Trying anemones but which one

[skyshrimp]

Ok im trying my hand at anemones and wanna know what are my options besides a bube tip for hosting clowns and if any move around less than a bubble whie getting adjusted. My tank params are good and my tank has been up longer than a year. Now I just wanna know my options besides bubble tip. My other stats are in my signature.

 

[davocean]

BTA's are probably best known for wandering, most anything else should wander less, and if lucky not at all.
I have a malu for that and other reasons, stays smaller, sand dwellar, so easier for mixed reef, but you do need a DSB.

 

[skyshrimp]

The malu does look nice seen them for sale on saltwater fish. I really like to try somthing other than bubble tip. Which should I avoid then?

 

[Conrad25]

Malu or Long Tip Anemone would work as long as you have the proper requirements for them

I wouldn't go near carpets either as they are harder and will move till they are happy which can be very bad for a reef unless your ready for it

 

[jake levi]

Entacmea quadricolor, hands down !

Gigantea and Long Tips are the primas but the E.quadricolor are the hardiest and best suited to aquaria that I have seen. Eventually I do want a Carpet but there will probably just be one .

Because of the wandering I will be watching the BTA very closely and try to get them well situated.

 

[jeffm59]

You could try a mini max anemone garden. They don't move much after finding their spot and they are colorful to look at.

 

[Conrad25]

I think he wants something that the clowns can be hosted by I'm guessing

 

[bradleym]

Sebaes, or H. Crispa are also known for hosting. I would avoid carpets and Ritteri or H. Magnifica for your first anemone.

 

[gweston]

I have 3x BTAs.

The GBTA wanders all over the darn place. P's me off. It is the smallest of the three. I have to watch it constantly so it keeps away from my power heads.

The RBTA split into two. One half stayed put. The larger half wandered all over until I picked it up, and place it where I wanted it. Then it stayed put and hasn't moved since. Ideally placed too. My clowns are now in it.

The good thing about BTA's though. They are hardy and aren't very demanding. Just give them light and occasionally toss some food their way and all is good. I feed mine just a tad on a weekly basis. No need to feed frequently.. they just end up growing too fast.

 

[DeathWish302]

I've heard it from every aspect with BTAs'....constant wandering to no motion after the first day. I think it has alot to do with flow more than light. My GBTA in my nano hasn't moved since it found it's spot. It is a ric yuma-FL, paly, zoa and mushroom kingdom so they could hold their own against some occasional stings. After 3, yes 3 weeks it settled at the interface between a rock in the back and the sand.

My BTA breeder has had only one anemone wander for more than 72 hours in that tank. The flow was much greater and they seem to quickly find their spot. Unfortunately this tank has quite a bit of MMLR in the shape of Tonga branch which allows for much greater light coverage. The nano has little shaded areas from the LED lighting.

I really don't think my BTA experience is abnormal, it just takes a little time for these to settle.

 

[aday2remmbr]

Sebaes, or H. Crispa are also known for hosting. I would avoid carpets and Ritteri or H. Magnifica for your first anemone.

yes for a first time anemone keeper you will deinately want to avoid ritteris and carpets, any other anemone is fairly straight foreward to care for. i personally like the malu and sebae because they are similar to ritteris but hardier. i have a ritteri and it is very demanding. not afor a beginner.

 

[davocean]

One common thing that I have observed in reading on BTA's here which sepperates them in my mind is that many will find a happy spot, and stay put, and then wander later on w/out changes in tank.
I had a BTA specific tank myself, one stayed put, the others always wandered, at least a little bit.
Of course all nems can wander, though most seem to stay put if conditions are good.
Several things keep me from BTA's these days, mainly the loss of black color in my picasso's after adding BTA's, and also when they wander it can be all over the tank, killing whatever is in their path.
I prefer sand dwellars, even if the rare occurance of wandering happens, at least only corals on bottom are affected, mainly rics and acans which usually can deal w/ stings.

 

[t4zalews]

what kind of clowns do you have? I've kept bubbletips, sebae (cripsa), LTA and currently i have a Gig. if you dont want a bubbletip, sebae's are really easy to care for in my opinion. they are sand dwelling and mine never roamed. LTAs are easy to care for to but they get rather large quickly, not only mantle wise but as their name suggest very long tentacles. But if you want one, LA has had some sweet purple ones lately.

 

[DeathWish302]

Several things keep me from BTA's these days, mainly the loss of black color in my picasso's after adding BTA's, and also when they wander it can be all over the tank, killing whatever is in their path.
I prefer sand dwellars, even if the rare occurance of wandering happens, at least only corals on bottom are affected, mainly rics and acans which usually can deal w/ stings.

They may move slightly, but not like my first GBTA when I almost stayed up all night to make sure it didn't get sucked into a PH. Since it is a BTA 'sanctuary', I'm not concerned with moving and there is no PHs' with only the return providing flow.

You are exactly right about color! My Beautiful Orange Occy turned into a muddy brown-black spot-dirty orange after only a couple weeks with the GBTA. Completely frustrating when the Onyx Percs started lightening from the BTA tier. Now I'm thinking moving the GSM pair into the BTA tier is the only pair that will not turn color. I'll let you know if I ever get a Chrysogaster pair to put in the GSM lagoon.

 

[davocean]

Yeah, the color loss is just bizarre, I had read about it before, but never believed it till I saw w/ my own eyes/exp.
And then just pulling the BTA's resulted in black color coming back, no new nem even needed, and went that way for about 4 months or longer till I found my now Malu, which I couldn't be happier with.