Add an anemone or not?

I was thinking a bubble tip, in all the years I have had tanks, it was a strict nope Im not getting anything that could potentiall kill my tank.

Now its I have seen so many awesome ones that Im thinking Ill have a go at.

I cant seem to find how fast they can poison a tank if they die? I check my tank multiple times a day, but if its something that can tank the whole tank out in 20 minutes than I think Ill have to stick with my no nem rule

 

A dieing nem will not wipe out a tank...if a nem is dying and starts to disintegrate you'll know it and have time to get it out. Just like any animal that is dying/dead you have to remove as much as you can as the decaying material can/will cause issues.

 

Okay, so its not like if its starts to die, the entire tank is nuked in a matter of minutes? I never really understood it, so I have always stayed away, since Ive always heard a dieing nem can wreak havoc on a tank

 

Nems have very slow metabolisms and normally die over the course of many weeks/months...problem is it can be hard to tell if they are dying until the final days...and a sick/dying nem can be turned around with some TLC. That said, it will obvious if you have a nem that reaches the point of no return...they will stop inflating and small pieces will start to disintegrate...it's at this point that it's important to be ready to get them out. While I don't believe there are any "mystery chemicals" at work that will instantly nuke a tank...once they start to fall apart it happens fairly quickly...it's the decaying matter that will cause issues if not removed. A nem that's in bad shape can be "siphoned" out with a large tube/hose. Sometimes trying to pick up a nem that is falling apart is a messy affair otherwise.

 

+1 on what Reef-a-holic said, you should have time to take measures if you see it decaying. Although, for instance, if a nem hides behind a rock where you can't see it, it may be more difficult.

I once had a linkia star that was dying, it had gone around the back of a rock, I couldn't see it. It ended up decaying for a bit in my tank and spiked my NA/AM which in turn gave me a bad case of cyano before I realized what was going on.

 

Mr. Bill. When I purchased the BTA I admit I did not have enough knowledge to own one. I am new to the hobby and just wanted to tell jd about my experience in hopes that he would not make my mistakes and to find out for sure what to do.
I learned after I had the BTA that I should wait a week before feeding. like you said this is to reduce stress to the anemone. I fed it a day after I had it. Soon after it regurgitated the silverside and was deflated for a few days. Later a hole appeared through the anemone to where I could see live rock. After that it started to breakdown.

 

Sorry if I sounded condescending toward your post- that was not my intention at all. Sharing personal experiences helps all of us to learn from our own and each other's mistakes. I was only trying to do the same and help you understand possible issues.