BTA and Coral

[hops523]

Hey all just wondering how many of you worry about your coral getting stung when you add an anemone to the tank? I'm planning on a 20 gallon with a good amount of LPS/SPS/Zoas and would eventually like to add a BTA when the tanks established, is there enough room for one? Any bad stories about losing coral colonies to a nem?
Thanks

 

[KorD]

I have a 30 gal tank with coral and anemones all living in harmony. I have never lost any coral to a nem yet.
I would interfuse the nem first and let it pick it's home before adding the coral.

 

[hops523]

Ok cool. Is it true that after the tank cycles your suppose to wait 6 months before adding a nem to the tank?

 

[KorD]

If this is your first tank, then I would follow that rule. you want your tanks perimeters almost perfect for the nem.
Don't get me wrong, you can add coral, but you will also want your nem to be happy and go where it wants to live. Just be ready to aquascape incase it wants to reside on your zoas or frags.

Here is a shot of my tank I wool today.. I have a few nems in there and not mush corals yet.. I am waiting on everything to start being happy in their place first.
Sorry about the lights and shadows, I just got a new light and starting it off low to acclimate everything so I do not burn the tank.

The one bigger nem rubs against the zinnias and they do not seem to mind one bit.
I have 3 BTA nems, a condy, and a few rock flowers in this tank.

 

[Humblefish]

I have a GBTA in my 150 mixed reef, and occasionally it moves around. Usually before/during a split. When this happens, I'm usually able to save a coral it touches before any permanent damage is done. However, I have lost a few corals (a nice plate immediately comes to mind) when I wasn't able to intervene in time.

 

[Z06-Hec]

I have been lucky where none of my BTA have touched anything. I have a bunch of LPS in the tank and never have they touched but my BTA barely move. I have had 2 split and I now have 5 but still none have touched.
I have seen video on youtube where a BTA touched a torch and the BTA did not like that at all and retracted very quick, so I dont expect if it happens that i would lose any of my LPS but Its never happened so I cannot be sure.

 

[hops523]

If this is your first tank, then I would follow that rule. you want your tanks perimeters almost perfect for the nem.
Don't get me wrong, you can add coral, but you will also want your nem to be happy and go where it wants to live. Just be ready to aquascape incase it wants to reside on your zoas or frags.

Here is a shot of my tank I wool today.. I have a few nems in there and not mush corals yet.. I am waiting on everything to start being happy in their place first.
Sorry about the lights and shadows, I just got a new light and starting it off low to acclimate everything so I do not burn the tank.

The one bigger nem rubs against the zinnias and they do not seem to mind one bit.
I have 3 BTA nems, a condy, and a few rock flowers in this tank.

It won't be my first, just my first in the last 5-6 years. I'd love to add the nem first so it can get settled without any coral in the way, but I see myself adding frags as soon as the tank cycles. Maybe I just won't add too many before I a get the BTA but we'll see.

Looking through the BTA pic thread I see a lot of them are very close to corals without any problems which is surprising to me.

 

[Z06-Hec]

I saw something cool in the DIY section the other day that could help here....
Someone took the Mcdonalds McFlurry cover to cover his corals and keep them from stinging each other... you could get them from starbucks, mcdonalds or any other place that makes fraps... clean the cover and place it over your frag, creates a dome over the frag and has a hole on top for water exchange... helps a little for spot feeding too....

 

[hops523]

I saw something cool in the DIY section the other day that could help here....
Someone took the Mcdonalds McFlurry cover to cover his corals and keep them from stinging each other... you could get them from starbucks, mcdonalds or any other place that makes fraps... clean the cover and place it over your frag, creates a dome over the frag and has a hole on top for water exchange... helps a little for spot feeding too....

Thanks a lot, that is a cool idea and will definitely look into when I add a BTA. I guess the only thing that might be a problem is figuring out how to attach the cover over the coral without it blowing away, and without having to glue it.

 

[Z06-Hec]

i use it with my sun coral for feeding... I have it in the sand and i dig the top into the sand a bit so the weight of the sand keeps it down.
Could also take a pebble and tape or glue it on the cover to weigh it down as well.

 

[KorD]

here is a picture of my nem touching the neighboring zinnias.
They are perfectly happy next to each other... I guess it also depends on what the nems sting is like.

 

[hops523]

Sounds good to me. And thanks for the pic KorD