When is a tank ready for an anemone?

[Nasabeau]

Hi, I am super new, just starting up my first salt water. my salinity is still a little low for coral but I've got a couple clownfish in and my cycle is running flawlessly. I was wondering when you guys recommended adding anemone. I've seen opinions online all the way from "throw them in immediately" to "you need your tank to mature for at least a year before adding them" so I was curious to get more feedback on when a tank is mature enough for these guys. would love a place for my clowns to host!

 

[Hugh Mann]

It all comes down to the stability of the water conditions. Anenomes don't like fluctuations in water perameters, they also don't do well with high nitrates. Stability comes with time, both with your experience and as the biology of your tank reaches equilibrium. No spikes in ammonia, bacteria/algae blooms, nutrient import/export, nothing leaching from rocks.

Myself, I wouldn't recommend an anenome until you reach that stability. Read more than a few threads on here about anenomes dying and nuking entire tanks.

 

[ThePhoReefer]

Mine does ok with high nitrates just phosphate is what I need to control, they hate sudden change in parameters, do ok to slow changes.

 

[Hincapiej4]

My only advise is..if you see a cucumber or an apple at your lfs...don't do it. Hold off...way off lol

 

[Nasabeau]

It all comes down to the stability of the water conditions. Anenomes don't like fluctuations in water perameters, they also don't do well with high nitrates. Stability comes with time, both with your experience and as the biology of your tank reaches equilibrium. No spikes in ammonia, bacteria/algae blooms, nutrient import/export, nothing leaching from rocks.

Myself, I wouldn't recommend an anenome until you reach that stability. Read more than a few threads on here about anenomes dying and nuking entire tanks.

I guess I'm trying to figure out how to tell when your tank has reached that level of stability. the tank I have is the largest tank I've ever kept, and so far my parameters have been so shockingly stable after the first few days that I bought a different test kit to make sure the one I was using wasn't defective. but I am also terrified of picking up an anemone this early and hurting or even killing the little guy. I know I should probably wait at least a few months... but how can you tell it's ready?

 

[Nasabeau]

My only advise is..if you see a cucumber or an apple at your lfs...don't do it. Hold off...way off lol

lol will definitely keep that in mind. fortunately for me, my LFS doesn't actually stock any salt water other than clowns and damsels, so I figure out what I want and then go there and get them to special order it for me, which is nice because it prevents "spur of the moment" purchases

 

[LesPoissons]

At a minimum I would give it 6 months and a year is probably better. I’m glad everything is going “swimmingly” right now but if it’s your first salt tank- you are going to run into issues. Heck, if it’s your 10th- you are going to run into issues. Nems are going for $$$ rates right now (well... depending on where you live I suppose) and putting one in will likely cost you a lot of money and potentially the life of your nem. Just give it time for you to get your feet wet (ok that one I didn’t do on purpose lol) and see what happens as your tank matures. I’d say 6 months of stability (water parameters, no major changes or outbreaks, good fish health, consistent feeding and maintenance routine) etc.

 

[Nasabeau]

At a minimum I would give it 6 months and a year is probably better. I’m glad everything is going “swimmingly” right now but if it’s your first salt tank- you are going to run into issues. Heck, if it’s your 10th- you are going to run into issues. Nems are going for $$$ rates right now (well... depending on where you live I suppose) and putting one in will likely cost you a lot of money and potentially the life of your nem. Just give it time for you to get your feet wet (ok that one I didn’t do on purpose lol) and see what happens as your tank matures. I’d say 6 months of stability (water parameters, no major changes or outbreaks, good fish health, consistent feeding and maintenance routine) etc.

awesome. I will definitely wait. I know I will run into problems and I just kind of wanted a sense of how to tell when its ready. this was super helpful thank you

 

[Miguel Negron]

Yeah a good 6 months would be great

 

[xxkenny90xx]

My only advise is..if you see a cucumber or an apple at your lfs...don't do it. Hold off...way off lol

I've got 2 cucumbers!....

 

[xxkenny90xx]

How long to wait for a nem? How big is your tank and did you start it out with LIVE rock? If yes, how much?

 

[First-time Reefer]

I got my first anemone at 6 months and wished i had waited a bit longer. I ended up reading and learning more afterward and realized how a tank matures over time. Best of luck!

 

[Hincapiej4]

I've got 2 cucumbers!....

Well yea, I've had one too. Rehomed him when I got a new tank because I didnt want it dying on me, But the reason I said that is because he is a new guy new tank.

 

[OrionN]

If your coral does not like the condition it is in, it just die. For an anemone, if it does not like the condition it is in, it move. Large anemone can cause a lot of damages moving. They often moving they often seek higher flow and move into the PH or over flow. When they think the condition is really bad, they just let go and flow a way, right into the PH or overflow.
Puree anemone can cause a lot of damage. The nematocysts of the anemone will be release to the water of the tank and can kill all the fishes in the tank.
If you know what you are doing, and start the tank with great LR and the tank is stable right away, you can put the anemone in the tank but as a new reefer, and not having really good LR, I recommend not put one in until you know how to keep your tank running smoothly and keep it stable. How long is that? It is all different for different situation.

I recently started a 65 gal tank the end of July 2020. I started this tank with sand from the beach of the Gulf of Mexico and LR I put into the Corpus Christi Bay for a few months. It only take a few hours to get the sand and the rock from the Ocean into my tank and the tank did not cycle, and teaming with life. After a week, the tank was staple with minor died off. In this situation, I put two S. giganea into this tank right away, they are doing great. Here is the few picture of the anemone when I first put them into my tank and a recent video of the tank.

Due to their large size, and their ability to move around and cause damage, and their demand for generally stable, good condition with good water movement and high light (specific condition varies depends of the species of the anemone) it is generally recommend that host anemones should not be keep by novice reef keepers.

This is definitely a case of "do as I said" not "do as I do". Picture of tank at about about 2 weeks old, but very far from a normal reef tank:

Recent video of tank at about 3 months. There are two Green Gigantea in that tank, but the second one is behind the rock and cannot be seen from the front.

 

[Dbichler]

@OrionN is the new whisperer so yeah do as he says.

 

[Nasabeau]

How long to wait for a nem? How big is your tank and did you start it out with LIVE rock? If yes, how much?

Its a 75 gallon. I used live sand, I got one probably 8lb chunk of live rock and another 40lbs of caribsea life rock, which is supposed to have bacterial endospore colonies, but idk how much stock to put in that. the tank did go through what I would call a lightspeed cycle, going from ammonia 1, nitrite 0 nitrate 0 to ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate ~20 overnight. I am not putting one in any time soon, I just wanted to know how to know the tank is mature enough. I think what I'll do is after getting a few more fish in start adding corals in a month or two, and if the corals seem happy for a few months, then add a nem. does that seem like a good game plan?

 

[j.falk]

I think what I'll do is after getting a few more fish in start adding corals in a month or two, and if the corals seem happy for a few months, then add a nem. does that seem like a good game plan?

The anemone will walk around and sting your corals until it gets settled in.

My advice, be patient...give your tank at least a good six month time period to get things mature (coralline encrusting liverock / stable parameters) before adding an anemone. They will do much better for you.

 

[Nasabeau]

At a minimum I would give it 6 months and a year is probably better. I’m glad everything is going “swimmingly” right now but if it’s your first salt tank- you are going to run into issues. Heck, if it’s your 10th- you are going to run into issues. Nems are going for $$$ rates right now (well... depending on where you live I suppose) and putting one in will likely cost you a lot of money and potentially the life of your nem. Just give it time for you to get your feet wet (ok that one I didn’t do on purpose lol) and see what happens as your tank matures. I’d say 6 months of stability (water parameters, no major changes or outbreaks, good fish health, consistent feeding and maintenance routine) etc.

the fish store in town (about an hour away) has bubble tips for like 11 bucks, so cost is not really my concern. I don't want to provide a bad home for the little guy and end up killing it. I think after I get more fish in after the next few months I'll add some corals, and if everything stays stable and the corals are happy for a few more months I'll add a nem. at least 6 months out, but probably a little longer, I really don't want to rush it

 

[Nasabeau]

If your coral does not like the condition it is in, it just die. For an anemone, if it does not like the condition it is in, it move. Large anemone can cause a lot of damages moving. They often moving they often seek higher flow and move into the PH or over flow. When they think the condition is really bad, they just let go and flow a way, right into the PH or overflow.
Puree anemone can cause a lot of damage. The nematocysts of the anemone will be release to the water of the tank and can kill all the fishes in the tank.
If you know what you are doing, and start the tank with great LR and the tank is stable right away, you can put the anemone in the tank but as a new reefer, and not having really good LR, I recommend not put one in until you know how to keep your tank running smoothly and keep it stable. How long is that? It is all different for different situation.

I recently started a 65 gal tank the end of July 2020. I started this tank with sand from the beach of the Gulf of Mexico and LR I put into the Corpus Christi Bay for a few months. It only take a few hours to get the sand and the rock from the Ocean into my tank and the tank did not cycle, and teaming with life. After a week, the tank was staple with minor died off. In this situation, I put two S. giganea into this tank right away, they are doing great. Here is the few picture of the anemone when I first put them into my tank and a recent video of the tank.

Due to their large size, and their ability to move around and cause damage, and their demand for generally stable, good condition with good water movement and high light (specific condition varies depends of the species of the anemone) it is generally recommend that host anemones should not be keep by novice reef keepers.

This is definitely a case of "do as I said" not "do as I do". Picture of tank at about about 2 weeks old, but very far from a normal reef tank:

Recent video of tank at about 3 months. There are two Green Gigantea in that tank, but the second one is behind the rock and cannot be seen from the front.

I am not sure what " PH or over flow" is but I am fairly certain I don't actually have them. I do have live sand and rock and my numbers have been stable. I think I will still take the advice to hold off on the nem at least for a bit, probably get some corals in there and wait to see how that changes things

 

[Hincapiej4]

the fish store in town (about an hour away) has bubble tips for like 11 bucks, so cost is not really my concern. I don't want to provide a bad home for the little guy and end up killing it. I think after I get more fish in after the next few months I'll add some corals, and if everything stays stable and the corals are happy for a few more months I'll add a nem. at least 6 months out, but probably a little longer, I really don't want to rush it

Good plan! I like you already. You listen