best guess anenome for percs

fasteray

New member
Can anyone suggest the most likely anemone to attract percs. I have a 150 self build that I am now stocking. I am kinda impatient and have at the moment three Perculas that have not gone near a Seabae,purple tip. What have you had luck with? Or do I just wait it out. The Seabae has not really not settled in to a spot he likes. Any ideas will be appreciated.
Ray
 
What about natural hosts? In case of percula it would be magnifica/gigantea.

For someone who just self-confessed their lack of patience, I would personally tend to recommend that they avoid either of these two.

Someone else recommended a bubble-tip, and that would seem to me to be the way to go.

Dave
 
Percs natural hosts are gigs and mags, two of the hardest species to keep. As mentioned, BTAs are often accepted, but it takes a while often times. TR vs. CB is a non-issue with a natural host, i.e., captive bred go immediately to natural hosts, even if they've never seen an anemone in their lives. You have a crispa, which some text say is a natural perc host, but I think that is erroneous. I've never once seen a percula in a crispa in field photos. Again, they sometimes will accept them in captivity, but I don't think it's any more or less likely compared to a BTA.
 
The third natural host is S. mertensii, but it's rarely imported. All three natural hosts are considered difficult as mentioned, but IME it's the acclimation process that's difficult since they're all poor shippers (mertensii being the most hardy, but that's not really an issue since we rarely see them). More on this later.

It sounds like you're stocking a relatively new tank, so you may want to hold off on a magnifica or gigantea, since they like stable conditions. For example, mags tend to walk around the tank when nitrates are high.

My suggestion, as other have mentioned, is to be patient with your Seabae or consider getting a BTA. Once your tank is settled in you've got the experience of keeping the Seabae and/or BTA, then you may want to consider a natural host. Definitely read the Cipro thread located here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2271385

You should have a QT tank and Cipro ready to go. If the protocol is followed exactly as outlined (making sure you do the water changes as suggested) and the anemone you purchase is in relatively decent shape, then you should have a healthy anemone that will quickly attract your percs.
 
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