Anemone question... Need some advice

[ghstrider]

Guys, I really would like to get an anemone for the reef tank and after reading about certain anemones moving more than others and some being a bit hardier than others. I would like to know what are the more medium light resistant anemones ( i know that they thrive w/ MHs but Im not upgrading for quite a bit). I would like to get some real life experiences from some of the reefers that have done nems in PC lighting and done well. How long did you have it for? do you still have it? And so forth.... I need some good info.

I looked at a Carpet Anemone that looked HUGE about a foot across and bright yellow in color today and loved it. The LFS owner (who probably know nothing) said that it would do fine in my setup and that carpets dont move as much as others do. I am not going to get it for a few months (til i know my tank is ready). But i want to start zeroing in my sights on the type of anemone that i can or should have and i need some advice.

Thanks guys

[ghstrider]

Ive been doing some research since i posted this and the only anemone that I am reading is forgiving with medium light is the BTA. It also seems its the hardiest of the bunch and may be the one I have to look into. Anyone have personal experience with one (with and with PCs)...Do you like'em? do they move all the time and damage corals? I do like the RBTAs

[JRM88]

I recently got a BTA, it hasn't moved since I put it in the tank so hasnt even touched any other of my corals :) I only have 2 x 39watt T5 at the moment and it looks like a nice healthy BTA :) I would guess they should be ok under power compacts but I don't have much experience so maybe wait for someone a bit more experienced to confirm whether they are able to be placed under power compacts and whether they will remain healthy or not :)

[cook]

The carpet needs intense light. I would ask this in the anemone forum.

[lesages]

I've had a BTA since the beggining of May, about a month before I got my MH. At the time I had a 2x65w PC fixture over my 25gal tank. It stayed alive, but as soon as I got the MH it started looking and acting much better. I won't keep one again with PC lighting and I don't reccomend anyone else do so either. Why settle for keeping something alive when it could thrive with more powerfull lighting?

As far as the BTA is concerned it's been a great addition. Hasn't moved from it's spot on the rock the whole time, even while I was moving the tank to my new house :) My experience is exceptional though which may have something to do with feeding krill soaked in Selcon and being anal about water quality.

[lesages]

Oh, and check out the Anemone section ;)

[rssjsb]

BTAs move. They'll stay put for a long time, years sometimes, lulling you into a false sense of security, then they'll suddenly move next to your favorite coral. I've had mine for about a year and a half. They're beautiful, and I love them, but if you want to keep them, you really have to be willing to accommodate them, and to live with where they end up.

The problem is that they live in the rocks. If you had more light, you could do a sand-based anemone (LTA or hadonni), but I don't know about doing that with pcs. I don't have any experience with them.

The carpet you saw was probably a bleached (or dyed) green s. haddoni. I don't think there really are bright yellow ones in nature. Also, some people will tell you that these anemones can do ok under pcs, but I don't think I would try it. If it's something other than hadonni, it definitely won't do well.

Hope this helps.

[Musho3210]

do you want a clown hosting anemone? Or do you want an anemone since you just like the way they look. Check out the caribbean anemones

[Moonstream]

do you want a clown hosting anemone? Or do you want an anemone since you just like the way they look. Check out the caribbean anemones

would that mean a condy? condys are BAD BAD BAD choices. they need amoung the brightest light of any nem and tend to move around constaintly. they also tend to eat fish.

[mjoener]

I have one of the best stories in regards to a BTA!
Mind you I love my BTA...
I own a ResSea Max 34g Nano, I have 32lbs of LR and 40lbs of LS. I have 2 Percs and a BTA, Goniopora, Zoas, Mushroom, GSP, Capnella.
Now that that is out of the way...
I got the BTA on a whim, because the clown I wanted was hosting it and they looked so cute together! (I'm not saying it was a bad idea)
Got them home and everything was awesome, they acclimated well, it was a little bleached but I am in the process of fixing that, and it seemed to love it's home on my LR not bothering anything.
I was wrong, within the first week it had started to go on the move, i thought this was no big deal. (If don't know anything about my tank, it has a small grate for the overflow in the top righthand side of the tank) I figured that it would be smart enought to stay away from things like my overflow and pheads.
So I went to sleep that night without any worries... Only to wake up to the BTA trying to escape through my overflow!!! ***I'll post pictures*** It was the most horrific thing for a newbie! I didn't know what to do, I went straight to the forums! At first I thought well hey if he wants to let him, and I left all of the pheads and skimmer on and left for work. I got to work and read the responses on the forums, and I was wrong! I sped home on lunch and shut off my skimmer to reduce the flow but left one phead on to circulate that tank. Everyone was expecting death of the BTA.
I got home from work onl to find the BTA had emerged out the otherside of my overflow in one peice, im not sure how he did it, if he went through only of the gate slits or if he spliced through all of them and reconnected on the other side!
Now he is healthier then ever! The bleaching has considerablly gone down. I feed him regularly and love him occassionally! He still moves like he's on a mission, he'll find a place he enjoys for no more then a week then takes off like a bat outta hell. Just last night he was making his way on to my pheads! The only thing you can do is try and intervine and move him.
I have only had him since the end of July. So maybe he just hasn't found the BEST spot yet! But I'm confident that he will eventually!
Let us know what you decide to do!

[Musho3210]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10608772#post10608772 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Moonstream
do you want a clown hosting anemone? Or do you want an anemone since you just like the way they look. Check out the caribbean anemones

would that mean a condy? condys are BAD BAD BAD choices. they need amoung the brightest light of any nem and tend to move around constaintly. they also tend to eat fish.

No i hear they dont need as much light and are the most forgiving, as well as having a friend that has his condy in a biocube or something thats in the 20 gallon area (24 gallons?) with stock lighting and a clown hosting condy. For over a year now i think

They do sting badly though.

[mjoener]

Through the overflow!
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i128/kbpmbabay/LiveRock026.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i128/kbpmbabay/LiveRock027.jpg

Present Day
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i128/kbpmbabay/Snails002.jpg

[Mark75]

I will NEVER have a BTA again. I came home to find my BTA had climbed into my powerhead and turned the tank into what looked like lemonade. The tank never recovered. My BTA had been in the same spot for a year then all of a sudden just had to find out what was in that grey box in the corner. BTA must have the ability to "pour" there self into the smallest crack.

[mjoener]

That is disgusting!