Compatible anemones

[Slickdonkey]

Hey everyone,

I have recently set up a 240 gallon reef (6 months old) that is sparsely populated with some SPS, LPS, and an RBTA. The RBTA is doing great.

The tank is 96x24x24. I have 4x400W 10K halides with Lumenarc III mini reflectrs (12" off water surface) and 4 VHO actinics. Also a Sequence Hammerhead for a closed loop, and alternating current with an Oceans-Motions 4-way valve.

To make a long story short I'm thinking of ditching most of the corals and going with an anemone tank. I've read the anemone sticky FAQ but still have a few questions.

- What types of anemones can I keep together in the same tank? Also in a "community fish" tank... this means no carpet anemones as they will probably eat my fish!

- Do I need to keep the 400W halides or can I move down to 250? I originally went to 400W because the halides are mounted about 12" off the water surface. Very difficult to get my hands in the tank otherwise, since VHOs are in the way.

- In a tank this large would it be possible to have two pairs of clowns? I have a baby oscellaris who will be getting a mate soon, but would like to keep another clown pair if possible. This seems dicey so thought I'd ask.

- What (if any) corals would I be able to safely keep in such a tank?

I welcome any input. Right now this is just an idea and I'd like to know what I'm getting myself into.

 

[SuperNerd]

Lucky...I've had horrible luck in the past with the red ones even after my tank was over two years old.

 

[Slickdonkey]

Ok how about something more specific then... I know most of the experts recommend not mixing multiple anemone species. How far should I take this I wonder? My tank is 240 gallons, would I be able to keep two different species without major problems?

What about BTA's/LTA's together? Or just different colors BTA's? I have a rose-colored one now and have also seen green ones. What other colors are there?

Someone throw me a bone!

 

[maww]

Loads of people are keeping multple types of anemones in the same system.. Success is very mixed. If you do some thread searching you will find this same question comes up over and again. I have recently ( june 06) set up a 120 gallon anemone tank. I combined 3 smaller tanks together. I lost a couple of my anemones (one carpet and 2 ritteris). I'm not sure if the problem was disease or biological warfare. I also lost a number of my clowns (sebae pair, blue stripe pair and single blue stripe which was paired with my orange skunk) . The tank has settled down, and I still have 1 ritteri, a haddoni carpet, a BTA, a pizza anemone and an LTA. All have been in the tank from the start. I have tried to add new ritteris and a sebae, but have not been successful. Again, this could be shipping damage, or the existing anemones may be engaging in some sort of chemical warfare which keeps the new anemones from being able to settle in. It might be a good idea to run a good sized carbon filter just in case. My ritteri hosts a pair of A. percula, the LTA a pink skunk, the carpet an A. sandaracinos and the BTA a blue stripe juvi. These fish have also been in the tank from the start, except for the blue stripe, which I added in october. The anemones are placed so that they are not directly in site of one another, and the clowns pretty much stick to their anemones and leave each other alone. I think the fact that I have only one pair, and the others are single clowns helps to keep down aggression. I plan to try pairing everyone up eventually, but it may not work out.

I think with an 8 foot long 240, you should easily be able to set up territories that are visually isolated from one another, and by trying anemones that are both rock-dwelling (BTA, H. mag, S. mertensii) and sand-dwelling ( LTA, H crispa, S. haddoni) you should be able to have multiple pairs in the same tank. I would recommend allowing the anemones to become established first, then addind clowns. I would try adding pairs, all at the same time. If you pick clowns that are natural symbionts with the particular anemone, you can introduce them to the anemone and get essentially instant hosting- I did this with my perc and ritteri. The pink skunk also made a bee-line for the LTA, and the orange skunk defected from its ritteri (R.I.P.) to the carpet the instant my A sebae pair went south. I also have a pair of black ocellaris in a separate tank which went directly into the ritteri in that tank.

I would also recommend against any of the exceptionally aggressive clowns- maroon, tomato and perhaps clarkii, as they may decide to clear the tank of any competitors once they start breeding.

As for lighting, I would say keep what you have. I am running 2 400W 10kK MH lights over my 120 ( 5ft x 18 x 24h). It is definitely not too much light.

 

[Slickdonkey]

Thanks for the advice Mark, I appreciate it. For those of us who haven't paid the "extortion fee" (no offense intended), searching the forum is difficult!

I've read that a good percentage of anemone fatalities are due to shipping/handling stress so I agree with you on that point.

I think perhaps I'll add an LTA and see how it does in conjunction with my BTA. Clowns will come later, if at all. I already have an oscellaris pair and was not even sure if I would add more clowns... just anemones!

 

[maww]

go for it. My best luck with anemones has been to buy ones that have been at a LFS for a while (at least a couple weeks, a month or more better).

You should be able to search threads just fine. I just tried my wife's login- she doesn't have a premium account. Do a search for " multiple anemones ". you'll get tons of threads. Make sure to select the "any date" option.