This has been a very interesting and informative discussion everyone, thank you all for your input. First I'll show a recent full tank photo so you can all see where I eventually hope to place this anemone. If you want more specs on the tank you can click the red house or I can provide more details here.
GSMguy asks some very important questions, and I will address them here. As for preference, well, I'm not entirely sure, which is why I started this thread. I love the appearance of many of the different anemone species, but I'm also cognizant of some of the troubles that each may cause. Therefore, instead of naming a particular anemone that holds my interest, I should probably list some criteria that I desire, and perhaps those of you who are experienced in keeping these animals could recommend something that would fit. Since I will eventually have an SPS-dominant tank, I'd like to avoid a lot of wandering if possible. I'll more than likely keep the SPS in the upper 2/3 of the tank, with LPS, clams and softies toward the bottom, so I would think that it would be all right to keep an anemone either on the sand, on a small isolated rock island, or near the bottom of an LPS rock that is partially shielded from SPS.
I think I would like to keep the limit on size to about 18" in diameter, although I will probably move to a much larger tank in about a year so that number is not fixed.
I'm using ZEOvit so even though the tank has only been running for 3 months, it is certainly ready for SPS. From what I have read in the past, I was under the impression that a tank should be matured for about a year before attempting an anemone, but I also know from many new reefers that anemones often are introduced much earlier and usually fair pretty well (like BTAs). I'm not advocating doing that if that is poor practice, just thought I'd throw that out there. I certainly don't want to do anything hasty or foolish. My other theory was that, by introducing the anemone early on (before the tank is full of SPS), it may have time to settle in its position which might reduce the chance that it would wander into the corals and sting them.
I would like to avoid an anemone that has a high likelihood of eating its tankmates, as I plan on having some very nice (read "expensive") fish.
I prefer vibrant colors that would complement the other invertebrates and fish in the tank, and I would really like for my clown pair to host in this anemone.
So there we go, hopefully that provided some clarity as to what I'm looking for. There's probably not one best option, but I have enjoyed all of the recommendations thus far (except for the "synthetic anemone"
) and I hope they will continue to pour in.
