Secret to keeping nems? Please share!

[jtf74]

The sand bed is about 2 inches, probably comes up to four in some places. I gravel vac it every two weeks with water changes, so the sand does get moved a bit. Plus the nassarius snails help with that. Think the ICP test would’ve picked up on it since I did it right after I had stirred up the tank but the other inverts are fine so I don’t think it’s that. As far as I know according to the ICP a test there’s no contaminants. The dosing pumps seem to be working fine since the parameters are steady.
The maroon was the last added and chosen to be smaller than all the other clowns right now so as he eventually outgrows them I’m hoping he will have his own territory and retain his place on the pecking order. It’s a risk but so was the emp angel and the 2 fox faces.

Sounds like you are on top of it and have done your research. Since your bed is so shallow I doubt sulfur. Please update if you figure it out. Curious if you know if the one that survived longest was wild or a captive split as well as those that died? I'd read captive do better but have no real experience with that.

 

[PicassoClown04]

Sounds like you are on top of it and have done your research. Since your bed is so shallow I doubt sulfur. Please update if you figure it out. Curious if you know if the one that survived longest was wild or a captive split as well as those that died? I'd read captive do better but have no real experience with that.

Captive has done better for me, wild ones have been difficult to make happy and are more sensitive to trace elements and salinity. Some have melted away to what I’m guessing is a temperature thing? Much like cold water zoas melting in a reef tank. I’ve also found that wilds split much worse than captive split ones. Here’s my wild one that split the other day. I believe it’s a black widow?

 

[jtf74]

Captive has done better for me, wild ones have been difficult to make happy and are more sensitive to trace elements and salinity. Some have melted away to what I’m guessing is a temperature thing? Much like cold water zoas melting in a reef tank. I’ve also found that wilds split much worse than captive split ones. Here’s my wild one that split the other day. I believe it’s a black widow?

Mine are all captive splits and have done well for me. When you say wilds split much worse, do you mean more often or less often or that their splits are more problematic? I ask because some people see splitting as a negative because the nems start to take over, but I love it when it happens cause I have the space.

 

[PicassoClown04]

Mine are all captive splits and have done well for me. When you say wilds split much worse, do you mean more often or less often or that their splits are more problematic? I ask because some people see splitting as a negative because the nems start to take over, but I love it when it happens cause I have the space.

I love splits! I’m saying that it’s more traumatic for the anemone and the splits don’t do as well. Like that pic from above is my wild one splitting into 4ths as a 4” wide anemone. So all the splits are very small and they took a while to become sticky and start eating. The mother anemone also suffered pretty badly after splitting. The mother also keeps walking around the tank, can’t seem to find a happy place whereas my captive bred RBTA settled down almost immediately (less than 3 days of wandering). My RBTA is under the pump on the right and the wilds are now scattered throughout the tank. 2 are in cups, one is in the front left and the other is way deep in the rocks in the back. They walk almost every day.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Captive has done better for me, wild ones have been difficult to make happy and are more sensitive to trace elements and salinity. Some have melted away to what I’m guessing is a temperature thing? Much like cold water zoas melting in a reef tank. I’ve also found that wilds split much worse than captive split ones. Here’s my wild one that split the other day. I believe it’s a black widow?

Those are some pretty crazy split photos!

 

[mmw64]

It should be fine. It may move by then or drop when the water level recedes but they can be out of water for a couple hours.

That makes me feel much better. Thanks for the information.

 

[weamdog]

The main lessons I've discovered over the years:
1. Clowns can love nems to death. Your nems should always be bigger than your clowns or your should have multiple nems.
2. Mixing nems has always resulted badly for me no matter how big the nem is.
3. Once a nem is injured, there usually isn't any return. 7-10 days it will melt.
4. Sexy shrimp and Arabian cowries are no no's. Sexy shrimp won't kill them that I've seen, but they will nip the tentacles off.
5. Tangs can injure them when they are whipping their tails, it's best to make sure the nems don't settle down anywhere near disputed tang territory.
6. I've never been able to keep a rock flower alive.
7. If a Kenya tree and a bta get too close to one another, they can/will kill each other.
8. Nems are good at keeping pulsing xenia and mushrooms in check.
9. Splits for me usually occur when water quality changes. Last one split a couple days ago when i added Fiji mud.

I like the idea of isolating them until they are healthy and large enough to support clowns. I have my inferno in a box near the top of my 220. The box is covered in coralline so each morning it extends its tentacles up towards the light sucking up probably 400+ par. My clowns haven't found him in 6 months.


Water parameters never seem to matter for me, I'm almost afraid to check parameters in my oldest tank which hasn't seen a water change in a year (no3 and po4 have to be off the scale). If I were to do a 20% change, I think I'd have a 50/50 chance of causing a split as these two are huge.

 

[RtomKinMad]

I've had the best luck with nems by not feeding anything going on four years now, just giving them good light. What lights are you running? I lost a couple back when I would feed regular chunks of shrimp. I think sometimes people mistakenly think these need to be fed more often than they really do. Digestion is slow and overly large chunks can sit too long inside them before its broken down. Too many clowns pestering I suppose could be a problem too.

I don’t feed my nems either. I use to and they did horribly so I just stopped. Now we just dose reef roids once a week and leave the nems alone. My one has split is now 10 RBT. Use AI lights. 300gal tank.

 

[RtomKinMad]

I don’t feed my nems either. I use to and they did horribly so I just stopped. Now we just dose reef roids once a week and leave the nems alone. My one has split is now 10 RBT. Use AI lights. 300gal tank.

Ops so sorry happy fingers clicked extra pictures!!’ Sorry hope someone like birds!

 

[fcmatt]

I dunno. Nems are pretty easy once established. Btas are bullet proof all the time. Gigs and haddoni the first couple months be ready to medicate if necessary. Otherwise they survive really well even after a trip through a power head. Kind of the easiest thing i have ever kept.

 

[Nem4]

I look at it this way.... our tanks are to small to house multiple species. Especially if they are hosting clownfish. If those fish are rubbing all over a bubble tip, and then go jump in a lta back and for all day think about the signals the anemones are receiving.... nothin but warfare. try sticking to one species and see how ya do...

 

[LesPoissons]

Hmmm the mixing is an interesting thought but I’ve seen a lot of people keep multiple species? I think I may try adding more btas (after I get the par meter to check lights) to give the clowns more options. At this point I’m thinking they may be the culprits bc everything else seems good. I think I’m down to only the rainbow bta now, although I think a 2nd smaller one is still around- saw it a few days ago, and there’s a green bta or lta I can see tips of tentacles sometimes. So next question that we didn’t touch on before that I just considered- I typically temp acclimate my nems and then do a 30 min drip, dump half the water and do another 15 min before introducing them to my tank. Could that process causes a very slow (weeks to months long) demise- could that be the problem? I know some people are big on the drip method but I’ve also read where a lot of you just temp acclimate and place in the tank? Is that successful? Idk if my red that I had for years was wild or captive. The bigger rainbow I have now is captive. Not sure about the 2 others.

 

[LesPoissons]

***side note- I love the chickens lol. We used to have 3- we got blue, olive and brown eggs daily. So cool.

 

[LesPoissons]

Captive has done better for me, wild ones have been difficult to make happy and are more sensitive to trace elements and salinity. Some have melted away to what I’m guessing is a temperature thing? Much like cold water zoas melting in a reef tank. I’ve also found that wilds split much worse than captive split ones. Here’s my wild one that split the other day. I believe it’s a black widow?

Is temperature an issue? My tank is 79-80 but I’ve seen it hit 81 on occasion according to the probe. No heaters or chillers but is that too hot for nems? Could that be it? (Although- I keep going back to my red bta being fine for years, nothing has changed Except things have gotten more stable if anything!)

 

[PicassoClown04]

Is temperature an issue? My tank is 79-80 but I’ve seen it hit 81 on occasion according to the probe. No heaters or chillers but is that too hot for nems? Could that be it? (Although- I keep going back to my red bta being fine for years, nothing has changed Except things have gotten more stable if anything!)

Mine is at 78, sometimes strays to 79 but like 90% of the time it’s 78

 

[btackerman]

I have several bta and my original is close to 8 yrs in my system. In the past I have had issues with my clown fish being a little aggressive with the nem maintenance and it caused them to move. Now I do not go out of my way to feed them but my maroons ensure each nem is fed every night (10 in total) with the meaty food I feed my fish. Clowns typically will protect and groom but if the bta is small then It could cause a lot of damage to the bta and move behind a rock and slowly die. Could you also send a pic of your system.

 

[MamaP]

I'm following along here, as my rbt nem was only a few weeks in my tank, was big and beautiful some days and shrunken and shriveled others, and last week he died. I really want another one, as my clowns were finally starting to go near him and they're such cool creatures.

 

[ramona]

What would be a proper setting of Kesill a160we for RBTAs to bubble in a 12" deep tank? Can't figure out!

 

[weamdog]

My nems frequently get small pellets and mysis.

 

[ramona]

Mine gets: reef frenzy, PE mysis, brine shrimp, NLS pellets when feeding the 2 clowns in the evenings, making sure each one gets some scraps; started with one 10 months ago - now there are 9 in one half of the 18 gal AIO; the 2 clowns swim in and out of them without exploring the other half, I guess they are happy, at least I hope so!