BTA advice for a newbie considering one?

[kyley]

Hi All,
Can some of you anemone experts clarify a few questions for me about BTAs? I have a 65 gallon Red Sea Max and just got my first fish - an ocellaris clown fish (may consider a second). My tank is about 6 weeks old and has had CUC in it for a couple weeks+ (I also have a couple zoanthids).
1. I thought it would be best to get an anemone now, before I have many corals added (so it can hopefully settle in one spot and I can plan the coral around it). Is this good thinking? Or does my tank really need to be more mature?

2. I'd read they can get 2' in diameter - that would be too big for my tank! But they usually stay smaller in captivity, right? How big can I expect one to get? Is it true that feeding in 1x / week or less will be sufficient and keep it from growing too large?

3. I want to have a lot of coral in my tank, but am concerned about a BTA moving around and stinging other corals. How quickly might it settle in one spot? How likely is it to move around afterwards?

4. BTAs are most likely to settle in on rockwork, correct? Could they settle in the sand if a rock helps to hold them in a corner of the tank (corner placement would be ideal). Or am I just going to have to deal with wherever it decides to settle in?

5. A compatibility check! How likely are these fish and inverts to harm a BTA and vice versa? I don't have most of them yet (only 1 fish)...
- Firefish
- Midas Blenny
- Diamond Watchman Goby or Orange Stripe Prawn Goby (I read some gobies are problematic?)
- McCosker's Flasher Wrasse
- Green Clown Goby (might not get)
- Royal Gramma Basslet
- Blue Spot Jawfish
- Flame Hawkfish
Inverts:
- Peppermint, Skunk Cleaner, and Fire (Blood) Shrimp (have 1 of each)
- Red Serpent Star
- Emerald Crab

6. I have a few bristleworms in my tank - are they likely to harm a BTA? Would clowns see this and eat the worms?

7. How far away do most corals need to be from the anemone? Is an anemone likely to kill, or simply irritate a coral and prevent its growth?

Thanks in advance for your help,
--Kyle

 

[EMUReef]

Hi All,
Can some of you anemone experts clarify a few questions for me about BTAs? I have a 65 gallon Red Sea Max and just got my first fish - an ocellaris clown fish (may consider a second). My tank is about 6 weeks old and has had CUC in it for a couple weeks+ (I also have a couple zoanthids).
1. I thought it would be best to get an anemone now, before I have many corals added (so it can hopefully settle in one spot and I can plan the coral around it). Is this good thinking? Or does my tank really need to be more mature?

2. I'd read they can get 2' in diameter - that would be too big for my tank! But they usually stay smaller in captivity, right? How big can I expect one to get? Is it true that feeding in 1x / week or less will be sufficient and keep it from growing too large?

3. I want to have a lot of coral in my tank, but am concerned about a BTA moving around and stinging other corals. How quickly might it settle in one spot? How likely is it to move around afterwards?

4. BTAs are most likely to settle in on rockwork, correct? Could they settle in the sand if a rock helps to hold them in a corner of the tank (corner placement would be ideal). Or am I just going to have to deal with wherever it decides to settle in?

5. A compatibility check! How likely are these fish and inverts to harm a BTA and vice versa? I don't have most of them yet (only 1 fish)...
- Firefish
- Midas Blenny
- Diamond Watchman Goby or Orange Stripe Prawn Goby (I read some gobies are problematic?)
- McCosker's Flasher Wrasse
- Green Clown Goby (might not get)
- Royal Gramma Basslet
- Blue Spot Jawfish
- Flame Hawkfish
Inverts:
- Peppermint, Skunk Cleaner, and Fire (Blood) Shrimp (have 1 of each)
- Red Serpent Star
- Emerald Crab

6. I have a few bristleworms in my tank - are they likely to harm a BTA? Would clowns see this and eat the worms?

7. How far away do most corals need to be from the anemone? Is an anemone likely to kill, or simply irritate a coral and prevent its growth?

Thanks in advance for your help,
--Kyle

wait about 3 more months than you'll be ready your tank isn't mature enough if you pretty much just added your first fish.

keep an anem. a good distance away so the tentacles can't touch other coral and vise versa like torch's and frogspawn, as the stinging will hurt and kill the coral.

lots of people have put anem's into reef tanks with lots of coral. so you could do some coral first.

you can't predict where and how often a anem will move, and there is nothing you can do to stop them.

what kind of lighting do you have or plan on having, T5HO or MH is a must.

Some can get big but it takes a while and they'll usually split before they get huge.

 

[kyley]

Thanks - my big fear is adding an anemone after I have a lot of coral, and it moves around and starts killing them off... Also, I will have had the clowns for awhile, and maybe they'll be hosting in torch coral or something - and not move to the anemone?

Yeah, I have T5 VHO. Thanks,
--Kyle

 

[shred5]

Hi All,

Can some of you anemone experts clarify a few questions for me about BTAs? I have a 65 gallon Red Sea Max and just got my first fish - an ocellaris clown fish (may consider a second). My tank is about 6 weeks old and has had CUC in it for a couple weeks+ (I also have a couple zoanthids).

I would wait another couple of months.

1. I thought it would be best to get an anemone now, before I have many corals added (so it can hopefully settle in one spot and I can plan the coral around it). Is this good thinking? Or does my tank really need to be more mature?

Would not hurt.

2. I'd read they can get 2' in diameter - that would be too big for my tank! But they usually stay smaller in captivity, right? How big can I expect one to get? Is it true that feeding in 1x / week or less will be sufficient and keep it from growing too large?

Never have seen one that big. Your tank is big enough for one.. Most get 6 to 8 inches across.. They do get bigger sometimes though.

3. I want to have a lot of coral in my tank, but am concerned about a BTA moving around and stinging other corals. How quickly might it settle in one spot? How likely is it to move around afterwards?

You never know. Bta's settle much easier than other anemones and stay settled more than most but that does not mean they will not get up and move one day for no reason either.

4. BTAs are most likely to settle in on rockwork, correct? Could they settle in the sand if a rock helps to hold them in a corner of the tank (corner placement would be ideal). Or am I just going to have to deal with wherever it decides to settle in?

They settle in the rock work usually with their foot buried under a rock.

5. A compatibility check! How likely are these fish and inverts to harm a BTA and vice versa? I don't have most of them yet (only 1 fish)...
- Firefish
- Midas Blenny
- Diamond Watchman Goby or Orange Stripe Prawn Goby (I read some gobies are problematic?)
- McCosker's Flasher Wrasse
- Green Clown Goby (might not get)
- Royal Gramma Basslet
- Blue Spot Jawfish
- Flame Hawkfish
Inverts:
- Peppermint, Skunk Cleaner, and Fire (Blood) Shrimp (have 1 of each)
- Red Serpent Star
- Emerald Crab

I do not like shrimp with anemones especially peppermints... I have seen them tear food right out of anemones guts through the mouth.

6. I have a few bristleworms in my tank - are they likely to harm a BTA? Would clowns see this and eat the worms?

They will not touch a bta.

7. How far away do most corals need to be from the anemone? Is an anemone likely to kill, or simply irritate a coral and prevent its growth?

That really depends. I never really had an issue with them and corals but I never pack my tank with corals either.

Bta's are a good starter anemone and usually get a tank raised clone cheap and pretty easy. They are fairly hardy as far as anemones go and can tolerate varied conditions. They also can be kept under lower lighting conditions than most other anemones.

Dave

 

[kyley]

Thank you Dave - gives me plenty to think about. I may wait quite awhile longer before getting one (don't want to kill it off with a new tank's changing water parameters). I really enjoy the shrimp - if they're not a good mix, maybe I shouldn't get a BTA. I could also hope the clowns host in a torch or hammer coral (I know it's not necessary for the clown though). Again, thanks, this gives me plenty to think about,
--Kyle

 

[sharky's machin]

My RBTA has grown to 14" across (or bigger) and I'm trying to get it to split now. It is beautiful, but is starting to sting corals around it and limiting the corals I can put in my tank.

A leather toadstool may be a good sub for BTA since your tank is not mature enough yet. You should wait at least 6 months before adding one.

 

[marc price]

For all of your concerns, perhaps consider a H. malu sebae instead. I have a purple one for ~three years which is still in the same location of dsb it dug into within the first 12hours.
The previous anemone to my purple sebae was a RBTA and it's many clones.
I'm no longer interested in keeping E. quadricolor in my mixed sps, clams, anemone reef. I'd only ever reconsider Entacmaea if a clone of the pink-purple column with gray, white and hot pink tipped tentacle morph that D.D. had a run on around four years ago. As far as i know none survived past a few months so that's not happening anytime soon.