Bare Bottom anemones

[jjmg]

I've been in the hobby for several years now and I'm starting to think I halfway know a little about reef keeping. I've never had an anemone since I didn't want to kill one without giving it a good chance and now I feel I might be able to keep an anemone/clown pair going.

My question is--are there any anemones that would do well in a 55 gal bare bottom (glass) with a couple of 400 watt halides? And what clowns would be good?

 

[Amphiprion]

Entacmaea quadricolor would be a natural choice (as far as ease and tolerance goes, as well as habitat situation). The clown pair also depends upon tankmates. What other fish do you have in the tank? Some species of clowns can be much more aggressive than others, so those species may not be a good choice for more peaceful tanks.

 

[jjmg]

The clowns would be the only fish

 

[Amphiprion]

Well then, if you would like a more natural mix, then one pair of the following species would be a good choice:
Premnas biaculeatus
Amphiprion clarkii
A. frenatus
A. melanopus
A. ephippium
Those are the more common species encountered.

 

[dantodd]

Bubble tip anemone(E. quadricolor) is a great choice as long as you have plenty of live rock. 800w of MH is a crapload of light and you can probably have any anemone that doesn't require a sandbed but Bubble Tips (BTA) are one of the easiest to care for as a first anemone.

As for clownfish amphiprion has some great recommendations.
I have a pair of clarkii in my BTA
A. ephippium are really great and readily available.
If you want to invest/wait for some more exotic clowns look at:
A. chrysopterus
A. allardi
A. akindynos

You can check out all these species in the clown pics sticky thread above.