Choosing an anemone

[Mojo Jojo]

For two weeks now I have looking at all the anemones available. Yes I know wait 4-8 months to stick one in. I dont like the carper anemones neither do I like the RBTA's much. Too many people have those. What would be a good anemone that does not get huge! I can live with 1' or so, but when we are talking about 1/4 of tank ... Heck no!:p

[skunkmere]

i dont trust anemones. they always die. but who knows.

[MrMexReefer]

hey man, you should go check out the tube anemones the have at DLC. Its so weird... its like they glow in the dark they are so pink. I was staring at a pink one which seemed to glow in their unlit refugium.

[mbunaman]

You gotta watch out with Tube Anenomes they eat small fish. I know you dont like BTA but that is the best and easiest to keep if this is your first anenome.

[jmick]

There are some rather nice rock/flower anemones that you can get for a good $$ and they tend to be very hardy. But like all anemones, they are very opportunistic (lost a sea hare, yellow tang and xenia to mine). Actually, if I could manage to pry him out of his hole I'd give it to you.

[Pufferpunk]

Agreed. Go w/the BTA & wait till your tank is at least 6 months old. How big is your tank? Be warned--any anemone may/can wander throuout your tank, stinging everything in it's path. Mine just moved off it's rock of 4 years & killed 1/2 of a blue candycane.

[Mojo Jojo]

Flower? Fish? Whoa:eek1: ... The only BTA I like is the bulb anemone. Is that a hardy one? I'll be sure to wait a while before I get that nice one I want.

[Pufferpunk]

All BTAs are Bulb Tipped Anemones. That's the red one I have--a RBTA.
Look here for info on them: http://www.karensroseanemones.com/index.htm

[Mojo Jojo]

Must have gotten the wrong idea then .... well I like this one

http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/product_info.php?products_id=318&parent_category=4&category_search=63&root_parent_id=4

[redvipe2010]

Its bleached! Very sick. Do not get a white BTA.

[redvipe2010]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9735929#post9735929 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by skunkmere
i dont trust anemones. they always die. but who knows.

They don't die if kept in the correct environment.

[Mojo Jojo]

The one on the picture? I saw brand26 have a really nice one that looks like the picture.

[Pufferpunk]

Then his is bleached too. They only come in green & red. Deep colors for a healthy one. The bubble tips come & go. Read that website.

[redvipe2010]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9739032#post9739032 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by joeyjoeq
The one on the picture? I saw brand26 have a really nice one that looks like the picture.

Yes, the one in the picture! It has expelled its zooxanthellae (bleached) It is very unhealthy. There is no such thing as a healthy white BTA.

[BlackHawk77]

I have ffound the opposite, I have a a GBTA and a carpet that were kept under 320 watts of VHO for 4 years before I got them. They are pretty resiliant. The GBTA split and both have gotten large with out even feeding them.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9735929#post9735929 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by skunkmere
i dont trust anemones. they always die. but who knows.

[aaronpentz]

Here is a good read about anemones.

http://www.carlosreef.com/AnemoneFAQ.pdf

[redvipe2010]

Here is a good website on BTAs.

www.karensroseanemones.com

[Pufferpunk]

I posted that one already. :p

[muzz]

can you keep a carpet and BTA in the same tank? if it is a 125? i thought that the carpet would release chemicals and possibly wipe out the whole tank...is that true?

[redvipe2010]

It is never a good idea to mix anemones. They will likely have chemical war on each other. Wipe out the whole tank? I doubt it. What else do you plan to keep?

[jmick]

Wow, was out at Petco in Bloomingdale this morning they have very nice carpets (huge) for $22 and LTA's for $24...very healthy at this time....give them a week and that'll be a different story.

[jmick]

Wow, was out at Petco in Bloomingdale this morning they have very nice carpets (huge) for $22 and LTA's for $24...very healthy at this time....give them a week and that'll be a different story.

[muzz]

I was just curious if you could mix them. I personally have a BTA which goes from green to red, it seems to change colors every other week or so. I have had it for a few months now, seems to be doing very well, but I do not want to jinx myself, lol.

It is in a 45g now, but hopefully will be moved into the new 125 in a few months. I want the new system to mature a bit before moving the nem, he will be the last thing to be transferred over. I am going to wait a good month or so before moving fish over. I have a yellow tang, 2 false percs., 1 neon damsel, and an algea blenny.

I also have 2 trumpet corals, candy cane, 2 sps frags, and xenia frag which was being eaten by one of the fish, so it is recovering in a small tank. I almost lost it, it is only a frag though. I had a msall open brain, but hermit crabs picked it and killed most of it. There is a small piece of tissue left, sitting on a piece of rock, that is still alive and slowly regrowing. Amazing how they regenerate themselves.........

[muzz]

sorry for derailing this thread.........I tend to do that a bit, will try not to anymore.

[redvipe2010]

The fish you have listed should not be eating corals. Did you see this happen? I would think it is the crabs that picked at the Xenia. I won't keep them. I had a crab attack my anemone once.

Your system should be an established tank before transfering an anemone over. The rule of thumb is 6 months or longer. When your BTA changes colors is that when it is deflating and expelling waste?

[muzz]

no, when it reinflates........... it is a beautiful green right now, and a few weeks ago it is just like a full rose bta..... I have not seen it happen with any other nems, but it did with mine. I feed it mysis, or silversides, and whatever it grabs when i feed the fish, and it seems to be doing very well. It doesnt really display the bubble tips anymore, but that is ok with me.

as far as the xenia, it was doing really well, then one day i noticed that the tips(crowns) were missing a piece or two of the tentacles. say they are normally 6 "fingers" at the end of stalk, 2 of them would look like they were cut off or shortened. this kept happening until the xenia finally would no longer open up at all and started to recede. I moved it into its own small tank, and it has started to grow new "tips", although very small right now, but all over and it is making a strong comeback. It is still very small, i hope it makes it.

I have quite a few blue leg hermits, one scarlet reef hermit, 3 turbo snails, and few hitchhiking limpets, nassarius(sp?) and other snails. The damsel, which is black, with neon blue stripes would swim very close to the xenia., almost like he was going to attack it or bite it, but I never saw anything actually touch it. I like having the cleanup crew, but should I confine them to the sump in my new system? or leave them in the display?

[redvipe2010]

In my opinion, crabs belong in the sump. Many will disagree with me on that. Anthony Calfo says, "crabs are dangerous and unpredictable." If you have ever witnessed them attacking something you will wish you never had them. Luckily I only had one, and it only took ~30 minutes for 2 people to catch him. Crabs are also known to kill small fish.

I can provide you with more Xenia, Free. I would love to see pics of your anemone.

[muzz]

I will be getting a new digi camera for my wife for her birthday next month, will be able to do pics then, i hope.

I had a nasty hairy crab, that killed a strawberry dottyback, and was fast and vicious. not any kind of hermit though. it took me three days, and i finally took the piece of rock it was living in out of the tank, did a freshwater dip, and she and two babies came out and i disposed of them. I only saw her by chance, when a piece of shrimp landed on the top of the live rock, and instantly disappeared into the rock. i put another piece therre, and same thing happened, that is how i found here. very fast for a half dollar sized crab....never found out what kind it was though...

i may take you up on the offer of xenia........my wife loves them, and I think they are fun to watch as well, swaying back forth pulsating......

[BlackHawk77]

The Carpet and GBTA sit right next to each within a couple inches and are both very healthy. My tank is thriving as well, maybe chemical warfare is a possibility but they seem to be fine in my tank. GBTA's are both 8+ inches and the carpet is 13 or 14 inches.


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9747890#post9747890 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by redvipe2010
It is never a good idea to mix anemones. They will likely have chemical war on each other. Wipe out the whole tank? I doubt it. What else do you plan to keep?

[redvipe2010]

How long have you had them? How long since the last split? A split is usually a sign of stress. You might want to search Anthony Calfo and Robert Fenners opinions on keeping more than one type of anemone in a tank.

[aaronpentz]

I have two different kinds on carpet anemones and a pink BTA. In a 110. I dont have any problems and all of them a very sticky and very aggressive eaters. My green carpet is about 2 foot across.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/aaronpentz/DSC00370.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/aaronpentz/DSC00372.jpg
My pink BTA is probably 4-5 in across.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f197/aaronpentz/DSC00301.jpg and I dont have pictures of the other carpet but it has long purple tenticles and a green base.

[redvipe2010]

Your "Pink" anemone is a bleached anemone. It has expelled some of its zooxanthellae. It is far from a healthy anemone.

[aaronpentz]

Well the base is brown and I have had it for 8 months and feed it every other day. There are pink anemones. The picture was taken with the actinics only and the actual color is just like the Pink Highliter.

My water parameters are close to normal with my nitrates only at 15.

[redvipe2010]

Your anemone is transparent. That is not a healthy anemone, no matter what lighting you took the pic under.

[aaronpentz]

So the third picture down the "pink" somewhat semi transparent BTA is bleached. Because that is pretty much what mine looks like.

http://www.karensroseanemones.com/thedifferentcolors.htm

[redvipe2010]

They don't look anything alike.

Yours is more like these from the same website, under "Loss of Zooxanthellae"

http://www.karensroseanemones.com/zooxanthellaeloss.htm

[BlackHawk77]

I have had them for almost a year now, they spent the first 3 months or so in a 55 gallon together while I set my 150 up. They split when I moved them to the 150 and have done nothing but grow since then. That was probably close to 9 months ago now. All of them are very green with no transparancy. I have a small rose as well that is bright red.

I am sure there are plenty of people out there with carpets that have successfully kept other anenomes with them. The only problem I have with them is they grow so fast.


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9748948#post9748948 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by redvipe2010
How long have you had them? How long since the last split? A split is usually a sign of stress. You might want to search Anthony Calfo and Robert Fenners opinions on keeping more than one type of anemone in a tank.

[redvipe2010]

BlackHawk88:

There are many people out there that have had success. However there are many factors involved with that success. Then you have to think of the long term, and what else you keep with them.

There are issues that can't be ignored with keeping two different species of anemones together. The fact that you have a 150 no doubt helps. I don't believe it should be done. However some do. Anemones are known to live a long time under stress and illness. There have been studies done on keeping two different species of anemones.

Check out Anthony Calfos opinion at Marine Depot forums and Robert Fennors opinion at www.wetwebmedia.com.