Originally posted by Thejdshow
I hear anemones are hard to keep, and require a tank that is around a year old. I was just wondering if this is true, and what is a good lighting for them. I really would like to have a anemone / clown enviroment, but I dont want to rush things and end up killing it. Thanks (sorry if its a stupid question)
Keeping anemones can be hard for many, they can be a bit tricky. I honestly believe its true that you need a stable system. A stable system comes with age, this means that after you setup a tank and it has cycled that you should wait at least 6 months to a year for things to stablize. Your water paramiters, live rock and sand should all have a chance to mature. The larger the system the more stable things seem to be.
What is good lighting for anemones? Well thats always a subject for hot debate, as photosynethic animals and assuming we are talking about the 10 hosting anemones the more lighting you have the better. On a 55 gallon tank I had a bubble tip anemone with 380 watts of VHO lighting and did quite well before I upgraded systems and lighting.
Many anemones will prefer a sand substrate and will therefore be at the bottom of the tank, thus your lighting would have to be strong enough for the usable light to reach the bottom. Those that prefer to nest in the rocks can reach better lighting by climbing the rocks like Bubble tips.
You will need to get an idea of what type of anemone you want, match it with a clownfish that is known to be able to take to that anemone, match lighting to that anemone and go from there.
Bubble tips are known for hosting many clownfish and are one of the easier/hardier anemones.
Thomas
