Anemone requirements?

sprieto

sprieto

Member
I have heard most anemone are not for begginers.
With that said (and many of us newbies still interested):
What are the basic requirments for keeping a anemone?
I know most will quickly say live sand and live rock a most, but are they nessesary.
My LFS guy said I could use regular fine CC (sand, but not live sand), but did suggest live rock.
I am setting up a 60 gallon w/ a canister filter (350gph), and 2 power heads for circulation (270gph each), and a protein skimmer.
I have a "satallite" light to use for the 24 hour lighting.
I wanted to use sand (but not live sand), my experiance and knowledge of live sand and live rck is zero, I want to learn and eventully use these for my next 90gallon (6 months or so), but I have more research and studing to do.
Are there more harty or sensity anemones than others?
What is the bottom line in requiremnts to keep an invert?
Thank you.
 
hermitkrab

hermitkrab

Member
OKay here I go...
Well I suppose the bottom line for keeping any invert is water with salt. But to keep an invert such as hermits and snails you should get live rock and playsand (just the same as live sand only cheaper) then the live rock will "seed" the playsand to make it live. Although there are a couple brands out there you should get but someone else will probably post that later. But okay so far you got your rock (about 90 lbs. of it) and your playsand (anywhere from like 100 lbs. to 135 lbs. for decen t sandbed). Get a protein skimmer obviously. A good one though you get what you pay for. I suggest the Aqua C Remora Pro. And you will need powerheads. I would get like three or more but even more if you want to keep SPS corals which need metal halide lighting. Also anemones need metal halide lighting and they are all basically fairly delicate. Although some anemones don't need good lighting those anemones are few. But one of those are tube anemones which get very big and most people say very agressive. Okay moving on. I would get Maxi-Jet powerheads they are reliable and work super. Also a rotating powerhead like The Power Sweep wouldn't be bad. I don't know about that canister filter. Can be a nitrate trap some people say. You could get a bio-wheel instead like te Emeperor 280 or 400 but some poeple don't like them either but I find them alright. But anemones also need a mature tank like 6 months or even a year. You have to let your tank cycle which takes on average about 5 weeks or so. Then you must wait. But as for regular inverts like hermits, snails, conchs, crabs, oysters, starfish, clams (exceptions are maximas and other "reef" clams), etc. don't need good lighting cheap lighting will do. But don't add anything until your tank has cycled and all the levels (ammonia, pH, nitrite, and nitrate) are good. Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate should be 0. pH should be somewhere close to 8.3. BUt if I was you I'd get Salifert test kits, sold at this site, to test your levels because I find them to be the most accurate. But once your tank has cycled you need a cleanup crew (inverts). Good inverts are Turbo snails, Nassarius snails, Mexican Turbo snails, Conchs, Scarlet hermit crabs, Emerald crabs, Skunk or Fire Cleaner shrimp, Peppermint shrimp, and some others but those are the main ones that prove over and over again from various people to be the best cleaners at the best price and hardyness.
Well guess that's all I have to say for now. Got any more question feel free to ask me or anyone else.
 
hermitkrab

hermitkrab

Member
Oh ya curshed coral isn't very good. Because food gets stick down in it and rots and causes your levels to spike possibly killing animals in your tank. Also anemones are advanced because they need a stable mature tank, metal halide lighting, and need special attention in there placement, feedings, and overall care. You could get a torch coral which look just like anemones but they need decent lighting, I suppose yours would work, and a tank that is stable and several months old at the very least. Well anyways like I said before feel free to ask away.
 
kaotik

kaotik

Member
anemones need strong light (not necessarily MH though) and they need pristine water conditions. sand and rock are not as important as these two in the case of an anemone.
good beginner anems are probably BTA.
 
thegrog

thegrog

Active Member
Originally Posted by sprieto
What's BTA?
Anything else that might be helpful, like how and what do the feed on?
BTA = Bubble Tipped Anemone
They typically will feed on any meaty treat you can give them. Variety is good. I feed mine formula one and my own personal mix. Most importantly they feed on LIGHT!
 
sprieto

sprieto

Member
Thank you, that was great!
What paticular types of meaty foods (frozen, freeze dried, or live)?
Do they need small rocks or gravel to sit on or is sand better?
Sorry, rookie questions I know, just getting as much info as possable.
Thanks.
 
thegrog

thegrog

Active Member
Well, giving any creature food that is frozen is not a good idea, thaw it out first.
Formula one is frozen. You can use fresh/frozen shrimp, squid, clams, etc. Just be sure they are from salt water. I try and stay away from dried for inverts. Never tried live, cost issue and a pain to do.
Anemones generally fix themselves to rocks, but will attach to most any surface. They wander until they find a spot they like so get fine screens for you intakes or, even better, sponge filters to avoid them from being sucked into pumps. This will kill them (or really harm them) and release toxins into the water that will kill other inhabitants into the tank.
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
If you do decide to get anemones, please don't stress out due to their tendancy to appear dead at certain times. They will shrivel up and change colors, but do not be alarmed. Make sure your water quality is perfect and stable, or spare yourself the heartache of keeping anemones.
Anemones are not impossible or even really difficult for newbies, you just need to practice perfect maintainance techniques and not slack off at all.
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
A lot of people say that you need a lot of light to keep an anemone. I'm not going to disagree because I don't want to start any arguments. All I can tell you is that I have a 45 gallon tank with another 15 gallons in my sump. I only have 60 watts of light on my tank. Now my water on the other hand is pristine. I have nearly zero nitrates. I believe the reason for such low nitrates is my weekly water changes and the macroalgae in my refugium. So I would say the most important thing to keep an anemone is very good water. By the way, if you look at my avatar, you can judge for yourself whether my anemone is healthy and happy.
I decided to add the pic because it is bigger, and gives a better view.
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
Trainfever, sadly, anemones take about 2-3 years to die of starvation from inadequate light. Yours looks good. :)
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
Mudd:
I don't plan on keeping it that way. I am in the process of building a wood canopy for my tank. I have a 220 watt VHO retro kit that I am going to put in there. Since my tank is 36" long, I will only be able to use 36" bulbs which are 95 watts each. That will give me 190 watts. I will also be using one of my existing light fixtures which is 30 watts for a total of 220 watts. That will give me 5 watts per gallon. I am going to put the lights on a timer to have the 30 watt light come on 30 minutes before the VHOs and then go off 30 minutes after the VHOs go off.
 
christie<3

christie<3

New Member
Trainfever, how do you know your anenome is happy by that picture? I'm not being sarcastic btw just trying to learn. ;)
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
Christie, can't you see that big smile on his face? :D Just kidding. Usually when an anemone is inflated like that, it means it is healthy and happy. Happy may not be a good choice of word because I dont know if anemones have emotions, but by being inflated, I can tell it is eating.
 
saltn00b

saltn00b

Active Member
hey christie, sorry to be off topic, but are you in south florida? im in west palm and am having a little trouble finding a great LFS (if such a thing exists)
 
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