Lights for Anemones

[greebs]

My clarkei clown has decided to use my bubble coral as his host, much to the coral's disliking. I've got a 55 gal with 2 65 w power compacts.
I'm thinking of trying to order an anemone from this site along with some other stuff but don't want to give it a death sentence if it won't survive in my setup. I need to figure out something though before my coral dies.
By the way, my tank has been setup about nine months now. I've got one of those purple tipped anemones on the highest layer of live rock and it has stayed put and looks healthy there but it's not the 'host' type anemone.
I'm hoping since he is doing well that's a good sign that other anemones will fare as well.

 

[kev]

Anenomes need good water quality and they should have ATLEAST 4 watts a gallon to do "good" in captivity. If the one you have now is doing good, then thats a good sign. You may wanna think about upgrading your lights though...

 

[richard rendos]

if your clown has taken to the bubble coral, he may not leave it for the anemone. he has already found a host. instead of trying an anemone, try something like mushrooms or xenia. they also do well as clownfish hosts and are easier to take care of than anemones. it is still no guarantee that he will ever leave his current host.

 

[pbuck]

Did you know that some anemonaes will live for centuries in the wild? That dwarfs the time they will live in most captive situations. Most GREAT reefkeepers are lucky to keep an anemonae alive for a year or more while average and beginners only last a few months. Take that into consideration when thinking about buying such an animal when your tank is only 9 months old and you are using less than 100w of light. I made the same mistake when I first started out and I killed 2 of those animals. My LFS knew my tank was only a few months old and that I had minimal lighting and he still sold me the animal knowing it would die in a matter of months. Let your tank mature for longer then do some serious research before you buy such fragile animals. Sorry, this kind of sounds a little mean. I was just trying to help. I typed this just after reading an article about wild anemonaes, and it kind of bothered me.

 

[greebs]

pbuck: If you'll kindly read my original post, you will realize that you didn't need to sound 'a little mean'.
I realize that there are many out there who just buy things without doing research. I, like yourself, have learned from mistakes. (I purchased a mandarin goby from my local lfs who knew that I had a new tank but sold it to me anyway and the poor thing starved.) Save your critical comments for those who deserve it.
Sorry if I sound a little mean here.

 

[pbuck]

I agree, I think the main problem with people starting off on the wrong foot in the hobby is our Fish Stores. I have 3 stores in my town and all of them would sell me anything in their tanks no matter if I had what it takes to keep it alive or not. My stores sadly just care about making a buck instead of killing hundreds of animals every year. So, a lot of our problems in the beginning are due to our LFS. I have seen many stories on this site where the LFS sold someone a flame angel, 2 clowns, and an eel to put in their brand new tank. That just makes me mad.