other end of the tank. No fear from the little fella, I've even flicked him away by touching his head and he will not run. Once they bond with an anemone it's a beautiful thing. I've been lucky that my RBTA has been happy in the spot I put him in and has doubled in size since getting him. I used to feed him twice a week but now I maybe feed him once every other week. He usually catches food on his own and really has been getting bigger since I stopped feeding him so much.

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[leviburns89]

My clown also bites me every time my hand goes in.

It's smart and gets me right in between my fingers on the webbing.

I noticed it does not bite me if I feed her first. Maybe she think I'm food, who knows.

All I do know, is she is becoming a beautiful enemy lol

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[CStrickland]

I heard if you wear a sparkly ring the clowns will go for that in stead of your tender flesh. You don't want to do it for a once in a while attacker, as it can encourage them. But with an unrepentant assassin might be worth a shot.

 

[ScienceRulez]

Having clowns does not mean you have to rush and find a nem. They'll live in soft corals, snuggle up to temperature probes, etc.......

..........Accepting all that, and being ready, [there is no magical number of months of tank age---it's far more the experience/skill/patience of the hobbyist] go, enjoy, and may it live long and prosper. But be ready!

Great warning, but I disagree, my aptasias are doing great.:lmao:
My live rock and the entire refugium is covered with aiptasia anemone and all of them are quite happy , as are the 13 peppermint shrimp and the file fish all happily munching on them in the DT. The refugium is going to be drained and nuked soon, I just need to figure out a way to save the bugs in it.

 

[davocean]

I heard if you wear a sparkly ring the clowns will go for that in stead of your tender flesh. You don't want to do it for a once in a while attacker, as it can encourage them. But with an unrepentant assassin might be worth a shot.

I learned this w/ a stainless steel dive watch, and it's a bigger target, but yes this is true