Starter anemones?

[Ulendon]

Our new 55 gallon tank has just started cycling and eventually we will be stocking it. A pair of clown fish is on the list and I'd like at least one anemone for them to host.

What are the easiest species to start with that clown fish will host? I'd prefer something that won't end up taking over half the tank and color is important. Something purple or green would be nice. (I don't care for the fleshy colored rose anemones) We also want something not too agressive. Some of the carpet anemones look nice....

Anyway please point me in the right direction. Thanks.

[Fibinotchi]

You should probably wait at least six months before adding an anemone to the tank. They require high light, what will your lighting be?

[this is me]

When you're ready, try a bta. They come in many colors and are quite easy to keep.

[Ulendon]

Thank you, are there other easier things that clown fish will host we could start with? Say frogspawn or some kind of mushroom coral?

Lighting is 4 39w t5's 2 of which are actinic. I was thinking about getting a couple of led strips to replace the actinics then there would be 4 39w t5's and the led's (haven't selected them yet).

I'm not in a big hurry to add things to the tank but I like to plan ahead.

[Fibinotchi]

It depends on the fish, some will make their home in a corner, some will use other corals. I have seen many use giant hairy mushrooms. When the use corals, they often get little black marks all over their body from being stung by the coral, also many times the coral doesn't like being rubbed on and will either die, or fade in color, or not have a very typical shape.

[bobpiker]

I made a rookie mistake of trying a small bubble tip about 3 months into my aquarium. He was a bit pale green in color and ended up driving me crazy because he kept wanting to hide. He only lasted about a month so I learned my lesson and chose wait for the 6 month (or very close). I put in an rbta and then a month later got a very large rbta to go along with the first. They've both been doing great ever since and have kept their deep red color. I recommend a bubble tip. If you go that route, color is key. The deeper the color the healthier it's likely to be. Give it a lot of flow and plenty of light. Expect it to move around a lot at first. Getting one already attached in a hole of a rock may help it to stay put. Cover your power heads with screen and don't over feed. Once it finds a nice spot and stays put for a couple of weeks, you should be able to remove your screening. I've four maxi-mini nems, too. They have great color varieties and do not get larger than about 5 inches. They also tend to stay put. The won't, however, host a clown. They seem to be very easy to take care of, too.

Bob

[brad951]

LTA i think are a good starter.

[katarina]

I have an LTA. It was bleached when I first got is and is improving. It is my first anemone. My lighting is power compact fluorescents. I have a 96 watt acitinic(sp) and a 96 watt white on a 40 gallon tank.

[DeathWish302]

I'm not going to say only experts can keep these marvelous creatures, but you better have the equipment and an aged system to support BEFORE you buy one. It took me nearly 10yrs before I finally caved and bought a GBTA. This was a captive-cloned specimen, so if it met it's demise I was not as concerned with the 'disposable anemone' attitude. At first, the little guy (~50 cent pc sized) was moving everywhere in my nano. It would venture from top to bottom and front to back. It settled in about 1-2 months in a crevice of the rockwork at the bottom of the tank.

Now I must admit, a nano is NOT optimal for a BTA. I run no sump or 'fuge on this AIO 12gal. It does have a 20oz pop bottle skimmer and receives 10% daily water changes from the main display tier. The chemistry always checks out and the nitrates stay hovering less than 1ppm. The plan is to move this guy to an additional 40gal breeder plumbed to the main tier as soon as it is ready.

As for other hosts, I have seeb clowns reside near my rics (yuma & florida) and zoanthids. I've found that some of the frogspawn can get a little abused by some of the diver clowns (maroons & tomato complex).

[RcToners]

I have to disagree with alot of what has been said here. IMO a BTA is just as easy to keep as a mushroom. The key IMO is to buy a very very healthy one, the problem often times is people purchasing bleached nems or nems with puncture wounds in the foot. The 6 month rule IMO is another issue, people say to wait 6 months before your tank is stable, this again in my opinion is not usually needed if you set your tank up correctly. There are variations to everything and keeping nems is no exception. A bta is a great starter nem, purchase a healthy one and nothing but a healthy one, BTA nems do not require as much light as some other nems and lighting can be supplimented through feeding. If your tank is not stable then you can either wait till it is stable or take the extra time to keep it stable through water changes excetera.

I currently have one BTA and 3 Gigantea(purple-blue-green) I have had several BTA's and never had any trouble with any of them. This is just my opinion gained through my personal experience.

[Ulendon]

After some more browsing it looks like they will host hammer coral and torch coral as well as the toadstool coral. I quite like the look of the hammer coral in particular so maybe I will start with those.

Any downside to using those?

[davocean]

A hammer or frogspawn make a great alternative, and they don't wander.
Later when your tank matures and you have done more research on choices matching both livestock and equipment then consider a nem.

[this is me]

My clowns have been hosting in my frogspawn when I didn't have an anemone for them.
I think it's a great substitute. You'll just have to watch your alk and ca level but of course you already know this for keeping corals.
Good luck. Some clowns are easy than others to host.