How hard is the line between FOWLR and Reef?

[gksipps]

Have not seen a thread on this subject in my search so here goes. We started with FO. Then moved to FOWLR. Then somehow - don't ask me, hubby decided chunk (clown) needs an anemone. I started looking into it. If we get chunk an anemone, the anemone needs a sand bed. Fine. I can do a sand bed (it is CC now).
If we DO get an anemone, isn't that crossing over into the reef environment? Would we no longer be FOWLR? Or is the reef environment mostly corals, etc? Hubby thinks the long arm and bulb anemones look cool, but to me, it translates to more lighting, more this more that, and the tightwad in me is beginning to cringe at the very thought.
Can you have a successful semi-reef, semi fish, with just anemones and soft corals along with your fish and live rock, or are we just way in over our heads and need to do one or the other but not try to meddle in both? I do not want the full reef look, definately caves and burrowns and open rock work for the fish to play.
TY!
Karen
+*+*+*+
90 gallons, FOWLR (for now!)

 

[leigh]

once you're looking at anemone's for a 90 gal tank, you should be thinking in the 450-500 watts of light range...once you put that sort of light on the tank you can then do pretty much any coral but sps and clams. forking out the $$$ for the lighting is really the biggest step... however, once you build a reef, you'll never go back--i hardly even look at my fish anymore--I only have 3 of them in 100 gal system cause I'm so engrossed in my reef and inverts. And even of the 3 fish one of them was more of an accidental project (got the itch to try to help a tang with hlle)...really...the reef bug is dangerous
that said...if you really want to go semi-reef, you may not want an anemone as the host for your clown. you can get away with less light and do only mushrooms and low light corals. your clown will likely be equally happy hosting in a hairy mushroom coral. like anemones hairy mushrooms are also quite pretty, yet they do not have that wandering destructive tendency anemones are prone too nor do they require near as much light. so...if you want a host, i'd suggest considering some other corals--frogspawn, hairy mushroom...etc. depending on which direction you go would dictate what lighting you need and how overwhelming you'd make the first step be. if i were you i'd buy a hairy mushroom and a few other low light mushrooms first. see how they do with your current lighting and see how you like having corals. from there you can evaluate how strong your urge is to go reef and what type of reef you want (ie how much you're willing to spend on lighting).
hope this helps!
-leigh
ps...i'm basing this on the assumption that you currently have around at least 150-200 watts on your tank. if you have less than that you'll really have a hard time maintaining any sort of coral other than non-photosynthetic corals.

 

[thomas712]

Sounds like what you want is a species tank, clowns and anemonies.
How old is your syetem?
What is the lighting? as a photosynthetic creatue they will need good lighting.
Thomas

 

[spsfreak100]

Remember that lighting isn't the only thing that helps to keep an anemone alive. There are many other factors that will help with the husbandry of anemones.
All anemones will have horible survival rates, and few live over 4 months. An Anemone of any kind should not be bought for the clown. Anemones may move where they wish, which gives them a high chance of stinging other corals, getting stuck in a powerhead, or getting stung. Anemones are actually not "Real" reef inhabitants. Many have only been recently introduced into reef aquariums. For the most part, anemones do not survive well in the home aquariums. Even if you had the perfect setup, it probably will still die.
If you want something for your clowns to host in, I would recommend a Toadstool leather (Sarcophyton sp.) for your clownfish. These will make perfect hosts for the clownfish, and often will resemble an Anemone. Many other types of leathers including the Devils Hand (Lobophytum sp.), Spaghetti Leather (Sinularia flexibis) and Finger Leather (Sinularia sp.) will also work fine.
Other good hosts include the Colt coral (Cladiella sp., or, Alcyonium sp.), Kenya Tree (Capnella sp.-should be added to a mature aquarium), Alveopora (Alveopora sp.), Torch Coral (Euphyllia glabrescens), Hammar Coral (Euphyllia ancora), Bubble Coral (Plerogyra sp.), Green Star Polyps (Pachyclavularia sp.), Xenia (Xenia sp.?), Frogspawn (Euphyllia sp.), etc.
There were many I never meantioned, only due to the care level required for them, and the difficulty of keeping them sucessfully alive. Some of these include the Flowerpot (Goniopora sp.), Plate Coral (Heliofungia Actiniformis), and Elegance (Catalaphyllia sp.) to name a few.
Please do not buy an anemone. Save your money and buy it on something that will actually live.
Anemones do best in the ocean, which is where they belong.
Take Care,
Graham

 

[tlk]

I have always had horrible luck with anemones. As SPS said, they move around and sting other corals and die anyway. I have a 75gal fish and soft coral tank and am perfectly happy not keeping clams and sps. I have been successful using a 110w pc but have recently upgraded to a 4x65 pc.