Wanting to get an Anemone- what do I need to do??

sjk2840

sjk2840

Member
Hi everyone, need some advice on adding an anemone to my clownfish tank. What does it take to keep them alive?? I have a 20L tank thats been up for 1 year. My temp is 80 sometimes 82. My SG is 1.022 PH is 8.2 I have 2 HOB power filters and a strip light with a coral life bulb in it. My light is on a timer and on for 7 hours a day. The tank has live rock and 2 clownfish in it. Nitrates/nitrites/amm. at 0 (API test kit) I also add Kent Marine essential elements to the water once a week.
Do I need a differant light?? do I need to raise the SG?? any advice would help.
thanks
 
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saxman

Guest
What technology is your light (PC, NO, T5, etc)? Strip lights can be any of those.
The easiest nem to keep is the BTA (Entacmaea quadricolor), it is the least light-hungry and is much less touchy than most species. It can be kept with any technology above bright PC (I kept one for years under 220W (half 10k and half 03 actinic) of PC in a std 55 gal, but I also fed the nem to make up for the dimmer light.
FWIW, if your clowns are CB fish, they may never shack up in the nem.
HTH
 
sjk2840

sjk2840

Member
Hey saxman, I honestly dont know the wattage or anything on my light. I do know that its a flourescent light from a pet store chain. Its a Coralife bulb for saltwater tanks. If I need to get another light I can.
 
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saxman

Guest
Watts pretty much means nothing but how much power your lamp uses, altho one assumes that when comparing like technology, that more Watts = more light.
So you have a fluorescent tube, I'm assuming it's just a NO (Normal Output) strip light which really isn't good for anything but FO or NPS setups. It will grow most live macroalgae, but won't be enuff for photosynthetic inverts. Just to be sure, is your tube a T-12 or T-8 (the number refers to the diameter of the tube in mm)?
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
A complete knowledge of the basics of saltwater aquariums.
Completely clean water, including a low phosphate reading.
Daily feedings of mysis, brine, or other enriched foods.
High quality light, either T5HO or preferably Metal Halides.
20L is not big enough of an aquarium to keep an anemone alive long term. Frequent feedings of your anemone will cause nitrate/phosphate problems and deteriorate water quality really easily unless you do daily water changes. Also, Most anemones require more space to spread out then what you can currently provide.
 
sjk2840

sjk2840

Member
My tank is a 20 gallon long. I think my fluorescent light is a T8? it fits in a regular size strip light. I might just reconsider the anemone for this tank and wait till my 55 gallon has been up for awhile- I have a better lighting system on that tank, and filtration.
 
coralman05

coralman05

Member
Saxman: you seem to know your shi*t about anemones
can you tell me anything about the anemone at the SW Store. I think its currently out of stock so i dont know the name but its the picture you click on.. If your interested i wanted to know how hard/easy it is to keep.. if you need strong lighting and any info you just know about it.. thanks a mill
 
S

saxman

Guest
I saw a couple of BTA's...a "regular" and a RBTA (rose bubble tipped anemone), both of which would be fine.
The LT and curly-que require seriously bright lighting and pack much more of a sting than BTA's.
They also have Cerianthus (tube nems), and altho they're a non-photo critter, they really aren't true nems (they're actually kinda like a cross between a tube worm and a nem), and if you're hoping that your clowns will shack up in it, I doubt that they will.
 
coralman05

coralman05

Member
okay and just to mkae sure we are on the same page. your talking about the one that has the white tips and a marroonish color?
 
coralman05

coralman05

Member
No, sorry this is kinda a pain but, go to Invertebrates, then its the anemone that you click on to see the other anemones.. ..dd that asdfsafsaf
 
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