Should I add an anemone???

[tannersmith200]

Hello guys
I have been in the hobby for about three years now and I have had a lot of success. My 200g Bowfront reef tank houses mostly SPS and some LPS corals along with a Queen and Emperor Angel, a Powder Blue and Achilles Tang, 7 green chromis and three clows (black and white ocellaris). I have been procrastinating on whether or not to buy a 1-2" rose bubble tip anemone for my clowns.
I have heard horror stories of the anemone killing the fish and causing a lot of damage to other corals.
My water quality is best it has ever been.
Nitartes: > 0.05 ppm
Nitrite and Ammonia: 0 ppm
Temp 76 (seasonal)
pH - 8.0
Salinity: 1.025
Calcium 450 ppm
Lighting: 12K White and 453nm Blue LEDs. It's sufficient
Tank is 6 months old but half the rock is over two years old. It is very well established with sponge growth etc. The rock was transfered from two previous tanks.
I basically have a showcase but I want some opinions. I want an anemone but I dont want a huge risk either.
Am I being too paranoid for a 2" rose bubble tip anemone? Maybe but I dont wanna wreck my awesome creation.
Thanks guys!
Tan

 

[bang guy]

The answer to that question is always "NO!"

If you want an Anemone it sounds like you have the ideal setup for one. You also seem to know and understand the risks. If you want it bad enough to accept the risks then go for it.

 

[mr. limpid]

Anemones go where they want and will sting things, corals do have defenses, they can sting or emit chemicals. You may start a war and in a closed system there are no winners.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Take a leap of faith...

 

[tannersmith200]

Haha thanks for the replies guys. I dunno what to do. My fish and corals are so happy and healthy but my clowns just look like they would love an anemone. I would like to have one but if it killed any of my fish, id go crazy.
I am afraid my angels may try to pick at the anemone.
I just don't have experience with them so they make me a little nervous. My tank is flawless and tp add a potiential threat is hard to find worthy.

 

[gemmy]

Quote:
Originally Posted by tannersmith200 http:///t/389884/should-i-add-an-anemone#post_3448901
Haha thanks for the replies guys. I dunno what to do. My fish and corals are so happy and healthy but my clowns just look like they would love an anemone. I would like to have one but if it killed any of my fish, id go crazy.
I am afraid my angels may try to pick at the anemone.
I just don't have experience with them so they make me a little nervous. My tank is flawless and tp add a potiential threat is hard to find worthy.
Don't be afraid that the angels will nip at the anemone. They will and they will try to rip food from it. It's not that big of a deal, my lemon peel does it all the time to my sebae.

 

[mr. limpid]

Just want to throw this out there, just because you add a anemone doesn't mean your clowns will take to it. I purchased a clown that already was hosting the anemone at the LFS. It was 8 months later he final started hosting it again. This was good a bad thing, b4 hosting the clown would swim around the tank, after hosting he never left the anemone only to feed.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Limpid http:///t/389884/should-i-add-an-anemone#post_3449099
Just want to throw this out there, just because you add a anemone doesn't mean your clowns will take to it. I purchased a clown that already was hosting the anemone at the LFS. It was 8 months later he final started hosting it again. This was good a bad thing, b4 hosting the clown would swim around the tank, after hosting he never left the anemone only to feed.
Also anemones go where they want to go. Mine decided behind the rocks was home...the clownfish followed and I never seen them at all. The anemone hid from light behind the rocks so long it died...the clowns like the edge of a rock in the corner of the tank now, before that they liked the input hoses.

 

[tannersmith200]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Limpid http:///t/389884/should-i-add-an-anemone#post_3449099
Just want to throw this out there, just because you add a anemone doesn't mean your clowns will take to it. I purchased a clown that already was hosting the anemone at the LFS. It was 8 months later he final started hosting it again. This was good a bad thing, b4 hosting the clown would swim around the tank, after hosting he never left the anemone only to feed.
Trust me...I know this. I truly find the symbiotic relationship very fascinating. I do not expect my clowns to host the anemone in the first day but two of my clowns hosted a colt coral that I had a year ago. The coral got too large and I fragged it and sold it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/389884/should-i-add-an-anemone#post_3449110
Also anemones go where they want to go. Mine decided behind the rocks was home...the clownfish followed and I never seen them at all. The anemone hid from light behind the rocks so long it died...the clowns like the edge of a rock in the corner of the tank now, before that they liked the input hoses.

True true. It's kind of a hope and pray it goes where you want to kind of thing. Like I said, I want a small anemone (1-2") to start with and hope it grows like it should. I do not want a big one to start.
Thanks for the reply
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gemmy http:///t/389884/should-i-add-an-anemone#post_3448928
Don't be afraid that the angels will nip at the anemone. They will and they will try to rip food from it. It's not that big of a deal, my lemon peel does it all the time to my sebae.
Thanks for the reply. It's nice to get some real experience input. I am gettting very close to making the purchase

 

[luvmyreef]

I can tell you that I have one huge lta and just recently added a gbta. My clowns ignore both of them and has decided to host yellow colony polyps! My chomis have actually gone into the lta before, and all other fish including my new flame angel that I added several months ago leave them both alone. Both of them have stayed where I put them.

 

[mombostic]

I was just reading through this thread and thought I'd throw in my two cents.
I've had a BTA for around six or seven years, I think. It's been a while. It's been moved twice. While I guess there's always a risk, it sounds like you have done your research and have the experience and a nice setup for it. Mine hasn't moved since I put it in the tank it's in now, and that's been around four years maybe? I have a pair of perculas who live in it. It split a while back, and even the two pieces still just stay side by side. The clowns go in both of them. I get a lot of enjoyment out of the anemone, and watching the clowns interact with it. Although lots of people say you don't have to have both, I really think the fish AND the anemone benefit from the partnership.
No fish gets close to it, because any that have ever tried, the clowns chased them away. The biggest clown--the female--will even nip my fingers and hands if I mess around too close to them.
There is no guarantee they will host in the anemone though--to me that's the biggest drawback. I had the bigger clown which was tank bred. It did NOT take to the anemone. So I ordered a small, wild-caught percula, and it started living in the anemone within a few days, and then the big one joined him. That's purely anecdotal--there may be something to that, or it may have just been luck.
Good luck!

 

[flower]

Well since we are throwing out opinions...I have grown to dislike them....they are just beautiful fish eaters.

• 
  You must cover your power heads, this makes the PHs work harder to push less water. The mesh clogs, so you land up with extra maintenance.
• 
  The anemone goes where it wants to go, on top of a prized coral, or way in the back of the tank to not be seen...or up in the intake tubes of your filters.
• 
  It will sting to death any stupid fish or invert dumb enough to get too close...new fish are at greater risk, the older inhabitants have learned to avoid it.
  Shrimp seem to just want to die, they crawl all over the anemone and you start thinking all is well, it didn't hurt the shrimp after all, until one day...the shrimp is MIA
  Should the %&*# thing decide to die, it takes out as many tank mates as possible with it.

The only good thing about them...They sure are beautiful, hands down the most beautiful creature in the entire fish tank.

 

[adonis311]

+1 Flower. I had an anemone and it died. Floated into my intake for my filter and nuked the tank with its remains, causing well over $300 in damages. Quite a fitting end to something that was a fan of being a destroyer of all things pleasent. It moved twice and cleaned out a large mushroom and a good part of my button polyp colony, as well as catching fish and whatever else blundered into it. The stings also hurt something vicious, and there is no way to stop the burning pain, save amputation, which at the time i would have gladly taken over enduring the sting.

 

[mombostic]

Holy cow, what type of anemones are you all talking about????
Mine doesn't even sting me. I don't rub my face on it or anything, but it has definitely touched my hands and arms many times over the years, and it doesn't even itch, let alone burn or sting. Is this something like how some people are really allergic to poison ivy and some aren't? I wouldn't think so, because poison ivy is an actual chemical on the plant that causes a reaction, right? You guys are sort of making me paranoid here.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mombostic http:///t/389884/should-i-add-an-anemone#post_3451193
Holy cow, what type of anemones are you all talking about????
Mine doesn't even sting me. I don't rub my face on it or anything, but it has definitely touched my hands and arms many times over the years, and it doesn't even itch, let alone burn or sting. Is this something like how some people are really allergic to poison ivy and some aren't? I wouldn't think so, because poison ivy is an actual chemical on the plant that causes a reaction, right? You guys are sort of making me paranoid here.
I was never stung by mine either...my copperband butterfly fish however had welts on his poor dead body. Clown fish will get darker after wallowing in an anemone, they are immune to the sting...other critters not so. Some anemones have a bigger punch than others, but all sting fish....that's their natural defense and feeding method.
All anemones eat fish and shrimp and sting anything that swims into them. They have no eyes or brain, they don't go hunting. They stay in a good water flow spot that they choose, and wait for food to come to them.

 

[eric b 125]

At this point it seems that you are very happy with your tank. Personally, I would not put an anemone in my tank at this point, because of the risk.
I'm guessing that Adonis had a sensitivity reaction to the anemone's stings. I've touched many an anemone and never had a reaction.