Suggestions for beginner starting with Anemone?

[HildebrandRarity]

Good evening all and hope everyone is doing well! I just paired a wonderful clownish couple and was thinking my next step to get a anemone for them? I have a great local fish store that I will buy from and was wondering if you have any good tips for the pair and anemone top thrive? I have a pretty well established 20 gallon tank (6 months)

 

[Cstar_BC]

What type of anemone were you interested in ?

I would say based on tank size a Bubble tip would be a good option - but they are prone to splitting and taking over the tank .

sebae and long tentacle anemone are another good host anemone but +30gallon tanks are recommended

There is also the carpet anemone that would not be suitable for the size of tank you have currently

 

[HildebrandRarity]

What type of anemone were you interested in ?

I would say based on tank size a Bubble tip would be a good option - but they are prone to splitting and taking over the tank .

sebae and long tentacle anemone are another good host anemone but +30gallon tanks are recommended

There is also the carpet anemone that would not be suitable for the size of tank you have currently

I'm interested in any type they would play in and enjoy they are both ocellaris clownfish - One a black Occellaris and the other a Flurry Clownfish

 

[OrionN]

Natural hosts for Ocellaris is not recommended for you or your tank. Too small and too inexperienced.
Do you have a sand bed? If you do I would get a H. malu. If not consider an E. quadricolor, or BTA. Neither are natural host of Ocellaris. Your clown may take a long time before they go into one of these anemone.

 

[Cstar_BC]

I'm interested in any type they would play in and enjoy they are both ocellaris clownfish - One a black Occellaris and the other a Flurry Clownfish

I would say bta ,both my clown pairs (one black ice one flurry ) took to bta right away .

it’s worth a try

 

[HildebrandRarity]

Natural hosts for Ocellaris is not recommended for you or your tank. Too small and too inexperienced.
Do you have a sand bed? If you do I would get a H. malu. If not consider an E. quadricolor, or BTA. Neither are natural host of Ocellaris. Your clown may take a long time before they go into one of these anemone.

Yes I have a sand bed, I just think it would be cool to have one as it seems natural for clownfish to host an anemone

 

[HildebrandRarity]

I would say bta ,both my clown pairs (one black ice one flurry ) took to bta right away .

it’s worth a try

Thanks, taking a day at a time! Always dreamed having clownfish pair and anemone. The pair seems to be very healthy and happy for now

 

[jreefier]

Thanks, taking a day at a time! Always dreamed having clownfish pair and anemone. The pair seems to be very healthy and happy for now

What will you be doing for lighting? Would recommend getting a bta split from someone if you can find as a first anemone, and maybe waiting another 6 months.

 

[HildebrandRarity]

What will you be doing for lighting? Would recommend getting a bta split from someone if you can find as a first anemone, and maybe waiting another 6 months.

For Lighting would be using Coralife T5 High Output 10,000K & T5 Actinic - thanks I will look for a split and bubble tip seems like best one to try

 

[TriggersAmuck]

One thing to consider is tank stability. Did you start out with live rock or dry rock? With live rock you probably had a bit more diversity of life cultured in the tank and thus the maturity is probably a little further along. If it was dry rock (with or without a bacterial additive) maybe not as much. No magic right answer as to when is the "right" time, but this may help you decide if 6 months is too soon or not. While BTAs are pretty tough customers, they can still suffer if the environment isn't quite there yet.

 

[Birdbrains?]

Keeping anemones and anemone-fishes is wonderful. It can be worth waiting until you are sure the tank is properly settled.

Nems do tend to go into shock if the water doesn't seem natural to them, you can try to flush the water column with lots of small live foods (like rotifers, Copepods etc.) while you are introducing the Nem, so its instincts feel the location is good.

I keep a macrodactyla in a 60l and haven't had any issues with size compatibility but avoid mixing anemones with corals. They are different types of stingers and tend to suppress eachother by letting out toxins in the water, which is best controlled by overpowered skimmers.

Also the macro is a sand dweller and it does not split so you won't have to remove clones from your liverock as might happen with bubbletips.

Since the fishes probably already have a favourite area in the tank, you should try to get the anemone to settle at that spot. It can be alittle work to get the Nem into the spot that you want, just keep working with the current and the rockwork until the Nem and the fishes accept the same spot, the fishes won't leave a favourite spot easily.

If you don't have a hospital or isolation tank, be prepared to remove and lose the Nem, they keep moving while they die but they rot incredibly fast if they do, and you don't want to lose your fishes to a rotting anemone.

 

[HildebrandRarity]

What will you be doing for lighting? Would recommend getting a bta split from someone if you can find as a first anemone, and maybe waiting another 6 months.