Placing Corals with Anemones

[Random Aquarist]

I'm planning on getting a BTA when my system is setup, running, and established. I'd like some corals, but I don't want them to die when my BTA decides to take a walk. How is it that people manage to surround their anemones with corals, even on the same rock?

 

[TOURKID]

well. your nem will grow to around 12 inches b4 a split, maybe sooner, but leave enough space. my bta never outright killed any of my corals when walking, just stung them a bit, left a lil burn mark and they closed up for a day or so. If the nem stays in one spot and never stops stinging a neibor maybe it'll die, but thats when u need to move the coral..

 

[Random Aquarist]

So I should add the BTA, let it find its spot, and then add corals around it? That's what I thought. If it does eventually move and stops next to a coral, what do I do?

 

[TOURKID]

Well thats up to you. You can add corals safely before adding a bta. Btas recommended u wait 6 months. But you can get polyps/xenia etcetc a month or so after cycling. So if u want to wait to get a bta... that would be the best way is to add it first.

If it stops next to a coral? well.. make sure it wants to stay there first, and if so.. move the coral.

None of my corals are mounted. Oviously some corals spread and they are stuck, but I just pick it up and move it somewhere else if I think it'll get hurt. My red polyps have been getting stung for about 5 months. I cant move the rock they are on, the nem is using it for its foot. they never even skip a beat though. sometimes th fringes will get burned off. they'll close up and wait till the nem shifts and open right back up agian, sometimes they get black burn marks.. but theres nothing I can do. They arent dieing in the least.

 

[TOURKID]

wanted to add... if your tank is happy and in the correct perimeteres your nem isent going to walk around all the time. In some cases it'll stay whereever u put it, until it splits.

Dont worry to much about it. your biggest concern with a nem walking is your intakes on powerheads. thats the only way a nem can really destroy a tank pretty quickly

 

[pfish]

I made a little Island for mine away from the rest of the corals. It has stayed there and split 4 times in 2 years. It is easy to remove the rock with the attached nem for selling when there on a seperate Island of live rock.

 

[Random Aquarist]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9157753#post9157753 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TOURKID
sometimes th fringes will get burned off. they'll close up and wait till the nem shifts and open right back up agian, sometimes they get black burn marks.. but theres nothing I can do. They arent dieing in the least.

So the corals don't die? They just curl up defensively until the anemone moves away? If you don't fasten your corals to your LR, then how do you keep the coral-fragging-rock-plug-things from falling away?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9157780#post9157780 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pfish
I made a little Island for mine away from the rest of the corals. It has stayed there and split 4 times in 2 years. It is easy to remove the rock with the attached nem for selling when there on a seperate Island of live rock.

I heard about that strategy. The islands are called "bommies" I think. I don't think I'm really for that idea, though. I'm creating a Fiji biotope, as my sig says, and the it's specifically a Fijian shallow reef slope. I just don't think a "bommie" would look like I would like.

 

[TOURKID]

i donno, the candy canes are wedged in holes, the favia came on a nice rock thats flat on the big rock... lemme see if i can find a recent pic..

see the frogspawn? i mounted that on a big fat 1/2 a clam shell, and the shell is wedged in.. bad example4 because 1/2 my rock is in my 90 helping the cycle. the rest will be moved over in the next few weeks

those flowers to the right of the nem are the ones that always get abused lol

 

[Slakker]

I would think that if the colony of corals was having too much problems with the nem, they'd just start expanding the colony size the other direction, away from it...right?

 

[TOURKID]

slakker.. yep. the green polyps on the right side bottom of the nem basicly moved. lol It was pretty neat to watch. there were only 3 and when they started getting touched, they reproduced 7 or 8 polyps on the far right away from the nem faster than ive ever seen

 

[Slakker]

That's really cool...I love seeing and hearing about how things adapt to their environment like that!