Am I ready for an anemone yet?
 

Hey all, Ive been working myself up to the point of getting an anemone for my tank. Ive just completed the final steps of lighting (150watts of LEDs).

Here is what I have:
80 gallon bow front
sump with euro reef skimmer, carbon reactor, gfo reactor.
mag 9.5

1 large 4000gph powerhead.

All the regular stats are nil

phosphate is about .05

dosing 2 part, trace and iodine


tank residents are a pair of oscellaris clowns, 2 cleaner shrimp, an assortment of snails and a couple of hermit crabs.

am I missing anything here, or am I getting close enough to take the dive?

Thanks!

What brand/fixture LEDs do you have? What are the dimensions of your aquarium? How long has it been running? What type of anemone do you want?

Bubbletip anemones are the prettiest anemones that are easy to keep and will host Clownfish. Color doesn't seem to change hardiness. They are good anemones for novice reefkeepers.

How olds the tank?

When you buy the new tank mate; try and purchase cultured/propagated :idea:

The less we take from the wild the better :biggrin:

tank has been running for over a year. I was having some issues before with fish dying, then I discovered that my sally lightfoot was eating all of them. Its gone now.

LED's are a DIY mix of 50% RB and 50% 20k white, a whole pile of research led me to this being a suitable mix.

You didn't answer any of my questions. :twised: The LED fixture is DIY? How many watts are each LED? Did you use any optics? Depth of tank is important to be able to determine how intense your lights are at the bottom of your tank (I'm not familiar with the depth of the various bow front tanks), I think your tank is probably 21 or 24" deep which makes me think your lights are lacking a bit. The intensity of lighting is very important to determine which species are suitable. You didn't say which species of anemones you are interested in either. Like the various corals available on the market, the various anemones can have quite different requirements! Need more info.

Given the limited information you provided, it is likely you should be able to keep a Bubbletip anemone provided you keep it in the upper half of your tank. I wouldn't try any other species without more experience and more intense lighting.

I did mention they were DIY, there are 48 3W led's. No optics, tank is 24" deep. I was debating the use of some optics to bring the light closer to the bottom. Suggestion on angle?

Bubble tip was what I was thinking, I know they are the more beginner breed and they look pretty cool too.

you should be fine with a bubble tip....one thing tho.....nems is evil:mrgreen:

Define evil?

clowns+nems are the reason I went from FOWLR.

Unless I'm blind, you didn't say DIY anywhere, although I assumed this when you mentioned researching the color so I responded accordingly. Anyway, no I don't know much about the optics, I'm not keen on the LEDs so I haven't checked them out too much.

As I said, the BTA would probably be your best choice. Make sure you drip acclimate it, and I like to turn off all the pumps for the first hour and then just turn on one small pump overnight. This helps the anemone settle in and get a good foothold. Make sure when you buy it that it is stuck onto something really well. If you buy one from someone else's tank ask if you can also buy the rock it is on. That's the easiest way to acclimate them is to not peel their foot up. You don't usually get that lucky though! :D