Keeping an anemone with pricey chalices?

[Noob]

I have some chalices that were pretty price for me to pick up. I REALLY want an anemone for my clowns bc they have been hosting my zoas. My question is, how many guys with chalices here keep an anemone in the same tank? I think once the anemone finds it's "happy place" it stays right? So I was think move my chalices to a frag tank till I think the anemone is happy, then move it back to the main tank.

What I don't want to happen is to have my chalices get stung and to loose them. I am taking too big of a risk if I just add an anemone? Maybe I can barricade my frags from the anemone? Who knows?

Thanks for any tips/help

 

[davocean]

Well keep in mind not all anemone's are the same, and will prefer different areas of your tank, sand, or rock, high/low light and flow.
People often get BTA's as they are pretty forgiving, but they wander more than most.
I think it usually works out best when you get a natural nem/clown match, so I would begin by telling us what type of clowns you have, and select from one of their natural matches, and also see what your tank is setup for, as some would need a DSB.
Also how long has your tank been running, what light and flow do you have?

 

[Tab28]

I have been lucky that a have a sebea in same spot for over 10 years as well as a rbt which has spilt so many times but still have 4 on the same live rock as the mother. Lighting and flow will tell where it will be happy. I also have several chalices some expensive. Luckily chalices dislike the two things anemones love. So if you have a large enough tank the chalices will be in an area anemones will not want to be.

Anemones dislike nitrates higher than 10. Chalices are the opposite but will be fine at lower end. If nitrates are too high the anemone will continue to wander. Clowns will also undermine the sand if anemone is near the bottom of tank. So other corals may end up being moved.

 

[Noob]

Hey thanks for the info guys. I have a few snowflake clownfish. They're kinda small now too as the hatched in January. I have a Maxspect Razor 27" over a 55gallon tank that is 42lx18wx17h. Tank is kinda new but it was transferred from a tank that has been running for the last year. All my chalices are in the very front corner of my tank where the light level is a lot lower. I have two Mp10wes for flow
I wanted to get an RBTA.

Thanks

 

[davocean]

So your clowns are ocellaris, that is good to know because they can be the fussiest to accept a non natural host from my experience and years of reading others experience.
They "might" accept a BTA, maybe, but it could take a while, and they may never.
Also know that BTA's wander by far more than the other host nems, greater chance of strolling across stuff you wish they didn't.
You "might" get lucky and provide an island for one and have it stay, maybe.
Personally I would rather have less maybe's.
Your natural host nem selection for occs is Magnifica/Ritteri, Gigantea, or Mertensi
I have a mag myself and love it, it does not get as huge as the others, and it loves to be high up on a rock reaching for max light, so for me it is easy to keep on an island/pillar and keep it contained.
they are a little harder to keep than a BTA, but not that much really, a little harder to come by, but can be found.
I think it's a good idea to have ciproflaxin on hand and be ready to QT it on arrival and plan to treat it, but after that not too tough.
That would be my choice and what I would do.
Better chance of your clowns accepting that easy.

 

[Tab28]

As mentioned some times it is tough to get clowns to host an anemone. But you mentioned they are hosting zoanthids so the idea on what to do is in them. I have a true percula and a mated pair of black ocellaris. All three fly back and forth between my sebea and rbta.

 

[Tab28]

The pictures are of the males. In a few of the rbta, The female ocellaris always stays around the sebae. It seems she always is tending to eggs. Lays them like clock work.

 

[davocean]

The idea of finding a host is a natural instinct for all, but some are more picky than others, and some nems may have a stronger sting or just different layout than what they prefer.
I've had my picasso's 5 years, and they have accepted a few different nems, some natural, some not, but they did absolutely refuse a hadonni for some reason.
For both you guys I would suggest keeping just a pair of clowns as well, there stands a good chance for serious aggression after two have paired up and matured, spawning.

 

[Tab28]

The idea of finding a host is a natural instinct for all, but some are more picky than others, and some nems may have a stronger sting or just different layout than what they prefer.
I've had my picasso's 5 years, and they have accepted a few different nems, some natural, some not, but they did absolutely refuse a hadonni for some reason.
For both you guys I would suggest keeping just a pair of clowns as well, there stands a good chance for serious aggression after two have paired up and matured, spawning.

Agree, it seems tank raised clowns are more shy to host. A friend of mine owns a lfs. They have to keep picasso clowns in pond plant containers. Most people prefer them more if they are host trained. I have a pair in a 30 gallon they will not host the rbta. I got them before they were trained. They never saw an anemone before, they were tank raised. In time they will go into it.

In my 150 gallon my mated pair are probably 7 years old. The percula is about 5. The two males get along until the female has a egg clump under guard. The percula rarely ventures near the seabae. The mated pair will go to any anemone but always lay eggs near the sebae. In the beginning they quarreled often but now if not mating season all three may be in same anemone.

 

[davocean]

Tank raised or not the instinct is already there, they do not need to be trained, in fact it is that natural instinct that makes them seek out what they would naturally be hosted by in the wild, even though they may have never seen a sea anemone before.
My picasso's refused a hadonni for 4 months, stuck a mag in there, they swam straight in, and I had them since the beginning, they never saw a mag before, nor a hadonni.
They chose what nature would have normally provided.

 

[watchguy123]

You have recieved great info already. I just wanted to share a bit of my experience with clowns. Although every fish has its own personality, not all clown species are compatible. Maroon clowns seem to be the least tolerant of any other clown species. My percula pair hosted a RBTA for a year and then the RBTA escaped its island in the sand and they did not follow. I have a 180 gallon tank and the clowns stayed near the old "island" and then ultimately moved a little over to host in a bubble coral where they have lived for the last year. They never ventured over to the RBTA which had settled on the far side of the tank. In fact they don't venture more than 6 or 8 inches away from their home and that's only to capture food at feeding time

 

[Noob]

Thanks for all the great info. Maybe I should go for a carpet anemone or mag. I was afraid the long tentacles on the mag would make it easier to accidentally sting my corals. I may have to move my tank in a few weeks so once it's set back up, I will see how everything is doing and decide if there's going to be a spot for it. Or a spot where I can shield corals from the anemone.

Oh btw these are tank raise anemones and all the ones the others that the breeder had hosted an anemone pretty quickly.

 

[davocean]

A mag is going to be about the same size as a full grown BTA, but they wander much less.
My new tank is a 120g, so also 48" in length, mine will maintain a mag and coral, it just depends on how you scape and how much and what kind of coral you plan to have.
I'm going kinda minimal, more swim space, keeping display fairly simple and open

 

[Zero Nitrates]

I tried an anemone in our tank. Our clowns loved it. The anemone would randomly move, then I would have to move coral around. They also split. Then you have to chase two or three of them. It is very to cool to have one, but some extra work.