anemones

[fOnCo]

I just got into the whole reef thing. I've had a fish only system for the last two years. I got rid of all my fish bought some live rock and want to start over. I have 125 gallon Tenecore.
My question is: Do anemones need live sand to live in my tank or do they live on the liverock?
by the way the anemone I was going to purchase was the condy anemone. What kind of clones does this host?

 

[ThatDarnDragon]

to my knowledge, all marine tanks need live sand to help the system. Also, it gives a more natural enviroment.

And a condy anemone is an atlantic anemone. It wont host any clowns. You'd need a pacific anemone. If I remember correctly that Nav said- a good hosting anemone is a Sarcophyton (or Leather Mushroom coral), they look similar to the condy anemone.

As for clowns that hosts, most do as far as I know. Percula clown and tomato clowns I know are most common. I dont think Maroon clowns hosts..

Im sure someone will come along and give more info, but all this is based on my research and many questions asked

 

[pleder]

A marine tank can be sustained without livesand if added filtration is in place to replace the function of the sand. There are many keepers with bare bottom tanks. I am not sure if this is true with anemeones in particular, but will work with some species.

I myself am a fan of DSB. I have them on all my tanks, even the 5 gallon nano has a 4 inch sand base.

 

[Navarre]

Livesand is not neededfor an anemone, however excellant lightsing and equally good water quality is needed.

An atlantic Anemone (Cony) is the easiest to keep but this doesnt of course mean its easy (i you understand what i mean ).

An atlantic doesnt naturally host any fish. Only fish i have ever seen host in one is a maroon clown but even then its risky. I have known Condy nennys host maroons for very long periods of time then they simply eat em

They also pack a real nasty sting and are one of the more mobile nennys in a home tank. This means corals are right in their line of fire (and they will do real bad damage to corals)

Personally i do not advise keeping any anemone and if you are wishing to see a hosting relationship then its far easier for you to use a sarcophyton leather mushroom as this doesnt sting, doesnt need strong lights (when compared to a nenny) and is far more forgiving to beginners.

Most clowns will host in one of these but a final note regarding hosts for clowns. Even if the right anemone is found for a clown there is no gaurentee it will host it. Clowns are a law unto themselves and have been known to steadfastly refuse to host in a nenny that is an ideal partner for them. Tank bred clowns are the worst as they simply have not seen an anemone in their lives. (The best trick to get around this is to stick a picture against the tank of a clown in a nenny... seriously this has been known to work! )

 

[Opcn]

All clowns host, not all anenomys do, if a sarcophyton simply isnt good enought for you a bubble tip is generally the recomended host. Maroon clowns are the easiest to get to host but they are large (for a clown) and can be agressive (they have been known to spit rocks at people)

 

[RamJet]

There are anemone that live in the sand, and some carpets perfer the sand when they get larger. I use both live sand and live rock, it all makes a great filter, but having sand in the bottom of the tank also makes it much easier to stack rock. Plus puts a buffer between the rock and the bottom of the tank should you drop a piece of rock wile moving it.

 

[stellablu]

We're in the process of deciding what to do with our Atlantic anemone. It has doubled in size in just two months...in fact, it is thriving moreso than any other anemone we have. That is sort of the problem...its growth means it's taking over the tank...or it WILL be. We want to add more soft corals to the tank and since the left 1/4 part of the tank is the Atlantics we're trying to decide whether we should trade him in or give him a seperate, larger tank. He's a beauty though...here. Yeah his sting is nasty and we think he might be sending chemical warfare over to the Long Tentacle on the right side of the tank.
This was the Atlantic on the first week we had him.

This was taken a couple of weeks ago. His disk as doubled!

He hasn't moved from where we placed him, but he has a long reach that is constantly growing. He's beautiful, but then again...so it this and it's a lot safer for your other reef inhabitants.

 

[Navarre]

I had an atlantic and it did the same thing. it grew so fast that it was nearly 8 inches across on its disk.
Atlantics are proobably the easiest of anemones to keep so people quickly buy them to try and learn how to care for these cretures. they soon realise that the atlantic soons takes over the tank and the person took on more than they bargained for )

 

[stellablu]

And they're the cheapest anemone! One of the LFS's here has a set of tanks where you "grab" three for $6 which is insane, and tempting to a newbie! We bought ours for $8 alone. I almost wish they would price certain inverts and fish higher so newbies wouldn't be so prone to buying them...or better yet...more informed LFS workers! Ahhh, now I'm just dreaming

 

[Navarre]

Sadly i fear its the same the world over. anemone will still continue to be used to make fast money. regardless of their welfare.

 

[screwloose]

personnally i would never get another anenome,,,,last one got sucked throught my power stream,

i am going to look into getting the sarcophyton for my clowns,

that way its stays where you put it,,,and you dont have to worry about it hiding behind the rocks and starving,,,only to come out much later to be dragged by the current into the shredder that is my wave machine