Which bubble tip anemone should I get?

[xLennie]

Hey Guys!

Hope you are doing well.


I've been reading and watching a lot about anemones lately.

Even tho they are not a natural host to A.ocellaris clownfish, them splitting in home tanks, being hardier, and less needy as well as seeing many A.Ocellaris being hosted by bubbletips made me lean towards them.

I saw the belowmentioned ones and loved them all. The store owner shared pictures with me. The anemones in my city are huge and super costy. I instead wanted to try a small one, and witness its growth and journey in my tank, just like my juvenile clowns.

Could you please help me to choose any of these? I guess they all look healthy enough. If so, then is it purely a personal choice? Am I missing anything?

I also heard about a conflictive opinion and experience mentioned in a video I watched. Many guides I read suggest that you may keep different bubbletip anemones together with no issues, but usually mixing different anemones is not adviced. But I watched someone's YT video saying even if they are both bubbletips, do not mix them and just keep only one.

Pics of the anemones I will choose from:

Please let me know if any of these choices look better than another for some reason that I don't know about. I would also like to learn about the rarity as well. Orange ones are both a bit more expensive than the greens.

I wonder if I should get one small green and one of the oranges. Because the shipment costs A LOT. It will be a risky choice if they don't do well. But I also keep hearing two anemones from the same batch came from the same store acclimated the same way, and while one lives happily another one doesn't make it. Maybe buying two small bubbletips would increase the chance of survival in case it doesn't work for one? IDK

Please let me know

P.S: I asked the store owner guy if he may ship a piece of rock or frag covered by coralline algae to introduce it to my system and he said sure. Finally!

 

[Reefing102]

Here’s a quick pic of a portion of my wife’s 32 gallon BTA tank - no edits just an orange filter.

It looks like the first two are a type of rainbow BTA with the last being an acid wash BTA. Generally rainbows are some of the most common (around here they sell for $20-$40 each). Acid wash are still common but not as common as rainbows and run about $60 (though not everyone is a fan).

With all that said, in the tank above, I have mostly rainbows. I have tried two black widow BTAs. The first slowly shrank and the second one is doing the same. I have seen successful mixing of BTAs and also unsuccessful mixing. I do feel there may be som chemical warfare between the strains of BTAs. I can’t prove it but given my success with one type and not the other in a predominately BTA (there’s some green star polyps too), I do believe it exists. I’d find a strain you like best and go with it

 

[Pacman562]

Hello. What is your tanks age and where are you located? What do you currently have in your tank? I would save up to get something a bit more higher end/ bright in color. Even though it will take long to aquire in my opinion.

 

[xLennie]

Here’s a quick pic of a portion of my wife’s 32 gallon BTA tank - no edits just an orange filter.
View attachment 32397933
It looks like the first two are a type of rainbow BTA with the last being an acid wash BTA. Generally rainbows are some of the most common (around here they sell for $20-$40 each). Acid wash are still common but not as common as rainbows and run about $60 (though not everyone is a fan).

With all that said, in the tank above, I have mostly rainbows. I have tried two black widow BTAs. The first slowly shrank and the second one is doing the same. I have seen successful mixing of BTAs and also unsuccessful mixing. I do feel there may be som chemical warfare between the strains of BTAs. I can’t prove it but given my success with one type and not the other in a predominately BTA (there’s some green star polyps too), I do believe it exists. I’d find a strain you like best and go with it

hello!

It is great that your wife is also involved into the hobby. The tank looks awesome.

I expect mine to look this way one day. Especially considering they keep this bubble look, awesome. I see many bubble tips lose or mostly don't have this look. Do you/your wife any tips for them to preserve their bubble look and be this healthy? Could you please share some info on; after how many months did you add them, how fast did they split and/or grew like this, what's your feeding schedule like with what sort of food, salinity, flow, etc.

It is always good to learn from someone that has theirs doing amazing.

Interestingly, Acid was greens are much cheaper here. I am surprised that the pricing may change based on the country then. In a level, acid wash one is half the price of the top two! I am more of a fan of the first one tbh. I normally liked something similar but much bigger in size but I better go for a smaller one.

This was the one I liked the most but decided to go for smaller and cheaper options above:

 

[xLennie]

Hello. What is your tanks age and where are you located? What do you currently have in your tank? I would save up to get something a bit more higher end/ bright in color. Even though it will take long to aquire in my opinion.

Hello!

The tank is around 1.5 month old by now. It is a nano tank that will home only two clownfish-A.Ocellaris.

I have been reading a lot. I saw many people mentioning about waiting 6 months, 8 months, 1 year. Some just saying stability and if it takes 3 weeks, sure, you can try then. Some say wait for coralline algae to appear ( but idk if it is even possible without seeding/introducing a frag or stone? At least it will be shipped too!)
The store owner guy I talked to was sincere. He is a long time saltwater store owner and a senior aquaculture engineer. He said at least 1-2 months is a good idea, and I can try a small one if it has been 1.5 months. He is keeping all the anemones in the store in a 2.5 month old tank, he said.

The clowns I got are tiny, but one came a lil bigger in comparison. That one is slightly dominant, although not really aggressive. Eats more and seems to be in control. She(?) started to be involved around one rock today. I see people's clowns hosting powerhead and stuff online and although I hear sometimes they don't even prefer anemones in a reef tank, I think having no option is sad.

I know they don't "need" to be hosted by an anemone but its a natural instinct I guess. Can anyone think clownfish without anemones?

So I know my tank is fairly new. after adding clowns, I havent noticed a change in the parameters. I wanna try a small anemone now.

I had my lights on acclimation mode for 4 weeks, so it is also on a fixed normal schedule now.

Do you think I am risking it too much to try an anemone?

 

[Pacman562]

What size nano? I would say your tank is still too young for a nem. I don't think it's a risk at all. Add some nice algae to help balance the tank and use the time to save funds for a nem. Where are u located?

 

[xLennie]

What size nano? I would say your tank is still too young for a nem. I don't think it's a risk at all. Add some nice algae to help balance the tank and use the time to save funds for a nem. Where are u located?

Im from Turkey/Türkiye

My tanks are all custom made. This one is a 50x40x25h. But, I have 110x40x25 and 50x50x50cube I can upgrade to in the future if needed. I am planning to rehome some of my freshwater tank fish in the fishroom gradually. Having 25 tanks is time consuming

 

[Pacman562]

Im from Turkey/Türkiye

My tanks are all custom made. This one is a 50x40x25h. But, I have 110x40x25 and 50x50x50cube I can upgrade to in the future if needed. I am planning to rehome some of my freshwater tank fish in the fishroom gradually. Having 25 tanks is time consuming

I see that's a lot of fish tanks. Try to find someone local that has nems of your liking and ask to see there tanks before purchase. Don't buy if you feel something is off or the nem is not healthy. I have a ten gallon standard tank. I got a small bubble tip and 1year later I have 4. Here are a few pictures.

 

[Pacman562]

 

[Pacman562]

Waiting for the tank to age and stabilize is difficult but worth it. The first pic is when I first got the small anemone. The second and third where splits from it.

 

[xLennie]

Waiting for the tank to age and stabilize is difficult but worth it. The first pic is when I first got the small anemone. The second and third where splits from it.

You are right. I surely agree

For me, it's not about being patient for this occasion to be fair. I think I learnt the patience part well considering all this time I slowly built the fishroom and I have around 15yrs of fishkeeping experience. Instead, I mainly want to provide my juvenile clownfish an anemone that they would love & grow up together, instead of sitting in an empty tank. I see baby clowns playing around their anemones and it is very cute. If I happen to wait at least 6 months before I add anemones, that basically means my male will already be sexually mature fish right? I remember reading females take around 2 yrs while males take around 6 months or so to reach sexual maturity. These guys probably know nothing of an anemone as a captive bred fish, so I would love them to have an access to one asap before they grow up.

But also, that does not mean I should ignore the needs of anemone and its care requirements of course. An anemone is also as important as the clowns themself

 

[xLennie]

View attachment 32397941View attachment 32397942View attachment 32397943

It is interesting how the main one had actual bubbles but the splits were more like a spaghetti

 

[Pacman562]

Sounds good. Hope all goes well and keep us updated please.

 

[Reefing102]

Just some info on the tank. I had 2 anemones in the tank in the first week. When I started the tank I used live rock from KP Aquatics, and about 90% of the water came from my 65 gallon. After about 6 months I moved the last 3 from my 65 as they began to walk too much. I then added 10 more I got from a person breaking down their tank locally. I think there’s roughly 20 in there now after splits.

The tank has been set up for about 2 years now.
As for the bubbles, I believe it is the low flow (I can’t prove it but here’s my thought) There’s no powerheads running in this tank, only the flow from the return pump. The anemone that’s close to the output has long tentalcles. Most of the others are bulbous.

Salinity is kept about 1.026 and temp about 78. All they get is whatever spare pellet and frozen foods the clowns miss.

I have it lit with a SmatFarm G5 (I forget what settings) and it also has two 24inch AliExpress LED bars customized with a sprectral range between 410nm and 435nm which helps really bring out that pop of color.

Only thing with a small anemone is make sure the clown, if it hosts, doesn’t demolish it by being too rough. (I try to make sure the anemone is at least twice the size of the clown for first time hosting)
I hope this helps!

 

[xLennie]

Just some info on the tank. I had 2 anemones in the tank in the first week. When I started the tank I used live rock from KP Aquatics, and about 90% of the water came from my 65 gallon. After about 6 months I moved the last 3 from my 65 as they began to walk too much. I then added 10 more I got from a person breaking down their tank locally. I think there’s roughly 20 in there now after splits.

The tank has been set up for about 2 years now.
As for the bubbles, I believe it is the low flow (I can’t prove it but here’s my thought) There’s no powerheads running in this tank, only the flow from the return pump. The anemone that’s close to the output has long tentalcles. Most of the others are bulbous.

Salinity is kept about 1.026 and temp about 78. All they get is whatever spare pellet and frozen foods the clowns miss.

I have it lit with a SmatFarm G5 (I forget what settings) and it also has two 24inch AliExpress LED bars customized with a sprectral range between 410nm and 435nm which helps really bring out that pop of color.

Only thing with a small anemone is make sure the clown, if it hosts, doesn’t demolish it by being too rough. (I try to make sure the anemone is at least twice the size of the clown for first time hosting)
I hope this helps!

Many thanks for sharing

Good point about clown size. I didn’t know they could bother anemones but I remember reading they may be harsh on corals. I will pay attention to everything you mentioned for higher rate of success. Bubble look-flow rate experience included

Have a great week!

 

[griss]

Many thanks for sharing

Good point about clown size. I didn’t know they could bother anemones but I remember reading they may be harsh on corals. I will pay attention to everything you mentioned for higher rate of success. Bubble look-flow rate experience included

Have a great week!

Regarding Clowns and pestering anemones. I had a pair of Clarkii Clowns for a long time. Later, I added an Long Tentacle Anemone. The dominant Clown immediately started hosting in the anemone but, the other Clown showed no interest. Last September, the dominant Clown died and the other suddenly started hosting in the anemone. Since then, that Clown started stirring up sand, knocking rocks over, and just being aggressive. It's to the point where this anemone, that had never moved, is suddenly moving deeper and deeper into my rockwork due to the Clown doing all this rearranging. If I an catch the Clown, she's going to be traded into a LFS or given away to someone.

 

[xLennie]

Regarding Clowns and pestering anemones. I had a pair of Clarkii Clowns for a long time. Later, I added an Long Tentacle Anemone. The dominant Clown immediately started hosting in the anemone but, the other Clown showed no interest. Last September, the dominant Clown died and the other suddenly started hosting in the anemone. Since then, that Clown started stirring up sand, knocking rocks over, and just being aggressive. It's to the point where this anemone, that had never moved, is suddenly moving deeper and deeper into my rockwork due to the Clown doing all this rearranging. If I an catch the Clown, she's going to be traded into a LFS or given away to someone.

Oh!

Thanks for sharing your experience Griss. I will keep an eye on the clowns and anemones and whether they untintentionally hurt the anemones

I'm sorry for your loss. Clarkiis look awesome. What are the chances, if you add a small clarkii clown and expect them to pair up? Would this help to lessen the aggression by any chance versus the anemone? I literally have no clue. Btw, how likely is it to not have a pair by starting with two? Any idea why yours did not pair up gradually? I talked to a breeder and a very well known LFS owner, both told me it is like %99 chance of having a pair if I start with two juveniles.

I kept reading about clowns being potential bullies. I would try a bottom dweller goby too, but the comments of an LFS and mentioning about potential pathogen issues between captive bred fish and wildcaught ones scared me, I love my clowns so I decided to not add anything else. Maybe one day, another captive bred fish. OR! I wanna try brittle star mayhaps, a smaller and peaceful one (I see you green brittle star, get out!)

Stocking the tank with only a clown pair was a long time decision for me, but them potentially hurting an anemone was not part of the plan :') I hope I don't experience such thing. I never even knew or read it being a thing before @reefing102 mentioned it.



Today, I watched the slightly bigger one before and during morning meal time. She(?) is surely looking for a place. I think she expects to be hosted by an anemone, looking desperate while searching for one. Or maybe I am thinking too emotionally. But even your scenario examplify it, like the dominant one being hosted by the anemone you have all the time, and right after your loss, the other one directly took the opportunity of being hosted. They must love having one around

I hope this works out well

 

[shred5]

hello!

It is great that your wife is also involved into the hobby. The tank looks awesome.

I expect mine to look this way one day. Especially considering they keep this bubble look, awesome. I see many bubble tips lose or mostly don't have this look. Do you/your wife any tips for them to preserve their bubble look and be this healthy? Could you please share some info on; after how many months did you add them, how fast did they split and/or grew like this, what's your feeding schedule like with what sort of food, salinity, flow, etc.

It is always good to learn from someone that has theirs doing amazing.

Interestingly, Acid was greens are much cheaper here. I am surprised that the pricing may change based on the country then. In a level, acid wash one is half the price of the top two! I am more of a fan of the first one tbh. I normally liked something similar but much bigger in size but I better go for a smaller one.

This was the one I liked the most but decided to go for smaller and cheaper options above:


View attachment 32397939

Only had a chance to skim through this thread.

Hard to tell from the picture but this one looks like it might be bleached so stay away form this one.

Buy the ones you like they require the same care and the ones in your first pic look healthy so pic the one you like.

3 weeks is no where near stable. The length for how long a tank is stable really depends on what rock is used to set up. Most aquariums set up with dead rock take almost 6 months depending how much they leach to be stable. This can be sped up with the introduction of some live rock sometimes or simply using live rock.

 

[griss]

Oh!

Thanks for sharing your experience Griss. I will keep an eye on the clowns and anemones and whether they untintentionally hurt the anemones

I'm sorry for your loss. Clarkiis look awesome. What are the chances, if you add a small clarkii clown and expect them to pair up? Would this help to lessen the aggression by any chance versus the anemone? I literally have no clue. Btw, how likely is it to not have a pair by starting with two? Any idea why yours did not pair up gradually? I talked to a breeder and a very well known LFS owner, both told me it is like %99 chance of having a pair if I start with two juveniles.

I kept reading about clowns being potential bullies. I would try a bottom dweller goby too, but the comments of an LFS and mentioning about potential pathogen issues between captive bred fish and wildcaught ones scared me, I love my clowns so I decided to not add anything else. Maybe one day, another captive bred fish. OR! I wanna try brittle star mayhaps, a smaller and peaceful one (I see you green brittle star, get out!)

Stocking the tank with only a clown pair was a long time decision for me, but them potentially hurting an anemone was not part of the plan :') I hope I don't experience such thing. I never even knew or read it being a thing before @reefing102 mentioned it.



Today, I watched the slightly bigger one before and during morning meal time. She(?) is surely looking for a place. I think she expects to be hosted by an anemone, looking desperate while searching for one. Or maybe I am thinking too emotionally. But even your scenario examplify it, like the dominant one being hosted by the anemone you have all the time, and right after your loss, the other one directly took the opportunity of being hosted. They must love having one around

I hope this works out well

I don't plan on adding another Clarkii. I have always wanted another pair of Pink Skunk Clowns so, once I'm able to catch the Clarkii, she will be replaced with the Pink Skunks.

 

[xLennie]

Only had a chance to skim through this thread.

Hard to tell from the picture but this one looks like it might be bleached so stay away form this one.

Buy the ones you like they require the same care and the ones in your first pic look healthy so pic the one you like.

3 weeks is no where near stable. The length for how long a tank is stable really depends on what rock is used to set up. Most aquariums set up with dead rock take almost 6 months depending how much they leach to be stable. This can be sped up with the introduction of some live rock sometimes or simply using live rock.

Hello

That anemone looked a bit off to me as well. That one is big and more expensive compared to other, around 2x the small oranges and around 4x the green acid wash one.

Introduction of something alive makes a lot of sense. The tank needs to live but cycling is only a small part of it. That is my approach in my freshwater tanks too. As long as a hitchiker is not harmful like planaria or hydra, all good. I would even intentionally introduce critters like pest snails, detritus worms, harmless nematods, copepods and so on... Many comes directly wih plants on day one anyway, and start creating an ecosystem.

We don't have sterile cultures here. Like when I searched for dragonets and mandarins, I saw people using sterile cultures to start food sources and get the tank established for months in order to sustain enough population going on. Like I cannot go and buy a pod culture to introduce it to my system. Also many people seem to dip corals which would get rid off good critters too, I believe -based on the dip ofc-. I wanted this to be an anemone only tank, so I was kinda lost how to make this tank alive. Being sent a piece of live rock or at least frags will help to introduce coralline algae and some "life" to the system, I believe.

Maybe snail shells are my other hope to introduce some life to the system, besides the small rock/frag piece Im getting?

I "think" the time length loses its meaning when you cannot introduce anything that would literally introduce the tank some good creatures and algae that was already homed in an "alive" tank. So I feel like, at some point, I need to introduce something to this tank to make it going, and waiting all alone does not sound like it. Does it?


The saltwater hobby confuses me much more than freshwater one. And this is mainly because, the way people reach success changes A LOT. Everyone I talk to say different stuff. Last week, when I talked to one of the most famous saltwater aquarists in my country, who bred 17 different species, has many articles, owns a store for 23 years told me that, he basically adds corals in one week. As I mentioned above, another senior aquaculture engineer I talked to mentioned that he keeps all the abovementioned anemones and more in a newly setup 2.5month old system. At the same time, last week, I saw someone mentioning he would not introduce any corals at least for 8 months but ideally not for a year!

I guess I have to find what will work for me to reach success?