New here, question about anemone difficulty

[jaywalsh1]

Hi everyone! Im new here and it looks like a greta forum so I joined up and hope to contribute in the near future!

For now Im new to reefing, and am planning the species for my tank. I would love to have Entacmaea quadricolor.

What makes anemones difficult to keep? I would assume its water quality and lighting primarily, but if you are consistent on upkeep and testing, what makes this family harder to keep than others?

Thanks!

J

 

[fishkid6692]

anemones are just hard to keep in general i think. i had great water quality and my rbta still died. but now i have a magnifica and it's doing great. i think there unpredictable. i wouldn't start out with an anemone.

 

[jaywalsh1]

A lot of literature mentions caution with and some recommend not keeping them at all with other cnidaria. Does this generally mean no other coral at all; ie a dedicated tank?

 

[fishkid6692]

they can sting coral but i and many, many, other people usually keep them in reefs. i am starting a species tank for a gigantica anemone. but my rbta never bothered corals. they can move around and if they touch a coral they can sting it.

 

[Tennyson]

Like fishkid said, all anemones are hard to keep in general. I think as long as you have good water quality, lighting and flow, it should thrive and grow nicely. You can start out with an anemone for your first choice (and I recomend that you do if you are going to get corals also in the tank, this way, the anemone can find its spot and not move around once you get corals)

but I would try other things first since this is your first tank. I got my first anemone around the 4th month, and its ok, so its still ok I guess to start out with an anemone, but try some of the easier inverts or fish and than get an anemone.

Good luck.

 

[elegance coral]

I think that the main problem with anemones is shipping stress. Once they make it past the first month or so, they are much easier to care for.

 

[garygb]

Jaywalsh, your decision to start with E. quadricolor is a good one. I have RBTA's and they are quite hardy. If you do your research, allow the tank to cycle, then keep it stable for 3 or 4 months you should be ready to introduce a BTA. As others have mentioned, you want to get a healthy one to begin with. Maybe you can get a cloned BTA from another reefer in your area or ask one of us RC anemone keepers to sell you a clone. After your anemone has settled in for a while, you might add a small clown or pair of clowns. I would suggest you limit the number of other species of cnidaria. From what I've observed E. quadricolor is more forgiving of other cnidaria than some species of anemone, but to be on the safe side, keep the number of species to a minimum and run activated carbon and a protein skimmer to minimize any allelopathy that could occur. Besides RC, WetWebMedia and Karen's Rose anemones are good websites to get information on keeping E. quadricolor. The fact you're posting on here before you even get an anemone tells me that you're a good candidate for keeping one.

 

[jaywalsh1]

Thanks for your advice. Im going to heed it and start slowly. Once I past the cycle stages Ill start with some easier stuff for now while keeping the anemone/clownfish pair in the front of my mind when adding livestock because I do want this to be a biotope type tank.

Ill wait it out till later just to make sure my tank is coming along nicely and to make sure Im doing my part properly. Id really hate to make the critter suffer for my mistakes.

You mention adding the anemone first then the clownfish, does this give the best chance for hosting?