Whats best Anemone to keep with A. ocellaris

Poorcollegereef

Future Doc
Hello everyone,

I am trying to find out which type of anemone would be best for me to keep. I have a 20L with a 20gal sump 150watt 20000K MH. two skimmers and 18-20lb of live rock. When I started this tank the plan was to host 2 Amphiprion ocellaris with an anemone. After some problems with recieving quality ritteri that wasnt on its death bed, I am looking for a better anemone to keep. I have done some research, read several books at the local book store as well as using my university's library. I have recieved some conflicting reports about carpets. On some online fish stores, they suggest that S. gigantea is easier than S. haddoni, but my reading from Sprung and Delbeek's The Reef Aquarium vol 2 has stated the opposite. In the end I think Sprung and Delbeek's opinion is the better of the two. So which is the easier to keep haddoni or gigantea? Are there any other SURE options that Amphiprion ocellaris will accept as a suitable anemone? Please give me some feedback and let me know if you need any more info! THANKS!
 
From what I have read, listed in easiest to most difficult to keep, the list goes something like this... BTA --> Haddon --> Gigantea --> H. Magnifica. My suggestion, especially for your size tank and the fact it is your first anemone, would be to go with a BTA. I have a large green one that my Ocellaris clowns love and spawn next to on a regular basis. While not their natural host or a guaranteed host, it has worked out for me. Good luck!

PS - If you haven't read the Anemone FAQ posted as a sticky in this forum, you really should.
 
actually I have a really nice "lime greenish" BTA, but my clowns never accepted it. The anemone was a bit small (1.5X the size of the clowns) but the clown really avoided it. Now the BTA 'host' a few hermit crabs which crawl underneath it, atleast I was successful with that. Go figure... I have read the FAQ and anything I could get my hand on. I was thinking the S.haddoni but I wasnt sure about it and I really dont want to waste anemone life. The only thing that worries me is the "fish eater" reputation of the haddon incase I want to add a goby or other small fish at a later date.
 
It is unfortunate that the most available, easiest to keep clownfish live with the most difficult anemones to keep.

IME, S. haddoni is just as hit and miss as is E. quadricolor(BTA) as far as the ocellaris accepting them. Resist the temptation to get a S. gigantea. They are indeed a very difficult anemone to keep and even more difficult to find in good health.

I had to wait over a year for a pair of WC ocellaris to decide to go into their bta in their tank. Hang in there.
 
OK, well I was going to avoid s. gigantea but if the haddoni hosting of a ocellaris is not much better than BTA, then I was wondering if a larger BTA might promote the ocellaris to host quicker? Would that be a possible solution? Would it be possible to keep two BTA in a 20L. The BTA that I do have is about 3in, I have had it for 7 months, and even got it before my clowns. For some reason, it likes to "shrink" into a mass of bubble tips. (its not deflating or expelling anything), it just likes to tighten up alot and display it's bubbles (which is awesome). my clowns are tank bred (F is 2-2.25in and M is 1.5) so I dont know if that has anything to do with accepting the anemone. They dove in to the ritteri (no longer alive) after about 30 secs and bit me several times when I had to remove it.

So would a different BTA work if it is larger (5-7in)?
 
I would say that yes, bigger anemones are usually more attractive as hosts, but there still aren't any guarantees.
 
well being impatient and knowing that my LFS get its shipments in on tuesdays, i took a trip out and ended up getting a green BTA about 5 inches across and when I return...

I found the male HOSTING in my green starburst polyp coral!!! I am about to epoxy the fish in the darn anemone (just joking), however they have shown some interest in the new anemone.

the irony... hosting clowns is proving more difficult than keeping acropora! In any case, I will try and take a pic of it when my camera recharges. Thanks for the help
 
here are some pics

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