Considering an anemone in the near future

I'm procrastinating on my lab so I've been researching anemones.

My tank is coming up on on four months running now and I've been thinking about adding an anemone around the 5 to 6 month mark. I've been looking into a bubble tip since they seem to be one of the smaller anemones that will host a clown.

Here are my questions:

1. I know they can move around and sting and kill other corals. How worried should I be while the anemone finds the perfect spot?

2. How worried should I be about my other fishing being stung or possibly eaten? The one I'm most worried about is my dragonette. Should I run moonlights so nothing mistakenly brushes up against it?

3. I've read that a bubble tip's max size is a foot in diamater but they usually don't reach that size. How large do they eventually get?

4. I know not all clowns will host an anemone and I didn't see ocellaris on the list of clowns that usually host a bubble tip. Is it possible?

5. Do I need to wear gloves when handling one?

 

i would wait a bit longer, but it all depends, i had a tank i put a nem in after 4 months and it did great, then another one of my tanks wouldnt accept an anemone until it was over a year old.

i would not get one because drogonettes are known to get stuck in nems. they just dont seem to have the common sense to stay away from them.

bta's move alot so i would be very worried about your corals well being, but the best way to avoid this is to have the anemone on a rock surrounded by sand nowhere near your coral. they dont like to travel across the sandbed.

no need for gloves, our skin is too thick for the anemone to really hurt. however with the stronger carpet anemones and some of the non hosting anemones can leave welts and very painful wounds, but definitely not a bubble tip.

hope that helps a bit. best of luck on our decision.

 

Chelsea said it. Only thing I would add is watch your powerheads/intakes as they like to get stuck. Also, if it dies get it out asap but it is hard to know if it is dead or not

 

Weak swimmers can get eaten. I had a pygmy wrasse that got nabbed within a week. My Nem hasn't moved at all, but they can definitely sting some corals. If everything is on plugs you can probably advert disaster if it comes too close. As for gloves, are you allergic to bees? Alot of times a sting doesn't matter but with an allergy you can have unpredictable results.
I've read of several reefer having increasingly serious reaction from just having there hands in a tank not noticeably getting stung. It can't hurt, especially if there are any allergic reactions in your family.
My wife ALWAYS want me to protect myself I figure if i get stung i get stung and I'll deal with it then but there are the risks.

 

Zoas sting worse imo

 

Well luckily I'm not allergic to bees. I've been wanting to grab a pair of long gloves, just been putting it off.

As far as corals, they are all moveable minus my xenia and a new frag of frogspawn I just got. I don't have that many corals right now, so I figured I could accommodate my other corals around the anemone once it finds a home.

Are BTAs more prone to pick the sand bed or a place in the rocks?

 

btas prefer rocks, the dislike traveling across sand, which is why i suggested putting it on a rock surrounded by sand so it cant get to corals.