How much work is an anemone only tank

burtonboy182 · Nov 5, 2017

A buddy of mine might be closing down his tank. It's a Red Sea reefer 350. I'm tempted to get it from him to make a bubble tip anemone tank. I already have everything I would need to get it up and running. Only thing is I don't know if I have is the real desire to maintain another tank. I already have a big reef tank that will be sps dominant.

How much work would An anemone tank be? I'll keep a tang for clean up pair of clowns and maybe another fish or 2. Even though I'm not a fan I would go bare bottom to make maintenance easier.

I've enjoyed a tank full of anemones.

realistically how often can I get away without doing water changes. Would monthly water changes be ok or not ideal or could I go longer.

I would do kessil AP700 lighting, vertex 180i skimmer. Powerheads. I'm not sure yet because I would be worried about them getting sucked up. MPs vs gyre vs jebao vs other... never had a dedicated anemone tank but what would the Alk and Ca demand be?

Appreciate the help

Palyzoa · Nov 5, 2017

I immediately thought of @melev and his Anemone tank . Great channel, hope this helps!

burtonboy182 · Nov 5, 2017

Thanks for the reply. I've actually seen all of his videos many times. Great source of info. He has his tied into his main tank. I would be planning to have this on its own system.

dbraun15 · Nov 6, 2017

I currently have a 220 with soft corals, but my main focus is anemones. I currently have an 18" Green S. Haddoni, 12" Purple/Tan S. Gigantea, and a 6" orange tipped S. Mertensii. I currently do water changes every 2 weeks and run Rox Carbon and GFO. Other than that, really no difference from a traditional reef. Good luck.

kinetic · Nov 6, 2017

I'm thinking of keeping my tank anemones only. I was going to go the route of adding a couple pieces of SPS and letting everything mature, but I'll probably eventually have to get a doser and constantly check Alk/Ca. Also the stress of the nems walking around killing the SPS is just too much.

I think if you go with anemone only, you probably won't need to dose, which will cut down on a lot.

dieselkeeper · Nov 8, 2017

dbraun15 said:
I currently have a 220 with soft corals, but my main focus is anemones. I currently have an 18" Green S. Haddoni, 12" Purple/Tan S. Gigantea, and a 6" orange tipped S. Mertensii. I currently do water changes every 2 weeks and run Rox Carbon and GFO. Other than that, really no difference from a traditional reef. Good luck.

Would like to see a picture of your tank with these anemones. May give burtonboy182 some inspiration.

dbraun15 · Nov 8, 2017

dieselkeeper said:
Would like to see a picture of your tank with these anemones. May give burtonboy182 some inspiration.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-mertens-nem.331636/
You can check out the pics of my nems here. I don't currently have a FTS, but I'll see what I can do later today.

splix · Nov 8, 2017

IMO easier than coral. Most nems dont care about alk/calc/mag. Just make sure lighting is great, salt,ph,temp are stable.

burtonboy182 · Nov 8, 2017

Whys everyone's water change schedule for anemone only tanks. I am most interested in Bubble tips but wouldn't mind adding some of the others!

kinetic · Nov 9, 2017

burtonboy182 said:
Whys everyone's water change schedule for anemone only tanks. I am most interested in Bubble tips but wouldn't mind adding some of the others!

I'm changing 5% weekly, but to be honest I probably can go a couple weeks without. My phosphates and nitrates are undetectable right now (Hanna ULR phosphate checker and salifert and red sea nitrate tests all reading 0). Those levels fluctuate a bit throughout the week, not sure why.

I have 6 clownfish that get two big feedings a day, geometric pygmy hawkfish that gets a quarter PE mysis cube worth of mysis a day, two bta's, and a h. mag.

dbraun15 · Nov 9, 2017

I change 10% every 2 weeks, but there have been a few times I went 4 weeks without a water change. I do have a bunch of LPS and softies as well that I think appreciate the water changes more than the nems.

zagviper71 · Nov 13, 2017

Just have a mature tank and good lighting... i have 19bta in my 180g tank. Do a water change about every other month.. run a skimmer and algae scrubber im my 125g sump. Nitrates and phosphates are 0, 1.026 sal. Eveeyrhing is bubble tips and growing.. some are splitting.

Bos · Sep 30, 2018

An anemone only tank should be much easier than coral tanks, even compared to LPS or softie. Since anemone are 'animals'/non-coral, shouldn't even need dosing cal/alk/mag/kalk etc.
Good skimmer, established tank, good lights, good flow, good temp control.....thats it. In terms of nitrates, depends how many fish you have and amount of feeding.
correct me if I am wrong

reef lover · Sep 30, 2018

Not wrong but old thread....

cracker · Sep 30, 2018

Where can I find Meleev's video's ? I googled several different query's & got some band !

Denisk · Sep 30, 2018

I think bulk reef supply just made a video about their anemone only tank. They said it was fairly easy as long as you stay to a strict water change schedule. You should check that video out as well!

Best of luck! It’ll be a sweet tank if your up for the extra work haha.

Captain Quint · Sep 30, 2018

dbraun15 said:
I change 10% every 2 weeks, but there have been a few times I went 4 weeks without a water change. I do have a bunch of LPS and softies as well that I think appreciate the water changes more than the nems.

I do as you wrote.

I don't keep much coral in my current system but have coral in the 180's I bought my adult children years back.

kinetic · Sep 30, 2018

Think about an anemone only tank as a SPS tank, without the dosing / supplementing. Your flow can also be slightly less, though I have found anemones like Magnificas like as much flow as LPS and maybe lower demand SPS.

rkpetersen · Sep 30, 2018

You may find that certain species or even strains of nems simply won't appear to get along 'in the same room', and one may even die even without any physical contact. Some people swear this happens, others say it doesn't. I'm undecided.