Problem: Anemone vs Powerheads

[dominican]

Hi everyone. I'm an anemone newbie, but have an established 150g fowlr (1yt, maroon clown, orange spotted sleeper goby, 2 firefish gobies, 2 urchins, snails, reefsafe hermits).
I want to add anemones for color/variety. However, I have two powerheads for good tank circulation.
I recently lost a new green bubble-tip, because sometime during the night he ventured too close to one of the two powerhead intakes among the rocks. Needless to say, he was was sucked against the grated plastic intake fitted to a short pieceo of pvc screwed into the bottom of the tank, and died. I was crushed. He was awesome, and my maroon clown had already fallen in love.
What can I do to eliminate this problem? Should i just get creative and surround the intake fittings with rocks so anemones can't get too close? Should I use some sort of screen to dissipate the suction (I'm afraid this would be ugly)?
Any comments/suggestions are welcomed. Thanks in advance.
Best regards,
Dominican

 

[clarkiiclo]

Was the anemone new to the tank?

 

[dominican]

Two 96x2 watt Metal Halides (10,000K) and One 96x2 watt Actinic (same). One of my actinics is currently out... They span the length of the 6foot 150g tank...
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I'm not sure how to describe lights, but each of my four lights are double bulbs. In other words, there are four light units in my power compact, but each has two separate bulbs. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, but I'm simply not clear on what that's called.
Do you think the anemone moved or detached from the rocks due to a light requirement issue? My understanding is that what I have should be sufficient.... Let me know if I'm wrong. Thx.
Regards,
Dominican

 

[dominican]

Yep. My first anemone..
I got him on Friday-day. My maroon took to him within 3 hours. (!!!) I was ecstatic.
When I turned on the lights in the morning, he was stuck to the powerhead intake... I dunno if he let go from the rock he had been firmly attached to and floated around until he got sucked onto the intake, or if he crawled over there and simply got too close...
Regards,
Dominican

 

[clarkiiclo]

Im sure he made it there on his own. My green anemone wandered around for along time. Then he settled on a rock I had bought for him. He was there about 3 days and decided he didnt like it. Now he is on the backside of another rock where I cant see him that well. :nervous:
I have another anemone(haitain) that hasnt moved since I got him.
Suffice to say the greens like to wander.
I think I would try to build something around the inlets. Maybe a clear piece of tubing swiss-cheesed?

 

[dominican]

Clarkii,
Thanks. I'm going to start looking for a creative way to shield the two intakes so that my critters can't get close enough to be sucked in.. Maybe just surrourd them with the right shaped rocks.. I appreciate the input, and good luck with your guys...
Regards,
Dominican

 

[edwar050]

I had the same exact problem, my gbta got to close to the powerhead but I managed to catch it just in time. Thanks for the idea of the clear tubing swiss cheesed, it gives me another great idea, get the tubing one sized just a little larger swiss chessed, then another size a little larger with holes punched in. I would think this double if not triple layer would work and cost nearly nothing.

 

[broncofish]

Whe I used to post here a lot, back before the anemone clownfish section I would always preach about sponges on your intakes. Buy the aquaclear sponge filters and cut them down. see attacthed picture for example

 

[fromoe]

i second the sponges. almost lost an anemonee, found him in time and lost an arrow crab. no issues since the sponges.
:happy:

 

[dominican]

Cool, thanks.. I have a drilled 150, so one powerhead intake is up front / very visible and I wanted something natural-looking. I built a lattice of little rocks, by breaking down a piece of LR and epoxying them together into a "housing". Looks pretty good and works well, but was a huge pain in the

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to build. I've got another intake that's somewhat hidden by my LR, and I plan to try an aquaclear sponge. Appreciate the suggestion.

 

[edwar050]

I like the sponges although I find that with a hair algae problem the get clogged quite frequently and sometimes some of the sponge really slows the output of the powerhead.

 

[edwar050]

I was thinking of trying ciramic rings with panty hose as they are very porous. IMAO bio balls would work as well. Just attatch to the powerhead w rubberband.

 

[broncofish]

Originally Posted by edwar050
I like the sponges although I find that with a hair algae problem the get clogged quite frequently and sometimes some of the sponge really slows the output of the powerhead.
I've actually never had a hair algea problem unless I have a problem in the tank. Also i clean them once a week or so, just part of my regular maintenace.

 

[edwar050]

Yeah they are really good if you have a tank that has few clogging problems. IMAO it depends on the size of the powerheads as well, I am using mj 1200's.