When is a tank ready for an anemone?

[Nasabeau]

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.

Thats definitely the plan. I really want to wait because I don't want to hurt the little guys. as far as the corals getting stung, I'm not sure I can really help that since I plan to have corals and nems.

 

[Hincapiej4]

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

Post a pic or video of your set and we can tell you. And I'm already very sure you have a ph. Ph = powerhead. Powerhead is what you use to create flow. It's the most basic type

 

[Nasabeau]

Good plan! I like you already. You listen

I came here to learn it would be pretty stupid to not listen right? XD. I don't want to kill pets by being stupid, its so avoidable!

 

[Hincapiej4]

I keep nemmie and coral together. I had redone my scape so they were moving in this video a bit, but they settled in and don't touch anything anymore.

 

[Hincapiej4]

Video is a bit old now though, my tank is a bit different now

 

[Nasabeau]

Post a pic or video of your set and we can tell you. And I'm already very sure you have a ph. Ph = powerhead. Powerhead is what you use to create flow. It's the most basic type

I'm a dummy, yes, I have two powerheads XD. I have pictures in my build thread, all I have in the tank is 2 power heads, a heater, and a canister filter. I plan to eventually add an HOB skimmer.

 

[OrionN]

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

PH is power head
Overflow is the water intake that send water to a sump. Most reef tank have a sump where you have all your equipment in so it dies not clutter the tank.
Anyway these are points in the tank that have high water movement and leads to a pump.
The point is moving anemone tend to end up have a close encounter with a pump and get purée.

To keep an anemone, you must be able to provide a good environment that keep an anemone happy or else it will be more, much more than the anemone, that die.

 

[j.falk]

Thats definitely the plan. I really want to wait because I don't want to hurt the little guys. as far as the corals getting stung, I'm not sure I can really help that since I plan to have corals and nems.

If you put your anemones in first and let them settle in and find their happy place...then you can put your corals in the leftover space afterwards and not have to worry as much about your corals getting stung and killed. If you do it backwards, be prepared to take a loss.

 

[Nasabeau]

PH is power head
Overflow is the water intake that send water to a sump. Most reef tank have a sump where you have all your equipment in so it dies not clutter the tank.
Anyway these are points in the tank that have high water movement and leads to a pump.
The point is moving anemone tend to end up have a close encounter with a pump and get purée.

To keep an anemone, you must be able to provide a good environment that keep an anemone happy or else it will be more, much more than the anemone, that die.

Thank you, yes I do have Powerheads, I do not have an overflow, I'm using a canister filter. I plan on eventually adding a protein skimmer. thank you so much for taking the time, I will definitely follow the advice on holding off

 

[Nasabeau]

If you put your anemones in first and let them settle in and find their happy place...then you can put your corals in the leftover space afterwards and not have to worry as much about your corals getting stung and killed. If you do it backwards, be prepared to take a loss.

I will definitely keep that in mind

 

[xxkenny90xx]

If you put your anemones in first and let them settle in and find their happy place...then you can put your corals in the leftover space afterwards and not have to worry as much about your corals getting stung and killed. If you do it backwards, be prepared to take a loss.

This is kind of a moot point imo. Sure the nem will Probably take a walk and you'll have to move corals out of the way, but nems split at random times, and the splits almost always go for a stroll. So if you keep nems, be prepared for it to move around and possibly sting corals which you will then have to move out of the way.

 

[Nasabeau]

This is kind of a moot point imo. Sure the nem will Probably take a walk and you'll have to move corals out of the way, but nems split at random times, and the splits almost always go for a stroll. So if you keep nems, be prepared for it to move around and possibly sting corals which you will then have to move out of the way.

Okay, I will definitely keep that in mind. that was kind of what I was wondering is "what if it moves after I've added corals"

 

[LeftyReefer]

I say go for it.

I'd add a Nem before adding corals.... Nems will move around until they find a happy spot. If you already have a bunch of corals in the tank, the Nem can sting them in the process.

I've found BTA's to be extremely hardy/easy to care for. Far easier than many corals. My euphyllia seem to be much more finicky than my BTA. I added fish, then a BTA, then corals. Haven't lost a single thing yet.

Unless the Nem is very large, and/or the tank very small, a dead Nem will not nuke your tank. Also, its pretty easy to tell when a Nem is not doing well. You would have plenty of time to remove it if things go south. I would not let the fear of your tank being nuked stop you from gettting the Nem. The whole tank nuking thing I believe is greatly exaggerated.. Their 'stings' are pretty mild at best. Its not like they have a bunch of toxin in them.

Saying that, I wouldn't buy a dying/bleached Nem. Try to find a nice healthy one and you should be fine.

 

[j.falk]

Okay, I will definitely keep that in mind. that was kind of what I was wondering is "what if it moves after I've added corals"

Then you call Kenny and have him come over and solve the moot point problem.

BTAs typically split when they are stressed. A healthy BTA will keep getting larger and larger...ones that keep splitting usually mean something is wrong with the environment and they split to increase their chances of survival.

A BTA that finds a spot it likes rarely moves if left undisturbed.

 

[Variant]

I am by no means an anemone expert but from my general reefing experience the question of when can I add "X" in my tank is definitely a function of tank maturity but also reefer maturity.

With live rock and sand, tank may hit a mature state much quicker but that does not mean you have matured as a reefer. Keeping a stable tank requires you to be in "tune" with your tank and knowing what to do in special cases. Sometimes I think reef keeping is part science but part art in that in the abscence of absolute and complete knowledge of how reefs work, we have to rely on intuition.

 

[Reef.]

Why are you keeping your salinity low?

 

[Nasabeau]

Why are you keeping your salinity low?

I'm not keeping it there, its just where its at. from what I read fish prefer a little lower salinity (1.020-1.023 or so), so I thought while it was fish only, id start with it a little low and raise it slowly over the next several months to let the fish get more used to it before adding coral. both my LFS and the fish store in town keep their tanks hyposaline for some reason (sub 1.020) so I figured to better acclimate the fish it was better to start a little lower than my end goal. may have been a stupid idea or not really protocol, but I just thought I'd try it. I really want to do my best for these little guys

 

[Reef.]

I'm not keeping it there, its just where its at. from what I read fish prefer a little lower salinity (1.020-1.023 or so), so I thought while it was fish only, id start with it a little low and raise it slowly over the next several months to let the fish get more used to it before adding coral. both my LFS and the fish store in town keep their tanks hyposaline for some reason (sub 1.020) so I figured to better acclimate the fish it was better to start a little lower than my end goal

Not sure that fish do prefer it lower, I could be wrong but some keep it lower because it can help treat disease, LFS benefit with lower salinity as it saves them a lot of money in salt. I would be interested to see any info people may have on this.

 

[Nasabeau]

Not sure that fish do prefer it lower, I could be wrong but some keep it lower because it can help treat disease, LFS benefit with lower salinity as it saves them a lot of money in salt. I would be interested to see any info people may have on this.

basically everything I read on it said fish like 1.020 to 1.024. even just googling preferred salinity for Clownfish shows about that range. I know coral want 1.026, so what I'm doing is when I'm doing water changes (every other week or so) I'm adding water at 1.026 so it will slowly raise over the next few months. its just what I read, I spoke with a friend of mine who actually has a degree in aquarium science who said lower salinity helps fish gills function better. idk if its true, I don't want to put this out there are true, its just what I read and what I was told, so that was my plan on salinity. my fish seem happy so far, so I'm not going to change up the plan too much at this point. typically treating for disease I think you want it a lot lower. like 12-16ppt, not 30 instead of 35

 

[Reef.]

basically everything I read on it said fish like 1.020 to 1.024. even just googling preferred salinity for Clownfish shows about that range. I know coral want 1.026, so what I'm doing is when I'm doing water changes (every other week or so) I'm adding water at 1.026 so it will slowly raise over the next few months. its just what I read, I spoke with a friend of mine who actually has a degree in aquarium science who said lower salinity helps fish gills function better. idk if its true, I don't want to put this out there are true, its just what I read and what I was told, so that was my plan on salinity. my fish seem happy so far, so I'm not going to change up the plan too much at this point. typically treating for disease I think you want it a lot lower. like 12-16ppt, not 30 instead of 35

yeah I can’t see it being an issue, I’m just interested in the facts on this, I’m just not sure on the science, if it supports this or if it’s just something people believe.