The age old "when can I get an anemone" question

[Lochjeffmonster]

Everything I've read has either said wait a minimum of 6 months but ideally 1 year before adding a nem for your tank to stabilize... My tank has been up for 4 months. LPS and softies only. My parameters have been stable since the first month with only the following fluctuations
T: 79 F
PH: 8.2
Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5-7.5
Phosphate: 0.05-0.07
Alkalinity: 8.6
Calcium: 420-430
Magnesium: 1350-1370

Did I get lucky? Is my tank stable enough to support a nem? Stay the course and wait it out?

All feedback appreciated

 

[laverda]

Everything I've read has either said wait a minimum of 6 months but ideally 1 year before adding a nem for your tank to stabilize... My tank has been up for 4 months. LPS and softies only. My parameters have been stable since the first month with only the following fluctuations
T: 79 F
PH: 8.2
Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5-7.5
Phosphate: 0.05-0.07
Alkalinity: 8.6
Calcium: 420-430
Magnesium: 1350-1370

Did I get lucky? Is my tank stable enough to support a nem? Stay the course and wait it out?

All feedback appreciated

Glad you tank is stable. There's a difference between stable and established. Established is hard to define specifically. If you started it with live rock I would wait a another month. If started with dry rock I would wait couple months.

 

[Lochjeffmonster]

Glad you tank is stable. There's a difference between stable and established. Established is hard to define specifically. If you started it with live rock I would wait a another month. If started with dry rock I would wait couple months.

Thanks! I hear what you're saying. I did use live rock so I'll give it a bit!

 

[ID-Reefer]

FWIW... I don’t think there are any hard rules. If your tank is stable and corals are doing well then I wouldn’t be worried. But that’s just my opinion and I’m sure others will disagree. My tank is younger than yours (been wet for just under 4 months). I have 8 rock flowers and 4 BTAs and they are doing great. LPS and SPS doing well. I started with dry rock (Carib sea life rock). Sorry for the blue pics. Lights are going off - just took a couple quick ones of a few nems. The other pic was a couple weeks ago when my lights were still on.

 

[1guydude]

Tomorrow if you want.
D

 

[MattReef518]

My tank is 3 months old. I started it with live rock and Fitz9. I got a BTA last weekend. The Rose BTA moved twice. I put it in a little cave area with low flow. It seems fine. I feed it frozen food and reef roids.

 

[lpsouth1978]

I agree that there is no hard rule for when to add an anemone. Someone experienced in their care and with reefing in general, can likely add one sooner than many would recommend. In addition, a dedicated reefer that is willing to put in the time and effort to ensure the stability of the system, will have better success early on. IMO the issues arise in the "stable" but not "established" system, when even a minor mistake is made. An established system will handle small mistakes that may send a young system into a tailspin.

 

[Spare time]

It doesnt matter when you get an anenome in terms of how old the tank is. What does matter is how well you understand your tank and general care. Bubble tip anemones are easy.

 

[MasonK24]

I bought a baseball sized BTA 2 months after my initial set up. fast forward 2 and a half years i have 3 the size of dinner plates. Not saying you should do the same thats just my personal experience. Mine have survived some harsh speed bumps in my tank that a lot of my SPS couldnt. If you do get one, dont expect it to stay where you put it either. they do as they please lol

 

[TrevorL]

I just added a bubble tip anemone to my tank and my tank has been running for 8 months and she’s beautiful and bubbly!

 

[Kristopher Conlin]

I put a purple LTA in a tank that was only two months old. The tanks parameters have always been very stable. Maybe I got really lucky but it's been going strong for two years now.

 

[ClownWrangler]

LTAs are hit or miss for new tanks. I lost two when I started for no apparent reason, but now have 2 that are doing fine for a year now in a low tech tank. A captive bred BTA is the way to go. They are the only ones that breed well in captivity and they are better adapted to it. Anything wild caught is a gamble and LTAs are all wild caught.

 

[Nhjmc]

My tank is a year and a half old can't keep a BTA but carpet nems thriving, weird.

 

[coastalnanoreef]

I have a bta in a 4g. It’s been doing amazing for months. I originally set it up as a test to see how small I could go. I used live rock from another tank. I never do any water changes on it. But I have a question. I just bought a 30g tank and I’m going to put the anemone in it the second day I set it up. Is this a wise move? It’s going to have a ton of live rock from other tanks of course.

 

[TrevorL]

I have a bta in a 4g. It’s been doing amazing for months. I originally set it up as a test to see how small I could go. I used live rock from another tank. I never do any water changes on it. But I have a question. I just bought a 30g tank and I’m going to put the anemone in it the second day I set it up. Is this a wise move? It’s going to have a ton of live rock from other tanks of course.

Even with the live rock from other tanks I personally would wait about a week to just to be safe.