Tube Anemone, yes or no?

[PeeperKeeper]

So I've finally got lots of light on my tank (4 48" HO T5's and 2 36" HO T5's) and tomorrow Hammonegge is going to plumb the new sump and fuge. So I'll have a place to grow pods for my (someday) Mandarin and more current (Mag 9.5 on a SCWD plus some PH's) for everything else and a place for my new Turboflotor skimmer.

So I want to celebrate by buying a new invert. I've been looking at the tube anemones. I know they have a vicious sting, but I've seen in my searches several people say they haven't had a problem in thier tank as far as TA's taking out fish (I know a few anecdotal stories doesn't mean it won't happen). I don't have very many corals as of now (one rock of zoas with one xenia and a few more small clusters of zoas and a little patch of GSP's) , so I'm thinking if I'm going to do it, it's better to put it in first so it can get settled somewhere before I put more corals in. I'm planning mostly softies like shrooms, zoas, xenia, but maybe a frogspawn and some galaxia, perhaps some green fuzzy acro. I'd also like to have another big anemone with a clown or two if possible, but if you can't do that with a tube anemone in a 75g, I can live without it. Basically I like things that wave around in the current and fluoresce under actinic.

Here are my questions:
1. Do they require lower temp? My tank has been running around 76 - 77 I think, but with the lights being new and changing the sump/skimmer/fuge it could be different. I think I've planned ahead for that though by adding a couple big fans.

2. The fish I currently have are a flame angel, a shrimpgoby, two PJ cards and a fridmani dottyback. I think I'd like to get one more good sized fish like maybe a tang or something a little larger than the flame with bright colors, and of course a Mandarin one day. How likely is it that I will lose one or more of them to the tube anemone?

3. Do the wild colors fade over time (considering the light I mentioned on a 75g tank)? I think I want an orange one, but purple is cool too.

4. Any other words of wisdom or drawbacks I haven't already heard about?

[ATMgueedo]

Ive had an orange one with a green center for a while. No problems here....just VERY VERY pretty under just VHO's. He just lights up in the tank.

[PeeperKeeper]

Thanks for the reply ATM.

Can you give a little more info? Your post has got me even more excited about it. How big is your tank and what else do you have in there with it? Also, how long have you had the TA?

Anybody else?

[gcantu]

Here is a pic of mine. I purchased it from Ace "hobogato" a couple of months back and has been doing great in my 58g. I currently have 1-250w MH and two-36" VHO's. I also have a PBT anemone hosting a true perc, a coral beauty, a baby hippo tang and also a psychedelic mandarin. The TA has never really cared to bother the other fish and vice versa. It pretty much made its home in one corner of the tank near a purple gorgonian and has been fine since. He did lose his purple tentacles at one point, but then regenerated them after about a month. He usually eats stuff like mysid shrimp, brine shrimp and just about anything I throw in there. It's really cool to watch it eat because its tentacles make it look as though they are sticky because the food sticks to them like flies on one of those sticky paper thingies. At night when the moonlights are on, it's pretty cool to watch him extend himself outside of his tube and try to feed with his tentacles extended out.

http://home.satx.rr.com/gcantu2002/tubea.JPG

[PeeperKeeper]

Gorgeous, gcantu!

Okay next question: Someone on RC (I posted the same thing there) said a small one probably wouldn't be a problem with taking out fish, but a larger one might. I had my eye on a large one, but that does make sense that it might be more of a threat. Should I get the big one because it would be awesome (also, it's been in someone's tank for a while) or go for a smaller one so the fish can get used to avoiding it while it's not so hard to avoid?

[hobogato]

glad to see that guy is doing well! peeper - you should see it under just actinic!

that one was (when i had it in my tank) about the size of half of a tennis ball sticking out of the sand during the day, but at night it would stretch up several inches, so be sure you clear things that are more sensitive away from it. it killed a cool bright orange plate coral i had about 6 inches from it and kept all the zoas in the area closed.

once i banished it to the nano with all the leather corals, it even put a pretty good dent in a big green rasta leather, so when i got rid of the nano, i just sold it also. a side note, when i bought it, it didn't have a tube, once i put its foot on the glass under the sand, it attached and then "grew" a new tube - cool to watch.

[gcantu]

Ace is right! You should see it under actinic lighting. It seems to glow bright green, almost neon. I wouldn't consider mine big, but at night it does tend to expand to about 8" in diameter. I would go for the smaller one, only because you can rest assure that it probably won't wipe out your fish collection due to hunger. Either way I am sure you will be happy with it no matter what.

[hobogato]

also, it is really cool to watch it grab small things (like mysis) with individual tenticals and pull them to its mouth.

[PeeperKeeper]

Okay, I got the supposedly large one, but it hasn't really come out yet. I put it in the tank last Friday but the most I've seen it out was this morning (Monday) before the lights came on, and even then it was only out about 3/4 of an inch, just enough that I got to see the green for the first time (it's an orange). Then it went in as soon as the lights came on and stayed in all day.

Should I be worried that it's not coming out yet? Other than first thing this morning, it's been all the way in its tube all day to where I can just see the ends of its tentacles. I don't know if its out at night because the tank is at my office and I'm not there. Do they tend to be nocturnal or do they usually stay out all day?

Also, I wondered if anyone knows the particular one I got. It came from River City Aquatics and Carlos said he got it from someone who was breaking down their tank to move to Dallas. Apparently it had been at RCA for a couple of weeks. I saw it out just a little bit when I was there one day (about as much as it was this morning) but not all the way, and the day I bought it, it wasn't out at all. Carlos said it gets like 6" or more when it's fully open. They said the reason it wasn't coming out anymore in their store was because of the small trigger that was in there with it.

So anyone know the guy who sold it to RCA? I just wondered about its history.

Also, any tips to get it to come out would be great. Maybe I need to move it to a different place in the tank, but I thought they'd move themselves if they weren't happy. I don't have a DSB, so I put more sand in the tank the day I got him and made it the deepest where I put him. I'd like him to stay there because it's the best place to show him off, but if he won't come out there he would obviously look better (man, that tube is UGLY! :sick) elsewhere. He does get a fair amount of current off and on (I just got a SCWD). Is that a good thing or not?

[ATMgueedo]

My tube has never moved itself. I have it in a 100g under 2 400W 10k MH and 2 48" actinic VHO's. It is beautiful. Make sure its in a good amount of flow but not too much. Also you might need to bury it yourself. Be very gentle with it. I had a green mandrin with it and it never harmed it, but I do have moonlights. Its probably the prettiest anemone ive ever had. And yes, under just actinics its absolutely wow. Good luck.

[gcantu]

Normally, mine usually comes out any time of the day. It actually extends itself all the way out at night with the moonlights on but during the day and with the VHO's on it's tentacles are extended like in the picture. It has some pretty good flow coming from one of the PH's. Give it a day or so and then carefully move it to another part of the tank to see if there is a change. Good Luck!!!