help choosing anemone

Ethan_W

New member
i have a 29g standard 30" tank. the lighting is 4x24 T5HO with ati bulbs. my dilemma is that my little male clown wants to host my new electric brain instead of the frogspawn my pair has been hosting. this means my female will move to the brain too if the male moves in first. i feel the brain is too small and will get irritated by the rubbing if it ends up being their host. perviously they hosted a condylactis anemone until i removed it.

i want an anemone that would prefer to be on the sand bed or low and wont move around as much. i have no doubt the clowns will host the first anemone that goes into the tank. so what are my options given my lights and space?

thanks,
Ethan
 
BTA's (E. quadricolor), Sebae (H. crispa) and Ritteri (H. magnifica) are rock anemones so that knocks them out right away since you want something that lives in the sand. All of the carpets (S. haddoni and S. gigantea) will get too big for that tank too fast as well as need more light than you can supply with that t5 fixture. That leaves you with the LTA (M. doreensis) which should do ok under those light levels and will stay in the sand bed. Quick tip: to keep them from walking put a ring of rocks around where you plan on placing them in the sand.. They generally wont walk over the rocks..
 
good luck on having an anenome that will go exactly where you want it to, I think your lighting and size will be sufficient for a BTA, they are one of the easier to keep as well
 
I would put a plastic cup with holes over your brain to discourage your clowns from hosting with the brain and hopefully they will go back to the frogspawn ( possibly get a bigger frogspawn may also help ), I think your tank maybe too small for anenome as they tend too move a bit( Killing a lot of things in their path ) until they find an ideal spot in your system. Most anenomes will also expand to 6 plus inches .
 
i have to disagree, i believe its possible to keep a tank in that size IF your careful, because yes they can destroy everything in their path but, with careful gardening, they will find the spot they love in your tank and they will stay put.
 
yeah thats the thing, ive experienced an anemone stinging corals and walking around a lot. it's a pain to make sure nothing gets in its path. also keeping it on its own island takes up a lot of space. i ended up putting some eggcrate around the brain but the brain wasnt so happy so i just removed the eggcrate. however it did discourage the little guy for now and he's back in the frogspawn leaving it alone.

im willing to make room for the nem though, i just dont want it roaming. the idea with the LTA sounds good to me. just put it in a good spot and put rock around it to make sure it doesnt want to leave. it would make a good center piece
 
a sebae may be nice too. once it gets settled in. however the only ones i've really found at the couple LFS around me are usually the bleached white ones.

also the tank has been up for a year now. i have a modded HOB AC70 turned into a fuge w/ chaeto. the fuge has been running for a week now. tested the water today

SG: 1.027 (before top off) 1.026 most recent
ammonia: 0
nitrites: 0
nitrates: <10
pH: 8.1
Ca: 400
 
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