Anenomes

[fishcrazy]

:wacko
I have a 135 gal that has been running for about 5 months and everything is going great. Fish are great, corals are doing good, but every time I try to add an anenome it seems to die. I have metal hillides, and dual actics, water parameters are good. Two maroon clowns bonded with it instantly, but it drifted away and looks like it's going to die. This is my third anenome! Any advise?

[matt]

Sorry to tell you this, but my advice would be to stop buying them. Host anemones are difficult to keep; if you buy one taken from the ocean, chances are it will die no matter what you do, as host anemones taken from the ocean have far less than a 10% survival rate in aquariums. You might eventually try a tank raised E quadricolor (bubble tip) if you haven't tried that already, but I'd definitely wait for awhile and do lots of reading on the specific anemone you want. If you have large polyp stony corals like euphellia (frogspawn, hammer, torch, etc) they'll sometimes fight with anemones, and if you have sarcophytons (leathers) sometimes they use chemicals to fight with other aggressive species, although my understanding is that it's mostly with stony corals. I'm not really sure about it, but do some reading. The main thing is getting a healthy one that you have the right habitat for.

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

[Reef69]

Like Matt said, try to get a clone from someone.. Tank bred anemones do so much better than wild caught ones, and definitely go for a E.quadricolor (bubble tip anemones), since they are the hardiest anemones and all clowns usually jump in...Also, what type have you been trying?..Stay away from Carpets, Sebae, and anything that its not a bubble tip, other anemones have specific needs and are hard to keep..

[JeremyGlen]

I would wait till the tank matures a bit more. Sometimes newer tanks cannot support anemones because the bacteria colonies are not up to par yet.

What kind of corals do you have in the tank? I am going to assume that you have just a few softies since your tank isn't mature enough to handle much else.

Also, how big are your clowns? If the clowns are too big for the anemone, they will beat it to death or smother it. If you have a pair of maroons, I'm guessing you bought them together and they are probably 3-4 inches or larger.

[Bill S]

I also lost a couple of btas before the one(s) I have now. I started with one RBTA and now I have FIVE. I thought about selling a couple, but since I have a new tank, I'm going to keep them for now. But it seems like I have a new baby every couple of months.

And yes, clowns will beat the heck of of them - if you have big clowns, they may not be able to take the abuse.

[Brian1f1]

By a captive bred one... I myself lost a LT anemome before I got a cb RBTA and it has been absolutly thriving for two years now... Don't kill anymore wild caught ones.. The ends just don't justify the means. :)

[Bug_Power]

I know a guy with frogspawn and Hammer corals that the Percs love! Plus a plating hammer is just way nicer IMHO....I however just got a seabea, and a long tenticle plate, hoping my new percs will take a liking to them.

[Thunderkat]

Clownfish also love to kill what they host in. I have a pair of clowns that have killed a heliofungia so far and are working on my xenia. They hosted in my Tunze for a while but they couldn't kill it. :lol

[GaryP]

I've had a lot of luck with long tentacle anemones as well. As a matter of fact they seemed to do a lot better then the RBTA that I have had.

[JeremyGlen]

Is fishcrazy going to post on the thread again?

[fishcrazy]

Well, it did die! In the very back of my 135 gal under the biggest pile of rocks he could find! When I reached in there to take him out it just fell apart, liquified in my hands, it was the most reched smell ever. Little parts falling all over my tank getting blown around by the power heads. Now I'm guessing the water is toxic so I'll have to do some frequent water changes and clean out the filter again. Wish I would have bought a small one now! Dame Anenomes.

[Bill S]

Best removed with a siphon hose - oh, and DON'T suck on the hose with the tank-end near the anemone...

[Bug_Power]

Best removed with a siphon hose - oh, and DON'T suck on the hose with the tank-end near the anemone...
Thanks for the advice!