Green Bubble Tip Anemone in a 24g Nano?

[Carriegiesler]

One of my L.F.S has Green Bubble Tip Anemones in stock and they look very healthy and I have always want a nem for my two clowns but I always hesisitate to buy (for the past two years) to the uncertainty of the what IF's.....

I have a heavily stock mixed reef and fear that it will whip everything out when it decides to walk. Is there a way of preventing this? Can I move all my corals to frag racks untill it decides on a place?

Is my tank big enough to allow it enough room to be happy?
Would you put a nem is this tank?


To help you help me better answer these ?'s here is my tank info and setup prams.

Specs:
Display: 24 gallon Aquapod Drilled with 1 drain with ¾ return
Lighting: Aqua illumination Blue Sol/ 150 watt Sunpod
Return: Mag 9.5 dialed back
Bulbs: Phoenix/ LED's
Rock: 15 lbs. of Marco Key Large dry rock pulled from old display, Dried then used to make Foam Rock wall. Added another 15 lbs of live rock to the display.

Substrate: CaribSea Aragonite Premium grade reef sand (15 lbs.)
Filtration: 15 gallon Sump with 20lbs of LR and cheato. 200 micro filter sock changed twice a week.
Circulation: Vortech MP20
Heater: Fluval set at 78

Sump: I picked up a 15 gallon 24"x 12"x12" sump from a LFS. The sump will sit perpendicular to the tank in the sump. It will stick out about 6 inched in the back of the stand. I built a little sturdy platform with reinforced metal L brackets on the leg then stained it to match the stand. To test it Dan (the hubby) stood on it and it held so I think it will hold the content of a sump. I can access the front through the glass door this will be the refugium end with the light.
I had found a plan for a sump off of Melve's page or was it a design someone built using one of his designs. I saved a copy of the photo in my desktop file from last year so I resized it to fit the dimensions of my sump tank. The design made scene in the flow pattern to allow for ample room for a filter sock, skimmer, refugium and return. Lesson learned from old setup is not to put sand in the sump, to include a filter sock mount (I built this one out of plexi).

Parameters:
Temp: fluctuates from 78-79
Ammonia: not traceable
Nitrite: not traceable
Nitrate: not traceable
pH: 7.8 (night) 8.2 (Day)
Calcium: 400-450ppm
Mag: 1280-1300ppm
Alk: 6 - 8 dKH
Maintenance:

Daily: Auto Top off with RO-DI water and Kalk....no canopy institutes a lot of evaporation especially with HQI.
Weekly: Water is tested every Sunday and dosing takes place when needed. Change filter sock every two days, 15 gallon water change every two weeks.
Monthly: Wash filter socks, Clean off salt creep on Sump
Bi-Monthly:
Yearly: Replace bulbs on HQI, take all equipment out cheek it and clean it...

Stocking:
Fish:
ORA Black Ice Clownfish
ORA Black and White Clownfish
Diamond Goby
Purple Fire fish

Inverts:
2 N. snails
Several Blue and Red legged crabs

Corals:Lots of Acans (I love them)
LPS: Different one but my favorites are Dragon Soul Favia, Flaming Dendrophyllia, Red and Green Trachyphyllia
SPS: I don't recall many of their names.


After much debate and thought I have decided that I have met my match in tank size limit. After getting back into the hobby 3 years ago after a two year break to get my Master degree I rewarded myself by giving myself a 70 Oceanic Tech as a graduation gift. Well after about a year and a very very busy work schedule. I found myself wondering why I ever thought going bigger was going to be better. At the time I didn't give much thought to all the additional cost, time, and water change quantities. So after a couple of detrimental blows due to poor husbandry I have decided that it time to sell the 70 and bring back the 24. I didn't like the fact that I was beginning to dread the hobby with the larger tank and I remember how much I enjoyed my Nano when it was running, however having the experience of the larger system I knew I wanted to make some modifications this time around.
Modes to be made:
"¢ First thing on the list was to drill it.
"¢ Second make a Foam Rock wall
Foam Rock Wall Aquascaping: Because I will be losing a lot of real estate ground when compared to my Tech I decided to utilized the Foam wall method. I pulled about 15lbs (total) of LR pieces from the sump and a few from the display and dried them for a few day them sprayed them with the power washer. Doing this outside in the snow was not fun. I used about 85-90% dried rock then filled the cracks with Beckett Foam Sealant. After letting that cure for 3 days I then sealed it with Bob Smith Finish Cure sprinkling it with dry sand "¦"¦anyways you get the point the whole process and steps can be found in the DIY forum under Pond Foam wall.

To adhere this to the back of the tank I order 8 epoxy coat earth magnets that each pull 15lbs and embedded them in the foam when I was constructing the piece. I figured this would make it a thousand times easier than the standard epoxy it to the back wall to remove if there be a problem or I later change my mind about the aquascaping.


Lighting: I have on order and Aqua illumination Sol Blue for the lighting as the MH I run on it before. After a few months of running the AI I have since taken it off because I cannot find the right % of light to make all the coral happy. Some are bleached while others are browning out. I have replaced the MH temporally till I have research a little more about what the magic numbers are.
Skimmer: Precision Marine 100 Redline skimmer I am very happy with it skimming ability.

And lastly a pic: The big rock up front has be removed and a smaller rock put in place to open up swimming area for the fish.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42991117@N08/5411514242/" title="IMG_0112 by saltwater pics, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4080/5411514242_7c97360d1b_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="IMG_0112"></a>

 

[xtlosx]

You should be just fine, get a smaller one if possible. You have plenty of lights by the looks of it.

Just bear in mind that it WILL not stay in the first place you put it, and will most likely move to someplace it feels comfortable. That being said, corals don't stand a chance against the GBTA.... just be careful for the first 1-2 weeks.

Good luck, you'll be fine!

 

[ocellaris123]

That is a really nice tank you have. You will have to clear out some coral if you want to try it, but a BTA in a 24 gallon can be done. I used to keep them in 29 gallons without a problem. You could even try H. malu as they stay pretty small and reside on the sand.

 

[2Addicted]

I wouldnt try it in that tank. You have a lot of corals that would need to be cleared out to provide growing room for a nem. They get large and would easily dominate your tank. Thats just my opinion.

 

[this is me]

You have a nice tank going there. It's definitely do-able depending on how much you love your corals or bta. You would have to move those frags closer and clear out some space for the anemone.

The only concern here is the MP20 and its placement in the tank. BTA like to be on the rock and if they don't like the spot they're in, they'll move. Since your MP20 is in the rock, there's a high chance that the BTA will become stuck and get shredded. So please consider this if you're planning on adding the bta. There's a foam cover you can get Whig will help prevent this from happening.

 

[Carriegiesler]

I have already thought about the foam cover. I been exspriementing with it over the past week to see how often I will have to clean it.

As far was the rockwork I removed the large rock that is up front and that has opened up a large amount of space and replace the one huge rock with some smaller ones. I am hoping the new aqua scape will provide more room for a nem if I chose to go through with the idea.