Right time for an anemone (quick reply please!)

[Qh2214]

My friends tank just finished his cycle, got his water tested and cleared to go! He wants to add an anemone and a few clowns before he adds any corals or other fish. Good idea or bad? I felt like he would be okay but I'm looking for some other opinions! Thank you!

 

[Duke4Life]

Bad idea. The tank needs min 6 months stable parameters for an anemone (some say a year). Clowns can be added anytime depending on what else is going in.

 

[Qh2214]

Yeah after thinking about it, I said they like more of a "mature" tank and told him to add the clowns and get the anemone after a while. He's pretty amped to get it going.

 

[Duke4Life]

Any good shops out in the Seattle area?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What type of anemone was he thinking of?

 

[Qh2214]

he was thinking of a BTA

What type of anemone was he thinking of?

 

[Qh2214]

There's two that I go to consistently. Both are outside of the Seattle-area. Renton & Tukwila both about 30 minutes out. But I go to a local reefer who has the best prices on coral that I've personally ever seen. Makes his own fish food, sells glue, and he sells to a lot of the LFS in the area. I got large birds nest frags for $10 each and they're both about 2-3" a pocillopera for $10, really cool colored acan and another frag thats pretty rare. I'd rather go locally then go to LFS plus usually the people you meet are pretty cool. I'm always searching craigslist to find supplies and frags for sale.

Any good shops out in the Seattle area?

 

[hutch2828]

Wait the six months. I remember thinking to myself that it was just one of those things people say but its true. A tank needs a long time to accumulate the right bacteria and micro-organisms to make it truly stable. Anemones can be hardy but they seem to do poorly in tanks that haven't had the time to develop.

 

[Duke4Life]

That's good to know qh2214.

 

[Qh2214]

How long did it take for yours to split or get larger? I got mine after a year of having my tank established and it doesn't seem to have grown too much, but I did buy it for $10 because it was such a small rose BTA. Might be a little bit bigger but nothing extremely noticeable, I'm using reef roids as a feeding source.

Wait the six months. I remember thinking to myself that it was just one of those things people say but its true. A tank needs a long time to accumulate the right bacteria and micro-organisms to make it truly stable. Anemones can be hardy but they seem to do poorly in tanks that haven't had the time to develop.

 

[Qh2214]

No problem Duke4life if you are ever in the Seattle area hmu and I'll point you in the right direction!

 

[hutch2828]

How long did it take for yours to split or get larger? I got mine after a year of having my tank established and it doesn't seem to have grown too much, but I did buy it for $10 because it was such a small rose BTA. Might be a little bit bigger but nothing extremely noticeable, I'm using reef roids as a feeding source.

I'll admit that I only have short experience with a BTA. I got a green one and had it in my tank for about 4 months before recently moving across country. The anemone was one of the inhabitants I chose to leave behind instead of shipping. I didn't notice too much growth during that time although friends have said they grow much faster when fed regularly. Sounds like you got lucky with $10! Every place near me used to want full price because its anemone no matter the size (didn't make sense to me). I did have one friend who had a very larger "mother" BTA. Because it was so large it constantly split, while the other smaller ones rarely did the same. Seems to me they only split once they reach some sort of critical mass lol

 

[Qh2214]

Nice I wish I would of got a more colorful one, I like the rare colors and unusual corals. Yeah I got pretty lucky I was cool with my LFS guy and he was hesitant but I was moving so he hooked me up! Nice I'll try consistently feeding mine then see how that works for me. Maybe I'll start a thread on BTA growth but I'm afraid it'll be too boring for anyone to follow it haha.

 

[Newtybar]

nah, not yet.

 

[jayjigga]

When we talk "established" I think we need to be specific with what that entails, not just a time-specific date on a calendar. I think that given the resources and medias out there now, we can get a newer tank to be just as established as a year old tank with LR and other bacteria housing options and seeding with live sand. Granted, it's not going to go from 6 months to 6 days, but it's definitely possible to cut the arbitrary timeline down significantly. Good luck, but definitely wait a bit and get the biological filtration up and running strong before a BTA.

 

[Trex]

There is more to it then just having bacteria seeded.

There is a big learning curve with a new tank -- mistakes are going to be made, algae blooms will happen, Cal, Alk & Mag levels will need to be sorted, and etc. Most of the time it takes around 6 months for all of those things to be straightened out -- sometimes even longer. No need to stress an anemone during that stage.


Also, to the OP;

what size tank?
What lights?

 

[Qh2214]

He set up his 28g cube QT with live rock with a regular clown and a naked clown waiting for his corner 60g to get acclimated with the dry rock and cycle

 

[hingisp]

Nice I wish I would of got a more colorful one, I like the rare colors and unusual corals. Yeah I got pretty lucky I was cool with my LFS guy and he was hesitant but I was moving so he hooked me up! Nice I'll try consistently feeding mine then see how that works for me. Maybe I'll start a thread on BTA growth but I'm afraid it'll be too boring for anyone to follow it haha.

Never boring man, start that thread, it will be interesting for many peeps I'm sure. I know I'll subscribe. But yes feed your bta more regularly, try Lance fish and they definitely grow faster,if that's what you want.

 

[Devlin]

I got a rbta about a month ago. My tank is only 3 months old. I had a 15 g set up for 7 months. I transfered everything but the sand to my 40g. Everything survived the move. And all is well except for the bta. Has progressively goten worse since I got it. Closes up a lot and all bubbles have disappeared. I'm going to stick it out and see if it makes a comeback. All my parameters are good. Growing coralline and all corals are doing good and growing. Wish I would have waited.

 

[chillinreefer]

I got a rbta about a month ago. My tank is only 3 months old. I had a 15 g set up for 7 months. I transfered everything but the sand to my 40g. Everything survived the move. And all is well except for the bta. Has progressively goten worse since I got it. Closes up a lot and all bubbles have disappeared. I'm going to stick it out and see if it makes a comeback. All my parameters are good. Growing coralline and all corals are doing good and growing. Wish I would have waited.

Sounds like my story, I'm really trying to get my Bta back to life it's just a pink little glob that moves everywhere i tryed feeding it don't see to much eating .thou while my other one I bought at rap I put in there blasted and is growing out of control and hosted the clowns