Anemone and corals OK together?

[sueandherzoo]

I've got three tanks up and running and one of them is a 14 gallon biocube that I bought to be my designated "reef" tank. A while ago I learned (the hard way) that you can't have two different types of anemones in the same tank (I had put a BTA in my 55 gallon that already had a pink-tip in there) so I quickly had to get the BTA out and I moved it to the biocube. It's very happy in there, but yesterday I went to a frag swap and purchased some corals for that tank. Is it going to be a disaster adding corals to a tank with a BTA or is there a chance they will all live in harmony? In other words, is there going to be almost immediate chemical warfare or is this something I can "wait and see" with? I spent a decent amount of money yesterday so I don't want to wake up in the next day or two to find all my new corals dying..... should I get the BTA out of there? No where else to put it - can't put it back in the 55 gallon and won't put it in the 46 gallon seahorse tank.
Sue

 

[nycbob]

if ur bta doesnt move much, then its ok to hv corals in there. i used to hv a bta with corals in the past, until the bta just got too big. i'd run carbon at times to filter out any chemical that could be in the water 2x a month.

 

[sueandherzoo]

Thanks, Bob. I'm so torn as to what to do. I want to re-aquasacpe my biocube now that I have several new corals to add but I don't know if I should incorporate the BTA into the plan or take him out and take him to the LFS. It's really attractive and healthy but I don't know if I'm going to kick myself a month from now (or sooner) for having left it in there. I've had the BTA in two different places in the biocube and it has pretty much stayed where I put it both times. Not much of a wanderer, but if it gets too big it's going to crowd out the corals I have. I'm thinking I'll give it a try and remove it later if I see problems..... I hate to give up something if I don't have to.
Thanks for responding.
Sue

 

[flower]

If you plan on getting rid of the anemone, out of that tank, do it while you can. Once they really dig in it is hard to get them out of a favorite spot without hurting them.
JMO

 

[jackri]

I had a carpet anemone in my tank for 2+ years and just started moving --- well with the rest of the tank full of corals and nearly killing an sps I dug him out -- not an easy task -- and sent him back to a pet store.
The corals and anemone lived just fine as long as the anemone doesn't move. I never run carbon on my reef either.

 

[sueandherzoo]

Ack - stalling doing the aquascaping because I still don't know which way to go. As you can see I really want to keep it in there but too many times in life have had to deal with "why didn't I follow my instincts!". I guess I'll get my hands in there and see what happens after that..... it sounds like it couild work, not work, or maybe work for a while. In other words, a real crap shoot. I wish different types of anemones would play nicely - I have plenty of room for it in another tank but with a different type in there they must have been shooting toxins at each other because three healthy fish all of a sudden died when I put both anemones in the same tank. Lesson learned!
Sue

 

[jackri]

Your fine if it doesn't move -- which is an if...
If the anemone has been settled in at one place for awhile I would feel better adding coral, rather than having coral and then adding an anemone. I also felt my leather corals surrounding (and sometimes touching with no ill effects) kept my carpet anemone in check and from moving.

 

[spanko]

The BTA will eventually outgrow the tank. Probably sooner than later. Best to remove it from the 14 biocube even without the worry of it stinging the new coral.

 

[nycbob]

i thought the bta was in the 55? if u r planning to hv the bta in the nano along with corals, then its not a good idea. the bta will outgrow it very fast.

 

[sueandherzoo]

Guess I've got my final answer -- it's got to go, as soon as I figure out what to do with it. I'll see if a co-worker wants it when I get to the office tomorrow - if not, I'll bring it to my LFS.
Thanks for helping me make up my mind. I'm now convinced that I would regret keeping the anemone in the biocube - probably sooner than later.
Sue