anemone for a beginner
 

Hi guys...

I have been thinking of getting an anemone for my clowns.
I think anemones are cute and nice to look at but the lfs that I went to didn't think thats a good idea because the anemone moves around and can hurt other corals in my tank.

Any tips...which anemone that suits a beginner ? and which won't attack my other corals.

At the moment I only have a couple of polyps, hawaiian duster, pink duster, 2 clowns, 1 yellow tang, 1 damsel, some snails and hermits.

thanks

For a beginner, and a smaller tank (I see you have a 29G) a bubbletip would really be your only viable option.

Thanks digital-audiophile, I will go to J&L and see if they have any nice bubble tip.

Tried to go there yesterday after office hour but had to turn back because the traffic was so bad :cry:

What kind of clowns do you have? I have two BTA's in my tank and my false perc clowns totally ignore them. I picked up a pair of tomato clowns and they took to the one BTA right away.

I have 2 tomato clowns in my tank ...a small one and a bigger one. Bought them at Big Al's

bah! i know it wasnt the original question, but a yellow tang does NOT belong in a 29 gal tank. In that tank i would do maybe 4 smaller fish (clown size) and leave it t that in terms of fish.

as for the original question, yeah i would recommend the bta as well. dont expect the clowns to take to it right away to it though... it can often take over 6months for clowns to realize they have an anemone in there at all. when you do buy the anem, make sure it's big enough (considerably larger than both clowns) or else the bta will just get stressed by being hosted by fish that are too big. there was some speculation that captive bred colowns are more reluctant to host than wild ones but none of that was proven. something you can do that might help is to print out a pic of a clown (same species) hosting a bta and leave it by the tank... apparently clowns will see this and might learn from it.

make sure you leave plenty of space between the bta and the other corals.

wow, attach a picture on the aquarium.... i will remember your advice when i get the bta.

as for the tang....the lfs said its ok to have 1 tang. And I want it so badly....:biggrin:

Your LFS should not be in business if they said it was ok for a tang in a 29G.

Just wonderin what store did ypu buy your tang from?

Tangs need at least 4 feet of swimming space IMO..preferably more.
The LFS should have told you not to put any tang in a 29 Gallon.
It will outgrow it quickly and probably eventually die from the stress of being so confined.
I have a little purple tang - about 1.5 inches in one of my 29 gallon tanks..However, it will be going into one of my bigger tanks when it gets a bit bigger.
there is no way a full grown yellow tang will be happy or healthy in a 29 gallon.
I try not to preach about things like this..but yeah..u are just asking for trouble. I would be bringing it back for a store credit cuz the store should've known better.
OR..better yet...just get a bigger tank..lol
Neal

Actually before I post this thread I was already thinking about moving it to my spare tank or sell it :)

Are you serious about putting the picture up to the tank so that the clowns will learn to host? Almost makes me worry cause my clown was in my tv room across the tv.. who knows what kind of stuff he learned on tv.. gosh I knew I shouldn't have watched those Saw Movies.. :)

Sadly my clown has passed on after 5 years. I am one day considering getting another one.. in a small tank.. what is the real difference of the tomato's.. besides colour? I have always thought that the Maroon coloured ones were beautiful.. I had a Percula.. orange and white.. old fashioned clown

Could a clown live happily in a 12g? Mine was in a 30g.. and he swam around a lot.. even rode the currents of my powerheads that would spin him around my liverock.. he was like a kid at the waterslides.. he would spin around on the current.. then swim back to a powerhead and do it all over again. He seemed happy.. it was funny to watch.

I've read the minimum size for a pair a clowns is 10G, but its only a suggestion, and assuming you have no other fish in the tank

Hey Matty, I will second the Pic on the tank comment. I have some false percs that were captive bred. For nearly a month they swam at the same point against the glass. I put up a pic of a clownfish in an anemone at that point, and within 2 days they discovered the anemone in their tank. :lol:

Wow! I thought more about it.. but I guess in way in makes sense. I assume then that clowns in the wild really only know what is safe to "host" in either from their parents or from observing other clowns in the ocean. It must be an instinct type thing. I assume that some corals and anemones can harm them... so they watch and learn.
It might be a matter then that they don't know how to do it.. but are rather not sure if it is safe to do it... or a combination of the two.

i just bought a ritteri anemone 2 weeks ago and it's doing great. my captive bread false percula ignored it for a few days and then decided he loves it. he only leave the anemone to get food. the ritteri is currently climbing up the front glass of my tank which is annoying but i figure i'll just leave it alone. here's a short video of the two of them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knbxTB0VuGE

How big is your tank? Ritteri get HUGE. I was thinking about one myself but decided that I don't currently have the proper system to raise one long term.

i currently have a 24 gallon hex tank. the ritteri is the perfect size for this tank right now so if it gets too big i have a backup - my lucky husband gets anything that outgrows my tank. he has a 65 gallon and has already had to take my longspine urchin. i was originally looking for a bubble tip but couldn't find one in Calgary so i bought the ritteri because it was super healthy looking and responded to food instantly.

Keep in mind that a riterri can get easily get up to 24" in diameter. Tony keeps one alone in a 110Gallon cube tank.

BTA's are pretty easy to find in Calgary. Elite gets in some really nice examples on a regular basis and I lot of people sell their clones. There is a gentlemen in calgary right now that is sellinf two RBTA clones, and my blue/pinkBTA split about a month ago and I am just waiting for them to heal up nice before I sell one.

Not to sway you, just wanted to share why I decided not to get a ritteri myself.

I miss my clown.. even more so after seeing your video. I myself have not been brave enough to try to raise an anemone yet... I hear though bubble tips are easy to care for.. and clowns like them. I am considering getting another clown ... I thought I would try damsels ... bad mistake.. they are evil.. evil to each other.. but pretty blue. Silly me thought well they are in the same tank together in the pet store they will get along in my tank. Now they have divided at home in my tank.. two on one side of the tank .. the other two on the opposite side. I swear they have paired off.. cause they seem to like to dig small pits in my sand under the live rock. I hope to the Sea God.. that they don't have babies.. if that is possible. Perhaps they are just practicing lol.


Back to your video.. It made me smile.. your clown looked like it was snuggling with the anemone.