How often do you change the water on your nem tank?

[Lance M.]

I think this will be interesting.

Please include in your post: how often you do water changes, how much, spec's on your anemones (how big, how long you have had them, what kind they are) and any other info you like.

For me:

I do a 25% partial water change (pwc) once a week. I do not dose anything in the tank. I feed a mixture of various plankton products 3 times a week and I feed my anemones a piece of shrimp (I will be getting silversides whenever the lfs has them in stock again, like next week) 3 times a week.

I currently have:

Entacmaea quadricolor- 4''- green/orange/brown with several .75'' white stripes coming out of the mouth. I have had it ~14 months, bought it bleached out completely white, full recovery.

Entacmaea quadricolor-3''- base is turning brown, tentacles are still white. Bought it bleached about a month ago. Very sticky.

Macrodactyla doreensis- almost 2''- bleached out, starting to turn yellowish green, very cool. For some reason some of the tentacles are showing their characteristic corkscrew behavior. Bought it bleached a month ago.

Epicystis crucifer-4''- rock anemone- when I bought it it was brown, now it's brown/green/white/purple and home to a very cool porclein anemone crab. I've had the anemone for ~10 months.

 

[Lance M.]

C'mon guys post some info. 8 people have voted so far. 31 views and not one post. I'll like to see the tank info on the two have have voted longer then one month.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Each of my 3 tanks get a 5 gallon WC each week (( on average, some weeks I may be too busy ))

29 -- 2 Macrodactyla doreensis, one purple 5", one greenish/tan 7"-- came to me bleached when sell when fully healthy and/or gets too big. Have had the greenish one for about 4 months now, purple about a month

58 -- Macrodactyla doreensis -- purple 7" -- was bigger, but met with a power head after I forgot to place the sponge back on it after cleaning it. I have had it for about 2 years now.

75 -- 2 Haddoni carpets Yellow/tan about 12" across have had for 6 + years. Blue about 8" across had for 7+ months. 1 (( just cloned into 3 ) Entacmaea quadricolor -- green in color was over 10" across before the splits. Assuming it is the original and not one of its previous clones it is 8+ years old.

 

[traveller7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10935622#post10935622 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lance M.
I'll like to see the tank info on the two have have voted longer then one month.

Here is one of mine:
Move from old 60gal to used/new 60gal mid 2006, same rock, new sand:

Recent:

60gal DAS Room Divider
2000-2002 vintage live rock from the Gasters prior 60 gal tank
Tunze ReefPack 500 and Denitrator box
Single 150wt DE Ushio 20K Metal Halide
First anemone in this colony arrived way 4 years ago. Many have been distributed locally.

Half water change when moved in Aug 2006.
Half water change in Mar 2007.
Half water change in Sept 2007.

Feeding of mysis, brine, cyclopeze, and lancefish on occasion.

There are a few of those watermelon striped mushrooms hanging on, BTAs took out everything else years ago.

 

[Lance M.]

Nice anemones traveller7.

Just not my style with bb and not much lr.

 

[traveller7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10937699#post10937699 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lance M.
Nice anemones traveller7.

Just not my style with bb and not much lr.

Thanks :>)

I would characterize my tanks as dressed up breeders at best, certainly not what most folks want from the hobby. Such a minimalist approach does seem to reduce maintenance requirements for the anemones and the clowns by a substantial margin. My goals are ease of maintenance and stability over appearance.

If I was attempting to mix anemones with corals or combative species, my regimen would be quite different.

 

[Lance M.]

I love aquascaping and lots of rocks. I have about 65lbs of lr in my 20 gallon, so it does hurt me on water volume but looks great imo. I make up for the rocks' water displacement with a hob filter and rena xp1.

 

[Brian24]

We have 6+ bubble anenomes. We have had them for 6+ years we started with one. It split into at least 12 if not more some of which we traded over the years. We do water changes typically once a month with normal topoff of RO.

 

[Lance M.]

Ok so So far what I have gathered is the people that do a pwc once a month keep bta's successfully. (I still like traveller7's rbtas....)

And then I keep btas and a lta with weekly pwc and Toddrtrex
keeps a bta, ltas, and carpets with weekly pwc also.

Anyone keep carpets with only one pwc a month or longer? gigantaea or haddoni?

It would be nice if we could get some more point of views. 23 people have voted and we only have 4 people actually giving info.

And who was the person who voted PWC only when there's something wrong?

 

[Toddrtrex]

And to add... For about a year I had a BTA and LTA together --- only removed the BTA due to me putting SPS in that tank.

I do run carbon 24/7 also

 

[traveller7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10939557#post10939557 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lance M.
who voted PWC only when there's something wrong?

If you want a more accurate poll, leave it anon. Most folks are going to have a tough time being honest in front of the anemone police.

The sample size is going to be so small, the result will not be sufficient to make a meaningful statement. Let it ride and see where it goes.

I would be quite interested to see posts from some of the other anemone folks with species tanks ;>)

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10939557#post10939557 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lance M.
Anyone keep carpets with only one pwc a month or longer? gigantaea or haddoni?

Haddoni, H. crispa, S. tapetum, M. doreensis, and Mertensi with a 60-90 day water change cycle. This was a system of tanks with lots of water and a large central system. 10-20% (40-80gals) per change.

Have yet to find a gigantea with my name on it while I had proper quarters to house it. Although that may actually be good luck given the dismal success rates.

 

[Lance M.]

Traveler-

I'm assuming you went with sand. If so, how much? Or did you go bb? I am planning on carpets in the future. Probably a 210 with 3 or 4 400 watt MH but I'm sure by the time I have it led's will be much more advanced or possibly something new. But that's 6-8 years and counting

 

[Toddrtrex]

In I remember correctly,
he ( traveller ) used a tupperware bowl.

 

[traveller7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10940136#post10940136 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lance M.
Traveler-

I'm assuming you went with sand. If so, how much? Or did you go bb?....

hehe, you have not clicked on my gallery have you :>)

Barebottom, sand in a tupperware:

 

[Lance M.]

Haha Very unique. I've never seen or heard of this before.

Aside from the being able to move the anemone around, is there any advantage to your tupperware method? How deep should the sand be for carpets? would putting a rock underneath the sand be good for them?

The saddleback colony and carpet picture was awesome.

 

[gberry]

Both in a 55 gallon:

Macrodactyla doreensis, 9", dusky rose color w/ green tips
Entacmaea quadricolor, 4", tan w/ purple tips

Bi-weekly water changes, 15-20 (20-25%) gallons at a time.

 

[Genin]

I do weekly 15% water changes in my anemone tank.

 

[Lance M.]

What kind of anemones do you have Genin?

 

[phender]

I normally do 10% water changes when I have a red algae build up or things don't look quite right.

40 gal reef w/ 13 year old H. crispa. In 13 years I have done a 10-20% water change maybe 4 times. Bare bottom.

55 gal reef that is 20 years old. The live rock is mostly from Florida before the ban. Has had several different species, 7 years with a haddoni, 3 years with a mertens carpet. On average, a 5 gal water change once a month. Bare bottom.

Pretty much the same in my other 2 systems. One system is two 20 gal tanks on a 48" stand with the same sump. One tank holds BTAs like a dream. I don't have any over 2 years old right now because I keep selling them and getting different colors . The other has a 5 year old haddoni. 3-4" sand bed.

The last tank is a 60 gal reef that houses a purple H. crispa and a H. magnifica. 5-6" sand bed.

My tanks with deep sand beds seem to have a lot more problems than my BB tanks (sprinkling of sand).

 

[Lance M.]

Just wondering, do you dose anything for your tanks phender?

4 water changes in 13 years, I didn't know that was possible.