Anemone... When?

[tenshi]

I have a pair of mated tomatoe clowns that I've had for two years. I recently had to move my 75 gallon tank from my old apartment to my new home. The live rock, corals, and fish vacationed in a 55 gallon plastic bin for about 2 and half weeks until I set up the display tank this past weekend. Everything that was in the old tank setup went back into the new tank setup, except for the old substrate that was replaced with new seafloor argonite, some equipment changes, and only about 15 gallons of the old setup's salt water.

Here's the questions.

I changed my lighting from 260 watts of PC to 440 watts of VHO (220 watts of super actinic and 220 watts of actinic white), will this be enough for a bubbletip anemone?

When do you think it will be viable to put an anemone into the new setup so my clowns can get a new home?

What other choices besides a bubbletip can I get for my tomatoe clowns?

When I go to pick out an anemone what should I be looking for?

Do you know of any good links on anemone care?

 

[Anonymous]

Let the new tank stabilize for a few months. Although I hear "wait six months" and such, in reality they can be introduced much sooner, as long a things are stable. I added a few at the 4 month mark in my latest tank. Your lighting should be fine for a bubble tip, and they don't need lighting as intense as many SPS and such anyway. They are very hardy, easy to keep anemones. The like to bury their foot in a deep hole, so keep that in mind when placing it.
Also keep in mind it may move to another spot that it finds more agreeable.
Lot's of feeding = a split every now and then. So don't feed more than once a week or so unless you want clones.
Look for a healthy looking animal with good color, that is attached to a rock or other surface, and that is not too small for your clown pair. You want at least a 6" diameter anemone if not larger.
Good luck

Jim

 

[tenshi]

Damn, I was hoping that I wouldn't have to wait so long since I'm using all the live rock and some of the water from the old setup in the new. But if I have to wait, I have to wait?!? I had seen a chart some where out there on clown fish/anemone capatability out there. Does anyone remember seeing something like that and where? I was also kinda of hoping that there was something else besides a bubbletip.

 

[SnowManSnow]

Hi Ten.

I would personally give it a few weeks and I think you SHOULD be ok with an anemone. Bubbletips are nice (I have a nice one myself), but you can also get the LTAs ... Long Tent. Anemonies Generally speaking thats the one that people think of when they speak of hosting.

When you buy make sure you buy from a tank that is fairly clean.. you don't want to inherit anything nasty. Also, make sure they have nice coloration.. like the previous post suggested... Also make sure you acclimate them correctly

Good luck!
B.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree. It's really a matter of when the tank is stable, rather than some arbitrary period of time.

 

[SnowManSnow]

oh.. didnt see your question concerning the lighting... yea. it will be PLENTY for a BTA... may be marginal for a LTA and the like though.

B.

 

[tenshi]

Thanks for the advice guys!! When you guys say stable, are you talking about amonia, nitrate, nitrite, calcium, and dkh? Because if that's the case I could go today and get one. I'm not going to cycle, not even mini-cycle since my live rock hasn't left the presense of water for even 3 minutes at a time. In fact I haven't seen my little leathers this happy in ages, I think they might even start growing for me again. This is usually a good indication that things are on target or near target. About the only things I do test on occasion is calcium and hardness. SnowMan when you speak of "nasties", what exactly are we talking about? Should I quarantine an BTA for a period of time?

 

[Anonymous]

The new sand bed is my only concern, but given the fact that we're not dealing with live rock die-off here, I think you're fine.
I'd give it a few weeks though, just to be safe.

Jim

 

[tenshi]

Yeah, I'm going to give it a few weeks anyways like you say Jim. I know that at this point my sand is pretty dead anyways, I just have to wait a few months for it to liven up. I got rid of the other substrate because it stank to high heaven and it had a couple of spots of cyno when I took tank apart three weeks ago.

 

[Anonymous]

Go to an LFS with a live rock bin, and collect a few handfulls of the sludge at the bottom. Great for seeding a sand bed.

Jim

 

[_range_]

tenshi - Heres a great site Len linked me to a while back, http://biodiversity.uno.edu/ebooks/intro.html , should help answer some of your questions. Take a look at "Specificity" under Chapter 5.

 

[tenshi]

_range_ that's a great link! I 've haven't completely read through it but I've bookmarked it. Thanks for the great info. It will certainly make great reading for this weekend.