who host's the easiest?

[jdog5578]

I want to get an anemone for a couple of false percula's to host. What are my best choices for a "hardier" anemone? I have a 46 gallon Bow front with T5 lighting. I know they like the carpet's a lot but I want something easier to take care of as this is my first venture into anemone's.

 

[stokedhawk]

well, i don't know about who host's the easiest, but bta's are usually pretty hardy anemones and in general are recommended for 1st timers. can't guarantee your clowns will host though.

 

[dawman]

I have found that carpets are no harder to take care of then LTA or BTA .

 

[choco]

Be more specific when you say "carpets" folks. There are three different speices of carpet anemones and Ocellaris only host two of them.
Ocellaris host Stichodactyla Gigantea and Stichodactyla mertensii. They do not share a natural symbiotic relationship with Stichodactyla Haddoni.
Gigantea is by far no hardy anemone. Its considered a very difficult if not the most difficult anemone/photosynthetic invertebrate to keep alive in an aquarium. If it were me, I would go with S. Mertensii but since their availability is rare, a BTA would be my next choice. S. Mertensii are actually a very hard species to keep alive but they are never shipped in as it seems. Get the biggest BTA you can find/afford and there will be a solid chance your Ocellaris will take to it. They might not host it right away but given some time, most do.
Good luck

 

[dawman]

Originally Posted by Choco
Be more specific when you say "carpets" folks. There are three different speices of carpet anemones and Ocellaris only host two of them.
Ocellaris host Stichodactyla Gigantea and Stichodactyla mertensii. They do not share a natural symbiotic relationship with Stichodactyla Haddoni.
Gigantea is by far no hardy anemone. Its considered a very difficult if not the most difficult anemone/photosynthetic invertebrate to keep alive in an aquarium. If it were me, I would go with S. Mertensii but since their availability is rare, a BTA would be my next choice. S. Mertensii are actually a very hard species to keep alive but they are never shipped in as it seems. Get the biggest BTA you can find/afford and there will be a solid chance your Ocellaris will take to it. They might not host it right away but given some time, most do.
Good luck

Excuse me sir !

 

[stokedhawk]

They only have a 46gal. I had a green carpet that when fully spread was easily 2ft across and seemed to take up the whole tank (120g). But, to me it was easy to take care of (except for all our fish that it ate here is a pic of my old carpet and it's not fully open, so you can see what i mean

 

[poppydaisy]

my oscellaris clown just started hosting my frog spawn. they chose that over the BTA but they are getting closer to the BTA everyday. :happyfish

 

[choco]

stokedhawk, is that a Mertens carpet?
Dawman, your excused.

 

[1journeyman]

In a 46 gallon I'd go with a BTA.
Also remember anemones aren't "reef" safe.
BTA's are good choices. They more readily spawn in captivity and are less prone to over-collecting. In addition they don't grow so big as to take over the entire tank.

 

[stokedhawk]

As far as i know it is a green carpet anenome, it doesn't look that green in the pic with the MH's on though.

 

[choco]

Well what raised the red flag was that it is perched on a rock based off the picture and it has unusual colors/markings which can indicate S. Mertensii.

 

[prevwon]

Do anemones eat frozen fish?

 

[stokedhawk]

actually, it's not perched on a rock. it's foot is down behind the rocks on the bottom in the sand. the whole point of my posting the pic was to show how big carpets can get and just saying that imo a 46gal would be small for a growing carpet and also saying that in the pic the carpet wasn't completely opened.

 

[choco]

Originally Posted by stokedhawk
actually, it's not perched on a rock. it's foot is down behind the rocks on the bottom in the sand. the whole point of my posting the pic was to show how big carpets can get and just saying that imo a 46gal would be small for a growing carpet and also saying that in the pic the carpet wasn't completely opened.
This is not really much of a debate except for where each of us would draw the line. Really, though, these numbers are pretty arbitrary without considering the dimensions of the tank. I think a 35 gallon would be minimally sufficient depending on the demensions of the tank. You can have a 35 gallon tank with little height but lots of width and length. This will allow the anemone to receive light better and also allow the anemone to grow in any direction. I do wonder, sometimes, how someone comes to the conclusion that a 46 gallon will not work while a 55 gallon is acceptable. Is that extra 9 gallons really going to make that much of a difference to the anemone after being transported from the ocean? And how do we know that is where to draw the line?
Just my .02

 

[reef noob]

Originally Posted by Choco
Just my .002
just my two tenths of a cent

 

[choco]

 

[stokedhawk]

lol, well said.

 

[skipperdz]

id say BTAs or LTAs just my opinion

 

[driedbrain]

The clown fish or anemonefishes live in close association with sea anemones especially Heteractis and Stoichactis species.

 

[choco]

You mean Stichodactlya?