Anenome Timespan
- Thread starter urville
- Start date
Josh72836G
New member
From what I've heard that's true. What animals do you think need them?
chrisstie
Premium Member
You may be better off getting more responses in the anemone and clownfish forum, they're a good bunch but if you're newish to the hobby they may be a little intimidating in their posts too 
I think its a little bit of a two-fold thing with the time frame. The first assumes you're a complete newbie and are learning the ropes of keeping a tank and all of the things that go with it (good water parameters, what to add to the water, taking care of livestock) etc..
The other is that when you set up a tank, lets say it cycles in under a month. Good cured LR usually will for sure and even then things aren't quite... balanced. You might see population booms of tiny critters, algae breakouts that come and go just as mysteriously, etc. I noticed by looking at my tanks age at the 6-8 month mark I really begin to see stability and a certain.. look that says ok everything in this complex ecosystem has balanced out a bit.
An anemone needs pretty stable water parameters and sometimes I think those changes in a new tank can be not so great for them. Though, I also feel with experience and confidence you could keep one sooner. I wouldn't put one in a tank in say the first month (unless maybe i was setting up a new tank but transferring my old tanks contents in there with cycled everything, established rock, corals bacteria, the whole shebang)
For people who end up getting bad advice in the hobby or aren't willing to learn a little bit about taking care of their tank, I think the above two things can be a deadly combination if they dont go well for a person, but if you feel really comforatble with your tank and have noticed it calm down with the changes you see in a new tank you'd probably be quite ok to start your first adventure with one.
I think its a little bit of a two-fold thing with the time frame. The first assumes you're a complete newbie and are learning the ropes of keeping a tank and all of the things that go with it (good water parameters, what to add to the water, taking care of livestock) etc..
The other is that when you set up a tank, lets say it cycles in under a month. Good cured LR usually will for sure and even then things aren't quite... balanced. You might see population booms of tiny critters, algae breakouts that come and go just as mysteriously, etc. I noticed by looking at my tanks age at the 6-8 month mark I really begin to see stability and a certain.. look that says ok everything in this complex ecosystem has balanced out a bit.
An anemone needs pretty stable water parameters and sometimes I think those changes in a new tank can be not so great for them. Though, I also feel with experience and confidence you could keep one sooner. I wouldn't put one in a tank in say the first month (unless maybe i was setting up a new tank but transferring my old tanks contents in there with cycled everything, established rock, corals bacteria, the whole shebang)
For people who end up getting bad advice in the hobby or aren't willing to learn a little bit about taking care of their tank, I think the above two things can be a deadly combination if they dont go well for a person, but if you feel really comforatble with your tank and have noticed it calm down with the changes you see in a new tank you'd probably be quite ok to start your first adventure with one.
urville
Member
Heck I thought that was for Anem & clownfish together related questions only, lol.
Well that is and isnt true for me. I mean i am new, but not really. Before I ever started this tank I read maybe 150 books, a conservative number, over about 3 years. I started this endeavor with reading forums and as well in about 03. BUT, that said... I quickly realized there is more than one way to skin a cat, and despite that sometimes far down the line disaster waits rather than right away. one reason i do not use a DSB, NOT STARTING A DEBATE, just saying i personnally am not in the church of DSB.
Anyway...
I am a newb but not. There are aspects I am not fully aware of I am sure, alot of this is simple animal husbandry. In all that research I never managed to cover odd hitchhiking cucumbers, for instance. on the other hand much changed. Wet/Drys, Jauberts, plenums, fluidized bed filters, were all the rage when i started as ell as DSB's. And everyone said you would never be able to keep things like feather duster worms etc. of course that seemed the majority but you go to a smaller website were more advanced hobbyists were talking, in my imagination in hushed tones lol, and now all kinds of things are different.
Well, i know I dont want a ritteri, a carpet, or any non hosting anemones. Too difficult to keep for sure at this stage and far too large. No LTA for me due to size, I have heard they roam alot but... again you hear things, jjust hearing them doesnt make them true. Sebaes, my friend has one, again not for me. I chose BTA because they are while still not easy the easiest, more hardy, and frankly I like the colorations. I dont have the experience to say I can for sure tell a dying anemone from one who's just doing what anemones do which puffing up and laying flat, and basically changing shape as they do, but I dont think i can get that anywhere else. Though i am awre of them upchucking their guts, shrinking, growing, some tanks they bubble some they dont, I know too you have to get used to yours to know if he's sick.
As to water params. Mine really dont change much, not anything I can test for anyway. i regularly test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate still, with less regular calc and alk testing only because I havent bought any corals other than some mushrooms yet. on the other hand my corralline is never anything short of surprising in growth. I take additions slowly. No more than 2 animals at anytime, the shortest time between additions was 1 week, and that was only for snails.
My tank was actually a transfer, thoguh i used new live sand, and water. So not really. But then my cycle was pretty short, and i'm not in the first month anymore either. It's 75 gallons, and I do 5 gallons water change every week.
I dont know, I'm pretty paranoid so i probably wont get one yet. But I dislike the un concrete area i seem to be in, more than anything. testing is okay, things look ok, but I may not be okay and theres no way to account for it. That really makes me sound like a control freak but... you pretty much have to convert to one with reefs I think lol.
Well that is and isnt true for me. I mean i am new, but not really. Before I ever started this tank I read maybe 150 books, a conservative number, over about 3 years. I started this endeavor with reading forums and as well in about 03. BUT, that said... I quickly realized there is more than one way to skin a cat, and despite that sometimes far down the line disaster waits rather than right away. one reason i do not use a DSB, NOT STARTING A DEBATE, just saying i personnally am not in the church of DSB.
Anyway...
I am a newb but not. There are aspects I am not fully aware of I am sure, alot of this is simple animal husbandry. In all that research I never managed to cover odd hitchhiking cucumbers, for instance. on the other hand much changed. Wet/Drys, Jauberts, plenums, fluidized bed filters, were all the rage when i started as ell as DSB's. And everyone said you would never be able to keep things like feather duster worms etc. of course that seemed the majority but you go to a smaller website were more advanced hobbyists were talking, in my imagination in hushed tones lol, and now all kinds of things are different.
Well, i know I dont want a ritteri, a carpet, or any non hosting anemones. Too difficult to keep for sure at this stage and far too large. No LTA for me due to size, I have heard they roam alot but... again you hear things, jjust hearing them doesnt make them true. Sebaes, my friend has one, again not for me. I chose BTA because they are while still not easy the easiest, more hardy, and frankly I like the colorations. I dont have the experience to say I can for sure tell a dying anemone from one who's just doing what anemones do which puffing up and laying flat, and basically changing shape as they do, but I dont think i can get that anywhere else. Though i am awre of them upchucking their guts, shrinking, growing, some tanks they bubble some they dont, I know too you have to get used to yours to know if he's sick.
As to water params. Mine really dont change much, not anything I can test for anyway. i regularly test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate still, with less regular calc and alk testing only because I havent bought any corals other than some mushrooms yet. on the other hand my corralline is never anything short of surprising in growth. I take additions slowly. No more than 2 animals at anytime, the shortest time between additions was 1 week, and that was only for snails.
My tank was actually a transfer, thoguh i used new live sand, and water. So not really. But then my cycle was pretty short, and i'm not in the first month anymore either. It's 75 gallons, and I do 5 gallons water change every week.
I dont know, I'm pretty paranoid so i probably wont get one yet. But I dislike the un concrete area i seem to be in, more than anything. testing is okay, things look ok, but I may not be okay and theres no way to account for it. That really makes me sound like a control freak but... you pretty much have to convert to one with reefs I think lol.
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Josh72836G
New member
Bravo! I'm always thrilled when someone does lots of research about reef keeping. You can never know too much... in general. Knowledge is power!
I understand what you mean about the unconcrete feeling. I'm the same way can't help thinking that I'm missing something and that my tanks going to crash. I do think you have to be a bit of a control freak to run a tank..... also being a bit insane helps. :crazy1:
I understand what you mean about the unconcrete feeling. I'm the same way can't help thinking that I'm missing something and that my tanks going to crash. I do think you have to be a bit of a control freak to run a tank..... also being a bit insane helps. :crazy1:
chrisstie
Premium Member
Sounds like you've certainly done the research, perhaps you're just lacking the.. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhh Ok I get it!" that you get from experience.
At this point, when you feel ready, the only way to really know and be comfortable with anemones is to get one and learn I think. If you're able maybe find one that is inexpensive through a reef club, on sale at the LFS, or maybe someone is trimming or changing their tank in their area and has one for sale.
I always like starting a new species with a test run first. This way you're not too attached (no pun intended) and if something goes wrong, well, you didn't invest too much to begin with and you have a whole crew of people here on RC to try to help you troubleshoot.
the bta is hardy great starter anemone. You want one that isn't bleached (sometimes a little faded is ok .. maybe a pink instead of red color as they do stress easily from shipping etc but avoid clear and white) If you go with green light green is okay too but dont go lighter than a mint color. If well taken care of with the right lighting and params these easily color back up. The VERY best thing you can do is get one thats already really healthy, I wont lie. it increases your chances ten fold I think.
What's a healthy anemone look like other than being the right color? It should have a tight mouth and a foot without any damage done to it. Sometimes they open their mouth al ittle wider to, um, go to the restroom and they really look horrible when they do that but if you have an LFS or someone you trust, they can tell you whats going on.
A bad sign is an anemone turning itself inside out, smelling horribly, melting into goo. That's what you dont want.
I could write a lot more but lets leave it at picking out the anemone and when you make the next step feel free to PM or post here with any questions on where to go from there.
It's normal for it to walk around the first few days (maybe even weeks) to find the perfect spot it wants to sit in to get light but after that it should stay put, and you'll probably have to move some corals out of its way, they never sit right where you want them ;p
At this point, when you feel ready, the only way to really know and be comfortable with anemones is to get one and learn I think. If you're able maybe find one that is inexpensive through a reef club, on sale at the LFS, or maybe someone is trimming or changing their tank in their area and has one for sale.
I always like starting a new species with a test run first. This way you're not too attached (no pun intended) and if something goes wrong, well, you didn't invest too much to begin with and you have a whole crew of people here on RC to try to help you troubleshoot.
the bta is hardy great starter anemone. You want one that isn't bleached (sometimes a little faded is ok .. maybe a pink instead of red color as they do stress easily from shipping etc but avoid clear and white) If you go with green light green is okay too but dont go lighter than a mint color. If well taken care of with the right lighting and params these easily color back up. The VERY best thing you can do is get one thats already really healthy, I wont lie. it increases your chances ten fold I think.
What's a healthy anemone look like other than being the right color? It should have a tight mouth and a foot without any damage done to it. Sometimes they open their mouth al ittle wider to, um, go to the restroom and they really look horrible when they do that but if you have an LFS or someone you trust, they can tell you whats going on.
A bad sign is an anemone turning itself inside out, smelling horribly, melting into goo. That's what you dont want.
I could write a lot more but lets leave it at picking out the anemone and when you make the next step feel free to PM or post here with any questions on where to go from there.
It's normal for it to walk around the first few days (maybe even weeks) to find the perfect spot it wants to sit in to get light but after that it should stay put, and you'll probably have to move some corals out of its way, they never sit right where you want them ;p
