Which Anemone and Where in my tank?

[Patrick Cox]

I will soon be adding a pair of percula / picasso clowns to my tank and I would like to go for hosting behavior. I have a 57G tank. I am attaching a picture for use in answering my questions.

1. Which anemone would you add to have the best chance of hosting, reasonably easy care and visual impact?

2. Where would you place it in my tank? I can move corals or my tube around but I don't really want to move any rock at this point. (I am thinking the best spot would be where my tube currently resides.)

Thanks!
Pat

 

[Enyo]

Before this goes any further, know that host Anemones are not sessile by any means. They will move around, kill your corals, and get sucked into your powerheads. There is nothing you can do about it.

You are better off letting your clowns host one of the many LPS you have.

 

[bradleym]

If you get one that stays in the sand, you will need at least 3 inches of sand. If you go that route, I would recommend a Heteractis Malu. Otherwise, you will do best with a BTA, but as mentioned earlier, they will climb wherever they want to go, and will sting your corals.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Thanks both for your replies. So do people not normally place an anemone in a tank with the corals I currently have? Also, is it likely that a clown will be hosted by something like my frogspawn? I would be happy with that if it happened.

Thanks!

 

[trueblackpercula]

Anemones are best kept alone but there are lots of thanks that have them. I see you have an elegance clowns love to host them ir that helps.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Anemones are best kept alone but there are lots of thanks that have them. I see you have an elegance clowns love to host them ir that helps.

Thanks. I will see if the clowns like my elegance or frogspawn before I consider adding an anemone.

Pat

 

[bues0022]

I personally don't think that corals and anemones necessarily are mutually exclusive. There is definitely a risk especially initially of the anemone moving a bit to find its happy spot (and in the process stinging your corals). BUT, assuming a healthy specimen and proper tank conditions an anemone will not move "just because it can". A sand dwelling anemone will lessen the risk of your corals that are on the rocks, and limit the possible movement. That way you could move your sand corals until the anemone stays put. Additionally, knowing the preferred environmental requirements for a BTA can greatly lessen the chance of movement there also. I would not consider most hosting anemones to be a huge risk, but a small risk that can be mitigated if you take the appropriate measures by doing necessary homework up front.

Also, FWIW be aware that on the flip side of the coin, there have been cases where clownfish have literally loved (irritated) LPS to death. So, the LPS isn't fool-proof either.

 

[davocean]

Elegance corals are kind of sensitive and somewhat difficult to keep, I would hope they discover the frogspawn instead.
The frog is a great alternative if you aren't dead set on wanting a nem, and less risk.
In that size tank as long as you have a decent sand bed, water quality, and lighting, I would vote Malu(What I have) for it's smallish size and sand dwelling that makes it easier to maintain in a mixed reef.
I personally have always kept nems in mixed reefs w/ very little issues.
BTA's have done the most damage from wandering in my tanks due to rock crawling over frags, so while they are very pretty, I would only keep them in a species tank, just my opinion, but many do have success in mixed reefs.

 

[Whip316]

i got great info from a well known reefer about keeping bta's from moving. he has hundreds and he sells a few fro time to time. and i bought a few from him.
im not gonna name drop, but he said if you surround the foot of the nem with rubble, it wont move. i have 7 bta's in my 40b and it holds true. i surrounded each foot with some rubble and none have moved in months.

 

[Repz]

I'm probably one of the few people that keep coral and nems.
I had a bta and heterodactyla hemprichii. The hemprichii didn't move at all but the bta wandered for a week or two.
I created an ideal crevice for it and it hasn't moved in a mth.
I initially had corals such as elegance, hammers and torches with Darwin occies which never showed interest in anything but the wall. Even after adding the nems they still don't host anything.