Picking the Right Anemone (or alt.) for my Tank

[revaltion131]

Hi everyone. I am wanting to try my second anemone after a dismal failure with an RBTA in my old 34 gallon tank. The short version is that I turned the pumps back on too fast and the 'nem ended up behind the rocks and never ever came out to get any light or flow. I couldn't forcibly remove it, so the obvious happened a couple of months later.

The tank I have now is a 125 gallon. Some of the rock is probably upwards of 20 years old but the established point right now is only about 2 months so I know I've got a bit to wait, but I can make beneficial tank changes in that time, and start training my eye to tell a healthy anemone from an ill one. I run 2x250w MH lighting and I would say that the flow is average to high but I wouldn't describe it as turbulent. I'm kind of trying to stay with species that are naturally sympathetic to my Saddleback Clowns. The ones I've found listed are the haddoni carpet and the H. crispa version of the LTA.

My biggest concern between these two is the capability of the Haddon's to eat other fish. I will have several that aren't particularly expensive but that can be a pain to find so I'm not sure that I'm liking that they may be chowed down by the 'nem. How much of a real risk is this?

Thank you for your answers to my questions. If you don't feel that either of these anemones would be suitable, please recommend me some others or tell me if I should just stick to corals.

 

[t4zalews]

I have a carpet under 250w and it is doing just fine. I've heard tho that haddoni's dont liek high flow, so that could become a problem.

H. Crispa is a sebae anemone, not a long tentacle. I've had experience with this anemone too with the same lighting. In my opinion pretty easy to take care of. If your concern is the haddoni eating fish, get the sebae.

I'd say that if your haddoni ever ate a fish...it was on its way out anyways, I had a fish have a run in with my gigantea, got away and knows to be more careful next time. the fish is completely fine.

I'd vote for the sebae because I like clownfish with more "tentacley" anemones. the black and whitish tan of the sebae would look very good too.

- A healthy sebae will NOT be white in color but rather more of a tan color. Most sebae's in LFS are usually white and have short stubby tentacles. I bought mine like this. I fortunately provided ideal conditions and it quickly turned healthy. Also, make sure you get one that is not floating around the tank. If it wont attach at the LFS, chances are it wont attach in yours.
When I bought mine....

After a few weeks....

 

[bues0022]

I'd say that if your haddoni ever ate a fish...it was on its way out anyways,

I will have to disagree with this statement. My current very healthy haddoni was known to eat three black and white ocellaris clownfish before it came into my care. Others have also had fully healthy haddoni's eat other tankmates. The health of the anemone doesn't seem to indicate any fish-eating capability. Some haddoni's are more aggressive than others. From what I've read and discussed with others, it seems the green stripped ones have been more of a fish-eater than the others. I don't know if this is just coincidence with those I've spoken with, or actually a trend though. With any haddoni, however, you are generally risking eaten fish as they seem to be one of the more aggressive hosting anemones.

 

[t4zalews]

I was saying the health of the fish, not the health of the anemone. A healthy fish shoudl be able to escape if caught in tentacles

 

[Toddrtrex]

I was saying the health of the fish, not the health of the anemone. A healthy fish shoudl be able to escape if caught in tentacles

Nope. I have seen a fully healthy fish get caught by one of my Haddonis -- the fish was fully wrapped up in a split second. The reaction time of a Haddoni is shockingly fast, and they are like velcro, been able to lift one out of the water just from it sticking to my fingers.

And even if the fish could escape, it would most likely die within hours from the sting.

 

[t4zalews]

Yea..Im not a Haddoni expert, so I'd listen Todd about Haddoni's. I figured healthy fish could escape, I guess not. I had a purple tang that looks like it had a run in with my gigantea and its fine now.

 

[bues0022]

In my previous example, all three clownfish that were eaten by that Haddoni were in perfect health. Even clownfish aren't immune from the haddoni sting in some cases!

 

[MrTuskfish]

You may already know this; but there are a lot of tank-bred saddleback clowns on the market now and they won't host an anemone anyway.

 

[NoBigDeal]

Nope. I have seen a fully healthy fish get caught by one of my Haddonis -- the fish was fully wrapped up in a split second. The reaction time of a Haddoni is shockingly fast, and they are like velcro, been able to lift one out of the water just from it sticking to my fingers.

And even if the fish could escape, it would most likely die within hours from the sting.

Agreed. The fishes movement of trying to escape actually decreases their chances. Ever noticed that when you lightly put a piece of fish on the tentacles of a Haddoni the reaction time is slower but if you take a piece of fish and play a lite version of tug of war with anemone it engulfs the fish remarkably fast.

In my experience, I had a blue Haddoni eat several shrimp and 7 fish. The next haddoni I had after that (green) didn't eat a single thing.

 

[bues0022]

You may already know this; but there are a lot of tank-bred saddleback clowns on the market now and they won't host an anemone anyway.

Really? Do you have a bit more information to back this up? I'm curious why you have concluded this.

 

[Toddrtrex]

You may already know this; but there are a lot of tank-bred saddleback clowns on the market now and they won't host an anemone anyway.

Really? Do you have a bit more information to back this up? I'm curious why you have concluded this.

Someone must have forgot to tell my pair ( tank raised ) that bit of info, since it took them all of 5 minutes to be hosted.


Though I guess technically MrTuskfish is correct, since no clowns will host an anemone.

 

[revaltion131]

Thanks for the useful replies. My pair is unfortunately wild, TR have been near impossible for me to find, even with online vendors. I know that they'll be fine without an anemone but I'd like the challenge of trying one once more and providing the clowns with an anemone that is more natural to them seems like a good choice as long as the tank as a whole is compatible. I love the look of carpets but I also love my fish so I think I'm leaning towards the sebae.

As I haven't seen any comments come up, I assume my lighting is fine for either?

 

[NoBigDeal]

You may already know this; but there are a lot of tank-bred saddleback clowns on the market now and they won't host an anemone anyway.

I would also like to see some concrete evidence to support this wild statement.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I would also like to see some concrete evidence to support this wild statement.

I was wrong on this. I found an old statement by Fenner that could be read either way; a little more looking on my part (I usually do that first) showed I was wrong. getting old ain't fun, sometimes.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I was wrong on this. I found an old statement by Fenner that could be read either way; a little more looking on my part (I usually do that first) showed I was wrong. getting old ain't fun, sometimes.

Too late to edit. This appears on the FAQ section of Sustainable Aquatics web site; so it seems to be a widely held misconception. I am no longer one of the misconceived. (But there are people who would disagree.)