Anemone!!! an-enemy hehe

[new_noob]

Sorry i coulnt find a better name for the subject, Well my question is i have 265W of VHO lights over my 55 gallon, my tank is about 4 months old or so...I have 2 scissortail gobys, hermits, Zoanthids, Mushrooms, GSP, BSP, and some dusters. I also have a (false) perca clown, that why i want to get an anemone, but i dont know what kind to get, could anyone help me?? It will be high in the tank, but what type of water flow??

 

[new_noob]

bubble tip anemone? On SWF.com there 99 bucks!!!!!!!! wow pricey.

 

[new_noob]

lol ohhh, now i see, what a silly mouse i am!

 

[rwhite]

I'd say BTA. Better chance at hosting and also nice looking. We ended up getting a green one and it looks awesome. Check out the New BTA update thread if you want to see it.

 

[elpezgrande]

New_Noob, make sure that you do plenty of research before getting an anemone. There is much conflicting information out there to sift through (MH is the minimum vs. MH is too bright, Feed them 2 - 3 times a week vs. Don't feed them at all vs. They will die from overfeeding, etc.). If the Anemone Police read this thread they would probably berate you for wanting to put one in a tank that lacks MH lighting and is only four months old. No one seems to know why they are so difficult to keep, but in a study of experienced reef keepers around 95% died before reaching 3 years in the aquarium, which is pretty pathetic considering they can live for hundreds of years in the wild. You should also consider corals for hosting, I've seen pics from members on this board with clowns hosting in toadstool leathers, GSP's, hairy mushrooms, and plate corals. If you do decide to get an anemone, make sure you get a healthy one. Obviously you can't do that if you get it online, but if you get one from the LFS, make sure it has good color and doesn't have much if any bleaching.
Also, you say it will be high in the tank, but trust me, the anemone will go wherever it pleases. I had to rearrange my rock work after it settled in the back.

 

[neowind]

Well just a word of warning my condi ate my false perc don't mean to scare ya though

 

[xtant]

Originally posted by Neowind
Well just a word of warning my condi ate my false perc don't mean to scare ya though
Sorry to say my condi ate mine also. All I saw was the tail sticking out. What I have heard is that clowns may swim through the tenicles of condis but they won't technically host. or something like that

 

[neowind]

False = Occ.
True = Percula
Some are tank raised some are in the wild.

 

[new_noob]

then i guese i got a ocellarises....

 

[krishj39]

New Noob, yeah you probably have the false percs, these are more commonly available. There is no guarantee that any clown will ever host in any anenome. That said, I have seen clowns (this particular one is a maroon clown) take to a condi within the same day the anenome is added. On several other occasions I have seen haitians host false perculas. In my own tank, I added not one but two BTA's hoping my false percs would host in it, as these are among their favorite anenomes to host in, their favorite being carpet anenomes (hard to keep). Both clowns refused to host in the BTA's. Then, I added a sabae, which they are never supposed to host. However, within a few weeks, the false percs had moved into the sabae and they haven't left since. I recommend the haitian or condi anenome to you because it is an easier anenome to keep and, IMHO, just as likely to host your clowns as a BTA.

 

[mr. tuna]

lol!! about to say 99 bucks for a bta??
your percs would love a bta. bta`s and carpets are percula`s favorites.

 

[h2ocreator]

I would say a bubble tip, or a white sebae. The white sebae would be the best bet. They don't like to roam around the tank, and my clown loves his.:happyfish

 

[suver569]

condy's can sting, alot, so careful with em. BTA's are great IMO. Beautiful and active. I have a green/brown BTA and it does great. Good steady flow, and throw it some meaty food once in a while and it'll be happy as can be.

 

[giraffemaster]

This is a clone of the many that has split from the original. I fed mine the past few years and it split many times. I've stopped feeding it and it hasn't split since but is huge. Anyone who thinks that you must have MH lighting to have anemones is just wrong. I've had this one under VHO and it loves it. It's tough too. This July I left for the weekend and the tank got way too hot. Many of my corals died and this anemone "bleached" itself but all of the zooanthelae grew back and now it's very happy. It's a Bubble tip by the way.

 

[giraffemaster]

I've had this one for five years also.

 

[krishj39]

Here is my false perc in sabae

 

[elpezgrande]

They do need each other rabbitfish, at least in the wild. Found the best explanation of it on a reef keeping site.
"The single most important benefit of anemones towards anemonefish is protection. In the wild, clownfish are always located within a host anemone. A wild clownfish not hosting within a sea anemone is most often quickly consumed by any number of predators. It is the nematocysts of the sea anemone that ward off the attacks of groupers or other predators of anemonefish. Sea anemones gain several benefits from the hosting fish. In some areas, sea anemones will not survive without their host anemonefish. Butterfly fish are quick to dine upon anemones without a symbiotic partner standing guard. In some cases it has been noted that anemones will be consumed in less than 24 hours after removal of anemonefish (Fautin, 1986). In addition to protection, clownfish will achieve several tasks just from normal swimming. They will aerate the water around the tentacles, they will remove waste from the oral disc, and finally they will provide nitrogenous waste (food) to the host anemone. It is considered folklore, by many researchers, that an anemonefish will capture food items from the water column and "feed" the anemone. This has been known to happen within the confines of aquariums, but has not been witnessed by researchers in the wild."