Anemone challenged

[JTrigger]

DoH! I must be challenged with anemones.. I had a bta a few months ago, went on vacation and cyano invasion contributed to my bta dying. About 2 wks ago I bought a lovely green carpet that was hosted by my false percs.. the last few days it's stayed pretty deflated and when cleaning my tank today it seemed a lot worse... geeez... is there a fullproof anemone on the market for those challenged like myself? My parameters are great... so I'm at a loss... *shrug*

Now my poor clowns are sitting in the spot where there carpet once was... poor guys.

JT

[AJ_77]

I think you've tried 2 of the ones that you should have had a decent chance of keeping alive... Dunno what else to tell you.

My strategy is to let the expert aquarists in my area keep the anemone for the first few years, then swoop in when I smell a sale... :biggrin:
Just kidding, but I haven't bought one new. The LTA i now have was with EmilyB for what, 4 years? I think it was well acclimated to captivity by then...

Don't ask the guys at wetwebmedia, they'll tell you anemones shouldn't be kept at all (case in point).

[Aquattro]

JT, typically people will suggest that your tank is very mature and stable. That means over a year and no problems with algae, etc. These are not easy animals to keep.

[JTrigger]

Just wondering if it might have had anything to do with my coral beauty picking at it from time to time...

Anyhow... what else to clowns like to host that aren't anemones... I'm not implying it's right because I'm sure it might be irritating to coral, etc.. but I was just wondering.

JT

[Aquattro]

clowns generally like to just swim around without hosting in anything. Hosting in an anemone provides protection from predators. If you skip the predators in your tank, you don't need an anemone! :razz:

[JTrigger]

Sorry, off the topic, but is that a Shiba dog on your avatar Brad?

JT

[Aquattro]

Sorry, off the topic, but is that a Shiba dog on your avatar Brad?

JT

Nope, he's an Akita. Big cousin of the Shiba

[Delphinus]

Tet-su-ooooooo!!!!

Oh wait, that would be Akira not Akita. Sorry my bad ....

[Quinn]

Geek.

[LostMind]

I want a shiba. Are they sold locally?

Ok ok ok, sorry for continuing the off topic discussion...

[sumpfinfishe]

JT,
If you want to provide your clowns with a surrogate host you could try either a colony of hammer or torch coral. Both of my two skunks and also a small perc all sleep within the branches of both of these two corals, and during the day they all hang out underneath them too.

I have kept a green carpet and also a brown LTA in my reef but both simply outgrew the tank so I decided a few years back to not buy another unless I started a clown and anemone only tank or until I upgraded to a much larger tank.

I had no problems keeping either of these anemones, just a stable balanced system and a weekly feeding kept them happy.

On a side note: If you do decide to buy another one, another reefers anemone would be a great choice if it's healthy. This due to the fact that anemones are easily stressed-hence the reason why so many turn to a cloudy bag of mush by the time they arrive at a store.

[Aquattro]

For an opposite view, I once had a clown (awful little bast***) that tried to host in my hammer. The hammer eventually stopped expanding due to the irritation from the clown. Although corals can act as hosts, I think they need to be a prettydecent size to not be bothered by it.
I also once saw a clown host in a clam! :razz:

[sumpfinfishe]

Yeah, well I once saw a clown host in a trailer out behind a circus tent :razz: :mrgreen:

Brad makes a good point though, as both my hammer and torch are large enough, with spacious enough branches that the clowns and perc do not bother them.

I would also like to add that: I feel IMO that all clowns and and pretty much any other fish that you chuck into a tank will always have a natural fear of predators no matter how close or not the tank is to there natural surroundings :mrgreen:

[Dorkel Marine 1]

My percula has taken up residence in my anthelia. Loves it there. And now when my hand goes in She really attacks. Much more aggresive since she set up house in the coral. However some people will say this coral is a weed like coral. Which it is however my Jesse likes it.

George