Looking for suggestions on Anemone Tank

[Nanook]

I have a 96x30x30 tank with a rear center overflow. I am leaning towards plumbing this in with a 60x60x30 stony coral reef.

I am looking at having a couple or a few? anemones in this tank.

My idea for the left side of the tank is a mountain of liverock with a H. Magnifica and several pink anemonefish. I would put a 6500K Iwasaki 400w bulb over this anemone.

My idea for the right side of the tank is a smaller mountain of liverock with a H. Crispa (from Griss) and some clownfish...not sure what kind I want though.

I would like to have a few soft corals here and there, but the focus of this tank is anemone's and clownfish.

What kind of concerns or ideas can you guys give me for this type of tank?

Thanks,

Dave

 

[ChunksInClemson]

That would be an awesome tank!!

 

[slcw]

400watts sounds good for the carpet anemone

however anemones from what i understand ought to be place anemone specified tank

 

[Flighty]

Flow would be one of the biggest considerations. Have you thought about using a wavebox?

 

[Nanook]

I will not use a wavebox or a surge on this tank(personal preference). Flow will be provided using a combination of Tunze 6100,6200 and Turbelle 7400's.

I am mainly looking for some advice on what kind of anemone's I can keep in the tank with the Ritteri, any aggression issues, and types of fish.

I am also looking to keep the lighting somewhat limited. I can probably swing a couple 400w bulbs for high light anemone's, but will want more subdued and cheaper lighting in other areas.

Dave

 

[MarinaP]

I would stick with H.magnifica (one or two) and pink skunks (or onyx percs). There are too many variables when it comes to mixing species in a home aquarium that we are yet to understand.

I would not plumb the anemone tank into SPS tank.

 

[Nanook]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7957904#post7957904 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MarinaP

I would not plumb the anemone tank into SPS tank.

Why not?

Thanks,

Dave

 

[MarinaP]

Same reason - too many variables. I would not risk my sps collection.

From personal experience - anemones do not do well long term with sps and visa versa.

 

[traveller7]

If I was building a tank from scratch of that size, design, etc:

I would also go with an H. magnifica on each end, skip the carpets, and likely skip the H. crispa.

I have not had good luck in adding SPS to my anemone dominated tanks and would not plumb the "anemone" system into my SPS system.

 

[Nanook]

Hmmm, plumbing the 470g and 375g together was my goal here to cut down on the amount of maintenance, water changes, etc with having two large tanks. I want to have them on the same system for ease of care.

Is the problem here that the anemone's will release chemicals that could damage the stonies, or vice versa?

Do the anemone's prefer "dirty" water with higher nitrates and excess phosphates?

 

[traveller7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7958659#post7958659 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nanook
Is the problem here that the anemone's will release chemicals that could damage the stonies, or vice versa?

Do the anemone's prefer "dirty" water with higher nitrates and excess phosphates?

That is the $1M question my friend. I don't believe there is much more then anecdotal evidence to answer it.

In the long term systems I have been able to maintain and observe, one or the other loses eventually. In my humble opinion:

- we steer the systems toward the perceived desires of a target at the others long term expense(food/water conditioning/stability/etc).
- the animals themselves engage in at least minimal combat(H. mag seems to clear it's rocky plateaus pretty well in captivity, personal diving experience, viewing dive photos, etc.).

I am very open to the concept, the above opinions are formed from bits and pieces, but have had much greater personal success since I have ceased to mix the two environments.

 

[Ciarán]

There are too many variables when it comes to mixing species in a home aquarium that we are yet to understand.

There is definitely some chemical conflict between anemones of different species IME, even if there is no physical contact. I am currently mixing sps and lps with soft corals and a ritteri in my system - traveller 7 is right though - I'm taking a large risk and we all know which will come off the worse! I just make sure to use loads of carbon and i use a skimmer rated 14+ times my tank volume. I also keep the stonies "upstream" of the soft corals and anemones which would be the terpene emitting culprits.

Frequent water changes are a must.

 

[slcw]

for specific biotope
http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic24721-13-1.aspx?Highlight=biotope