what should i do?

[Clarkii3]

as you know i first set up my 26g bow as an anemone/clown system, ive decided to change things, so i took all my softies out and gave them to a friend to hold for another tank. i will be getting a 150w halide for this tank as well as a remora and need some ideas on what to do. currently i have a tomato clown as the only inhabitant. i have 2 seperate rock structures with a 2" sand bed. i was thinking of making it an anemone/clam/sps tank with 2 or 3 sps corals on the one structure and the anemone on the other and a clam in the sandbed, but then theres the possibility of roaming. would this work out okay? or will i encounter some problems down the road? i was also just thinking of a huge anemone as a centerpiece on the rockwork and the clown. due to my tank size i don't think any other anemones would be suitable for my system. i would like to have somthing else besides a bta if possible, i would be willing to change the scape in order to accommodate the specimen. need some ideas guys.

 

[raoul]

IMO - I would go with a sand dwelling nem if you're going to be adding sps up higher. Then you don't have to worry about the nem shading the sps as it grows. You still run the risk of the nem spreading out and touching things. There's also a possibility that your individual sand dwelling nem may not stay lying on the sand.

We have an H. crispa that stretches upward, and it's foot is attached between some low lying rock right above the sand line. It can reach the top of the tank if it wants (it's in a 30 gal). So maybe this isn't an incredibly helpful reply, but maybe if you go through the anemone FAQ near the top of this forum you can get a better idea of what might work well with your tank.

 

[Clarkii3]

i probably won't do a sebae as they tend not to do well in captivity, i really like ritteris but i hear their quite difficult

 

[raoul]

I think crispas would do better in captivity if they weren't in such bad shape when they came in. Crispas don't do well with collection and shipping, and sometimes the care they receive at the LFS is not adequate. We nursed ours back to health (granted, not all nems recover) and it's been pretty stable for us.

It's also been pretty predictable which I like. If it wanders, it's due to lighting or flow (we messed with the flow near it a few times) but even then it didn't wander far, only a few inches forward and then back. We haven't broken any longevity records (we just celebrated 2 years this month) but there are people here that have had them for years (12 + years)

I agree whole heartedly that these guys are tricky and iffy in the begining because, in our area at least, it's very difficult to find one in optimal health.

Another choice for a sand nem is M. doreensis. I don't know how they are at shipping, and if they're affected by it as badly as crispas. Obviously these aren't the only ones, I can only remember H. aurora and H. malu off the top of my head.

I've heard the same thing about ritteris - difficult. The FAQ (see previous post) gives a difficulty rating on the different nems, this may be helpful in your selection as well.

Good luck!