Anemone question

Okay, so my reef has been up and running and I've got a few frags of soft corals. Oh yeah, duh, its a 56 gallon 30x18x24 (tall column type tank) and I'm running a 14K 175W MH, so I know im good in the lighting department for just about whatever. I want an anemone or two in the course of time, and I was wondering would it be safest to get that first before loading up on the corals. I only think that would be best to prevent coral damage from the nem "walking around" finding its spot. Figure once it finds it's spot then I could consider moving on to getting corals. Or does it even matter. I'm getting a Condy to start with to make sure I can even keep one alive (cheap/expendable kinda like damsels of the anemone world) then hopefully a RBTA or something else pretty. Let me know what you guys think?

 

i had a friend of mine purchase me a condy as a present in november. ive been keeping it alive in a 10gal diy-nano tank i setup. its pretty easy to maintain. the 10gal sprung a leak so i threw the condy into the 75gal im currently cycling. i hope it doesnt die during the cycling but i have no where to put it. at any rate they move like crazy. in the 10gal it moved ~10 times that i was present to witness. i always target fed it, and it still moved around the rockscape.

in the 75gal its doing the same thing. i currently have like ~30lbs of rock and its moved ALL over. i found it halfway up my overflow chamber cover yesterday. today its in the far left corner stuck to the glass.

i dont see it being very reef safe. its coming out of there as soon as the silicone is done curing on the 10gal and i can get it back into a stable environment. (75gal will be cycling from rock additions again in a week)

edit: its a very interesting creature to observe. its real fun to feed and watch its tentacles go crazy trying to get the brine shrimps into its huge mouth.

 

Anemones need to be added to stable established tanks. I do not recommend you start with an anemone. Start with some cheap corals, then get one down the line if you still decide to do so. Anemones are overrated and for some reason all new people joining the hobby want an anemone to be the first thing in their tanks. They require very clean stable water parameters and it really takes some time to get your tank running stable. I would recommend you forget about the idea for now and add some cool corals instead. 6 months down the line if your still interested give it a try. Don't experiment on cheap anemones as your first addition of life to your tank. Know that you can sustain other life first.

Corals can usually be moved or rockwork can be slightly redesigned to accommodate a mean nem in the future.

 

I agree with Matthew. The Condy that BJE was talking seems to not be very happy and it stands a very good chance of dying in the cycling tank. The main reason I won't get an anemone is that they move too much. Even if they find a spot they like, they may choose to move whenever they want. I enjoy my corals too much to risk having the anemone stinging them. But if you do want one, I would wait and get some more experience at keeping corals and fish before you get an anemone.

 

Ask anyone thats been in the hobby for more than a year about anemones. I guarantee you there is more negative than positive. They are sensitive species and some require actual feedings, or they can eat your fish, and move and run over anything in their path. I had a Haitian condy. I hated it. Never found its niche and ended up floating behind 120lbs of live rock and I never saw it again. This was after having it for 5 months. There are a lot of corals out there that have tentacles that can't move around and walk all over your corals. Frogspawn, torches, hammers, etc. I would recommend any one of those over a nem anyday.

 

these are actually good beginner lps corals!! try a frogspawn. i have one and love it.

 

From what I understand, the more an anemone moves, the more unhappy it is. They tend to move around the tank to try and find a more comfortable and habitable spot. If your nem is "Moving around like crazy" its probably gonna die.

 

my nem disappeared a few months back. Very unhappy and unhealthy from the start, yes I know. This thing was on its way out and ended up crawling behind 125lbs of rock and croaking. Never found the remains. I have an rbta in there now that is happy as a whistle. I just got an unhealthy condy.

 

I just bought a long tentacle nem yesterday...so far so good. I had a Condi that ended up getting sucked into a powerhead. It moved quite a bit. My LTA hasn't moved since being introduced to the tank and is full and robust. I've got two Tomato Clowns, really the only reason I wanted a nem. Hopefully I can get them to host. But if you don't have/don't want clowns then there is really no point in getting a nem IMO.

 

the condy i have moved around alot even when the water params were stable in my nano. i think im going to just take it back to the LFS. its something i shouldnt have anymore especially with a broken tank.