Planning on adding purple long tentacle anemone

[FishF00d]

So I have a cycling 65 tub that I'm setting back up. I'm interested in adding a purple LTA and a few pink skunk clowns. I've never kept a anemone before. I've been in the hobby for some time and kept some decent looking tanks.

First I know I don't have enough sand in any one spot for one of these guys. I'll be adding some in an area I'd like the anemone to stay, but I know that isn't always what happens. I'm planning a very open scape on the tank so there should be a good amount of room on the lower half of the tank. How big does one of these guys actually get.

Lighting shouldn't be an issue. I'll be running some steve's leds with a pair of t5 bulbs. Also have a sump with a fuge and skimmer set up.

How long should I let the tank mature before ordering a lta. Since I'm going with an open aquascape there will be a little on the low side for lr. I guess rule of thumb is 6 months.

Again will a 65 tub be too small for a full grown lta?

Advise or suggestions particularly from those who have kept a purple variety would be nice. Again I'm no rookie to reefing, just anemones. I've never had an interest in them but for some reason I'm wanting some different clowns with an anemone on this new setup. Is a pink skunk different? I mean everyone is into those designer percs. You can keep them.

 

[davocean]

6mo minimum tank running time for a nem, yes, and an LTA should be kept in a DSB, and I would not expect sand to stay deep in just one spot, nor would I expect an LTA to stay in that one spot even if it did stay that way.
LTA is a natural host for pink skunks.

 

[jdantunes]

Are you using live or dry rock? If you are using live, where are you getting it from?
How about you sand? Live or dry?

As davocean stated LTA are natural host for pink skunks, but I was one of the lucky ones with a purple LTA hosting orange skunks.

And they love it!

 

[FishF00d]

All dry rock and dry sand with some Carib alive and seed sand from my biocube.

How big do they get. I see one of you has a 75. My 65 won't be too small will it?

 

[davocean]

They get about 18" in diameter and need at least about 4" of buffer zone from any other corals, so a 65g will do, just know it will limit space for other corals, but they stay at sand bed so you should have some room up high and around them.

 

[jdantunes]

All dry rock and dry sand with some Carib alive and seed sand from my biocube.

Using all dry delays the maturity and stability of your system. Just make sure of keeping your Salinity, Alk, Cal & Mag stable after cycling the tank and all the algae goes away.

The more stable the system is the easier will be to keep your anemone happy.

 

[FishF00d]

Just did a dry start on my biocube I set up back I October. Probably the best start to a tank I've ever done. No algae but I did have an army of stomatellas in the tank after abut 4 weeks. Still don't clean the tank glass more than once a month. I'm surprised because it's skimmerless. Plan on going with a similar setup but with the addition of a sump with skimmer and fuge.

Just run floss, chemi pure and phosban in the media baskit. I'm going to run all 3 in my sump on this new setup.

 

[davocean]

So you are still on the fresh side of things, sometimes it takes a little bit to see the issues build up to a noticeable point from things like going skimmerless, so better stay on WC's really good until you upgrade.