Anemone or not?

dexterie · Mar 20, 2018

Hello guys!

I have a RedSea Max Nano. I have 2 clownfish and I'm thinking of getting an Anemone.
Thing is that i know they move around and I have a powerhead in the tank.

Any ideas? Should I give up on the idea?

Crabs McJones · Mar 20, 2018

dexterie said:
Hello guys!

I have a RedSea Max Nano. I have 2 clownfish and I'm thinking of getting an Anemone.
Thing is that i know they move around and I have a powerhead in the tank.

Any ideas? Should I give up on the idea?

How old is the tank?

jsker · Mar 20, 2018

There are foam cover that are sold for powerheads to cover.

dylana407 · Mar 20, 2018

How big is the tank and how old? Do you have a lot of corals in the tank? What kind of anemone do you want to add? Anemone moves around to find a good spot to settle. Once it finds a home and the tank parameters are stable, it is unlikely to move. I started with 2 BTA. They splitted and now I have 6. Only one moved to the next rock. The rest are fighting for space on the same rock. Is you like nem, don't give up on the idea.

dexterie · Mar 20, 2018

Thank you for the replies.

The tank is a nano. Only 75L/20g. it's been running for 10 months. Corals, I only have GSP, some Xenia, a Sarco/toadstool and a few zoas (recent).

My only issue for now is the powerhead. not sure which nem to get. that's something i'd decide on a later stage (any suggestion? want something easy)

Crabs McJones · Mar 20, 2018

dexterie said:
Thank you for the replies.

The tank is a nano. Only 75L/20g. it's been running for 10 months. Corals, I only have GSP, some Xenia, a Sarco/toadstool and a few zoas (recent).

My only issue for now is the powerhead. not sure which nem to get. that's something i'd decide on a later stage (any suggestion? want something easy)

10 months old should be ok to add a nem. Bubble tips seem to be the least difficult. What lighting do you have over the tank? Want to make sure the lighting will be sufficient for a nem

dexterie · Mar 20, 2018

crabs_mcjones said:
10 months old should be ok to add a nem. Bubble tips seem to be the least difficult. What lighting do you have over the tank? Want to make sure the lighting will be sufficient for a nem

The lighting is the one that came with the tank: AI Prime HD LED. Should be fine, no?

dexterie · Mar 20, 2018

As for the powerhead, I have this one: Tunze Turbelle nanostream.

any ideas to protect the blades?

davocean · Mar 20, 2018

I'm all for a challenge and love to encourage that symbiotic relationship, but man, 20g tank, and nem will always be so close to pumps, and you will have very little room for corals, and not much buffer space to keep corals from getting stung.

If it were me, I'd skip the nem and provide safer host alternatives like frogspawn or hammer

dexterie · Mar 20, 2018

davocean said:
I'm all for a challenge and love to encourage that symbiotic relationship, but man, 20g tank, and nem will always be so close to pumps, and you will have very little room for corals, and not much buffer space to keep corals from getting stung.

If it were me, I'd skip the nem and provide safer host alternatives like frogspawn or hammer

Good point. And this way I also avoid the issue with the power head. Thank you for your help.

Eggpaul · Mar 20, 2018

In my Biocube 29, things started to go downhill right after I got a BTA. It was beautiful and the clown fish would hang out in it, and it even split a few times. BUT, it moved around here and there and killed lots of coral. I now have a 150 gallon tank and am not planning to have one there.

Pntbll687 · Mar 20, 2018

You should be ok with a nem in a 20g tank. Move the powerhead as far away from the nem when its added and just keep an eye on it.

Personally I had a nem in a 24g cube with no problems. Two powerheads in the tank, and it never came close. Once it found a rock it liked, it never moved. Actually, its still on the same rock, but its been transferred to a larger tank.

potatocouch · Mar 20, 2018

dexterie said:
As for the powerhead, I have this one: Tunze Turbelle nanostream. any ideas to protect the blades?

Something like this. A really good idea by @Susan Edwards

Or you can use bird netting .. either way, many ways to Rome.

Susan Edwards · Mar 20, 2018

The advantage of the stuff I used is it stretches and even covers the front of the PH so a "walking/swiming" nem can't get sucked in if your PH/wavemaker is on pulse/surge mode. Buy once and you'll have it for life.... Which is good as it does get dirty but it also goes through the wash with no issues

xerogravity74 · Mar 22, 2018

dexterie said:
Hello guys!

I have a RedSea Max Nano. I have 2 clownfish and I'm thinking of getting an Anemone.
Thing is that i know they move around and I have a powerhead in the tank.

Any ideas? Should I give up on the idea?

Womens panty hose work to keep nems out of powerheads as well...

dexterie · Mar 22, 2018

xerogravity74 said:
Womens panty hose work to keep nems out of powerheads as well...

but won't it get more easily clogged?

Saltyanimals · Mar 22, 2018

When I had a smaller tank I was super paranoid about making nem smoothie from a walker from horror stories. So far I’ve been lucky. Agree with another poster that once they’re happy they typically don’t move unless something changes. Ie. light or flow. So just do it. Keep it far away from the nem blenders so you have time to react to a walker and let it settle. Once it does you should be good. Don’t worry and enjoy your nem.