Looking to get my first nem for my clown pair...suggestions?

Sn8kbyt

New member
I have a mated pair of Mocha clowns and was looking for opinions from the experts on what would be the best host nem for them?
 
How old is the tank? A 4 bulb T5 will probably not support most nems in a tank that size any plans for a lighting upgrade? Natural host is H. Magnifica but they need strong metal halide's to live. If it's your first anemone I would recommend a bta.
 
Last edited:
Tank is going on 6 months old. No plan on upgrading lights at this point. This is my dining room tank and already planning and buying stuff for my future 300g dream tank.
 
Here are the bulbs that are in the light if that helps any.

(2) 48" T5 HO 54W 420/460 (1) 48" T5 HO 54W 10K (1) 48" T5 HO 54W Purple (4) 1W Lunar LED's
 
Your kinda pushing it for lights but if you changed out one of the 460 bulbs for another 10k you should be ok.

What fixture do you have? Depending on the brand because of the reflectors will be the biggest factor
 
You do need correct lighting however that wasn't in your question. The easiest and one of the best is a bubbletip. The anemone in your favorite movie would be your magnificent anemone. They do get big and are very sensitive. A starter would be the bubbletip. They run like 40-50 bucks. There is a lot of others that are cheap like your condys and caribbean carpets but they are not good for clowns. Regular carpets would be fine too
 
You do need correct lighting however that wasn't in your question. The easiest and one of the best is a bubbletip. The anemone in your favorite movie would be your magnificent anemone. They do get big and are very sensitive. A starter would be the bubbletip. They run like 40-50 bucks. There is a lot of others that are cheap like your condys and caribbean carpets but they are not good for clowns. Regular carpets would be fine too

No it was not in my question only because I had thought that what I had for lighting was adequate for one to begin with. I didn't buy the most expensive T5 HO system but I certainly didn't get the cheapest either. It has individual reflectors for each bulb.

Favorite movie?

I was thinking a red bubbletip or rainbow bubbletip. I don't want to buy one to have it die due to lack of light though.

Anyone else think I may be under powered in lighting to put one in the tank?

Thanks!!
 
I think if you switched 1 420 bulb with a 10 you will be ok with a bta. I had a rbta in my 75 gal with 4 t5's and it was fine, it was an icecap retro though.
 
Yeah when I had T5s(now have LED) I had a 4 bulb fixture over my 65 gallon. My RBTA did just fine, it just stayed high up on the rocks.
 
Your lighting is adequate; especially if you switch to mostly daylight bulbs (I like ATI aqua blue specials, coral plus, and for blue the blue plus bulb) Back in the early 2000's I used to keep BTA's under power compacts with no issues.
 
If your going to do a nem a bta is as far as I would go. I would switch out most if not all of the t5's to daylight bulbs and the nem will probably stay up toward the top of the tank. I know we don't usually measure lighting this way anymore but 2.4w per gallon isn't a lot but may be enough to keep a bta if you feed it.
 
I had intended on feeding it so that is not an issue. Also unless it want to crawl into a hole or play in the sand most of its best spots in my tank are going to be in the top 6" of the water column where the strongest light is. I have several flat rock spots built into my scape and above for the placement of corals!
 
Back
Top