Newbie: my first big mistake

[Steven Goff]

I bought a used tank and moved the tank. This tank had lots of live rock (which I tried to keep alive by putting in saltwater and flowing water). Setup up tank and did two cycles (put ammonia in the tank - waited for ammonia to go to zero) and repeated. Put some snails/crabs in after that. Then bought a pair of clownfish (which are doing well). Someone told me at LFS that I need a anemone to host the clowns. So I went to LFS and asked (by the way they knew the tank was moved/new) and he recommended a long tentacle anemone. Well, I should have researched this (most experienced in this hobby recommend waiting) and now I wish I would have waited.

Now I learned my chances of success with this anemone is small. I will watch the water very carefully, but I should have just researched on my own first.

Any more advice on how to keep this anemone healthy?

 

[Sailingeric]

What kind of lights are you running. I don't have anemone but they need good light. Can you return the anemone? My clowns like to host behind the overflow or my water return bar.

 

[Steven Goff]

HD primes. I think the lights can handle it. My clowns seem to host close to the returns too

 

[BadFish619]

They certainly don't need an anemone to live. Hopefully you have the right lights or definitely return it or find a local reefer who will take it

 

[Steven Goff]

What kind of lights are you running. I don't have anemone but they need good light. Can you return the anemone? My clowns like to host behind the overflow or my water return bar.

Maybe I should just return the anemone - I don't know if they will take it back or not

 

[RJinPV]

AI Prime HDs should be adequate for the anemone. You didn't mention how tall or long the tank is. If ~20" tall and the spacing is 12 -15 inches apart I think the light should be adequate. I bought an LTA too soon as well. It turned out fine. Make sure they have a deep sand bed of 3"-4 " and don't overfeed to keep the ammonia in check by the newly cycled rock.

What I eventually did was sell it back to the LFS in exchange for a bubble tip anemone. My Ocellaris clowns didn't show any interest in the LTA. After about 2 weeks they took up residence with the BTA. While I had the LTA it did very well and grew rather large.

The safest course of action would be to resell it back to the LFS, especially if you don't have a good sand bed. What kind of clowns do you have?

 

[Steven Goff]

The tank is 72" x 18" x 18". The clowns are false ocellaris. I'll talk to the LFS tomorrow and tell them my concerns. The primes are 3 spaced apart.

 

[Salty Lemon]

Same thing happened to me months ago. I didn't know that 1. I needed a tank established for at least a year before adding an anemone, and 2. That I needed decent lighting. I no longer have the anemone -- and not because I rehomed him. Anemones can go toxic if they die. So if yours starts getting sick, I'd try to go into the following order, 1.Try to bring it back to the lfs, 2. put him in quarantine, or 3. Flush him. If he dies, he can kill everything in the tank. I double check everything on Liveaquaria.com before I purchase it. Half the time the staff is telling me that I can handle something if I care for it properly (which is true), but also being new, means that there are good chances I may make a mistakes. Also...we were all newbies once. Each and every person on this forum.

 

[lapin]

Since you have live rock you might be ok with the nem. Send us pictures so we can see what condition its in. They do like light and medium flow. Must be in 3" to 4" of sand on the bottom of your tank so it can bury its foot.

 

[Steven Goff]

20190531_210240

• usmcarty42
• Jun 5, 2019

 

[Steven Goff]

 

[Steven Goff]

 

[Steven Goff]

Since you have live rock you might be ok with the nem. Send us pictures so we can see what condition its in. They do like light and medium flow. Must be in 3" to 4" of sand on the bottom of your tank so it can bury its foot.

He’s in the corner. I took pictures

 

[lapin]

It looks ok. Maybe a little deflated. I cant see its mouth. The sand bed looks a bit thin but thats hard for me to see also

 

[KorD]

The lights you have are more then good enough for an anemone. I have raised an LTA under a 25w light bulb for over a year to see if it would work (I had a backup plan just in case)
Do me a favor and make sure you don't have too many hard swings in your levels, do a 10 or 20% water change weekly since your tank is still so new.

 

[RJinPV]

I think he looks in good shape. So keeping it or not is up to you. If you keep the tank parameters good it should be fine, just like mine was.