# anemones



## kilicar (Nov 3, 2006)

If I want to have one anemone for my clownfish. What do I need to have in my tank?
what is the minimal lighting? I have a 55 gallon tank with 2 24 inch florescent light @ 50 watts.
Will this do? Do I need anything else? Also is bigger better for anemone?

also I hear I need to get Carpet anemone for clownfish is this true? 
andddd anyone know where I can find the type of anemone that i need for clownfish in NJ weather it be Carpet anemone or other

...now i hear I need Heteractis magnifica; Stichodactyla gigantea; S. mertensii, but may adapt toEntacmaea quadricolor in aquariums.

I have the "nemo" Clownfish that was sold to me as a Percula but now I read that it is actually a fake Percula and really an Amphiprion ocellaris


----------



## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

There is no need to buy an anemone for the clownfish. Just buy a fake one instead--you're a lot less likely to kill one of those.


----------



## kilicar (Nov 3, 2006)

lol i would like to try to go for an all natural tank first before going to the fake stuff. I want the clownfish to be in their perfect environment.


----------



## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

But they don't need anemones. They don't live long in hobbyists' tanks, so I would recommend that nobody other than the most experienced hobbyists even attempts to keep an anemone in captivity. Why remove something from the wild that isn't destined to do well in your tank?


----------



## kilicar (Nov 3, 2006)

ChilDawg said:


> But they don't need anemones. They don't live long in hobbyists' tanks, so I would recommend that nobody other than the most experienced hobbyists even attempts to keep an anemone in captivity. Why remove something from the wild that isn't destined to do well in your tank?


can't you say that about any fish? I know anemones are hard to keep and like you said most experienced hobbyists are able to keep them, i was just wanting to try to gain some experience I am not going to get the nicest anemone but just one that will make my clownfish feel at home. I had them every since there were about a cm long and now they are about 2-3 inches and one is much bigger than the other so I wanted to play with the possibility of them breeding. I read up on it and I see the signs, chasing, the male doing dances (goes up and down) while the larger female watches. Perhaps I will take your advice and just get the fake ones.


----------



## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

You can say that about some fishes, but for most, removal will not cause a small ecosystem to collapse. (And those where such an event would occur, I wouldn't buy.) For most fishes, though, their life spans can be lengthened by a stay in captivity. For a creature that can seemingly live indefinitely, there will be a point in captivity where they will experience something deleterious to their well-being. I would applaud you for getting a fake.


----------



## kilicar (Nov 3, 2006)

ChilDawg said:


> You can say that about some fishes, but for most, removal will not cause a small ecosystem to collapse. (And those where such an event would occur, I wouldn't buy.) For most fishes, though, their life spans can be lengthened by a stay in captivity. For a creature that can seemingly live indefinitely, there will be a point in captivity where they will experience something deleterious to their well-being. I would applaud you for getting a fake.


start







u win


----------



## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

kilicar said:


> You can say that about some fishes, but for most, removal will not cause a small ecosystem to collapse. (And those where such an event would occur, I wouldn't buy.) For most fishes, though, their life spans can be lengthened by a stay in captivity. For a creature that can seemingly live indefinitely, there will be a point in captivity where they will experience something deleterious to their well-being. I would applaud you for getting a fake.


start







u win
[/quote]

lol

only winner here is the anenome that you didnt kill that some other less responsable less informed person will kill


----------



## kilicar (Nov 3, 2006)

lol I really would have liked to have a all natural aquarium tho and learn how to grow those huge anemones


----------



## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

kilicar said:


> lol I really would have liked to have a all natural aquarium tho and learn how to grow those huge anemones


well u probally wont like the cost of lighting an anenome tank either, one thing left out by the two cats in here, is that even if u attempted to kill an anenome in captivity, u would need way stronger than 2 50 watt fluros. an anenome likes light, especially carpets and rba or lta. so I concurr with the people in here, and most people will tell u not to get them, the experienced guys have 1000$ skimmers and sump/fuge that are the sizes of most of our display tanks... so be prepared and u did the right thing by researching and asking


----------



## kilicar (Nov 3, 2006)

I always knew its "hard" to make a saltwater reef tank and I know that its a lot of money and time. I just thought if I just get a few liverock some anemones and a few fish it wouldnt be too bad lol little did I know. Thanks a lot guys for all the tips hopefully one day I will be experienced in saltwater tanks and hit the jackpot and finally get myself a nice reef tank lol

I think I am 100% i am just going to get a few fish that are bright, can live in a 55 gallon tank with my two clownfish and call it quits at that....and maybe a starfish....


----------



## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

bright fish include, anthias royal gramma, maybe a flame or potters angel, all of which are pretty and easy goiing for the most part, but these are reef fishies, so a lot of live rock is needed. but the fish can strive on flakes and asst foods, but to help break down their wastes..


----------



## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

kilicar said:


> I always knew its "hard" to make a saltwater reef tank and I know that its a lot of money and time. I just thought if I just get a few liverock some anemones and a few fish it wouldnt be too bad lol little did I know. Thanks a lot guys for all the tips hopefully one day I will be experienced in saltwater tanks and hit the jackpot and finally get myself a nice reef tank lol
> 
> I think I am 100% i am just going to get a few fish that are bright, can live in a 55 gallon tank with my two clownfish and call it quits at that....and maybe a starfish....


55s are one of the worst tanks for a reef any way IMO,. they are not wide enough for there height and it makes it hard to get porportionate size live rock and good aqua scaping for a reef.. there long enough for alot of active fish but again the width becomse and issue if teh fish get longer since is not alot of room to turn around for fish like a tang.

look into dwarf flame angel 








or rusty angel 








or coral beauty angel.. 








although i think its best to add these fish last so they dont act too territorial. and you can only have 1 dwarf angel in a tank that size

filimented wrasse 









a couple of blue green chromis would be nice they can grow bigger but grow slow and they school which is cool.. 









bartlettes anthias are nice if you get anthias only get 1 male a couple females, two males will fight, anthias tend to be a bit picky to start 
feeding but you can get live brine shrimp to keep them eating until they start accepting thawd frozen brine.. 
male








female








an arch eye hawk should mix well with those fish..

all tangs will out grow that tank and really should have more space.

jeweld blennies can be very cool, they look pull and un inteseting from a distance but have amazing color up close, this was my buddies 








and cardnail fish


----------



## kilicar (Nov 3, 2006)

amazing thats just what I was looking for, those fish are very beautiful

but that does mean no starfish right due to food competition?


----------



## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

kilicar said:


> amazing thats just what I was looking for, those fish are very beautiful
> 
> but that does mean no starfish right due to food competition?


im sure you could have star fish since they would be cleaning the poo out of the sand.. im not 100 percent sure though is stars and dwarf angels are ok or which types of stars are ok other then brittle stars


----------



## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

nismo driver said:


> amazing thats just what I was looking for, those fish are very beautiful
> 
> but that does mean no starfish right due to food competition?


im sure you could have star fish since they would be cleaning the poo out of the sand.. im not 100 percent sure though is stars and dwarf angels are ok or which types of stars are ok other then brittle stars
[/quote]
i have had flame and potters angels along with coral beauty in with my red linky star. I never owned them all at the same time, from aggresion, but I was a noob when I had them, and I didnt quarentine properly... but I bought another flame on a half off sale at lfs... I bought him for 22 bux! along with my niger trigger for 15$ both descent sizes. the trigger is for my fowlr by the way

back to the thread topic, stars do like mature tanks too


----------



## maddyfish (Sep 16, 2006)

DOn't buy an anemone! You don't have anywhere remotely close to enough lighting for it. Not in the same neighborhood, not even in the same state!
A start for a 55 lighting for an anemone would be 440 watts of VHO, or 2 175W Metal halides. Even if you do get an anemone and keep it alive, your clownfish may or may not live in it.


----------



## kilicar (Nov 3, 2006)

maddyfish said:


> DOn't buy an anemone! You don't have anywhere remotely close to enough lighting for it. Not in the same neighborhood, not even in the same state!
> A start for a 55 lighting for an anemone would be 440 watts of VHO, or 2 175W Metal halides. Even if you do get an anemone and keep it alive, your clownfish may or may not live in it.


thanks mid forum I was already convinced it would be a bad idea


----------



## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Is it really that hard to keep an anemone?

I had one in a 72 bowfront that did just fine for the year I had the tank before I had to sell it to move. He would move all over the tank...and the clown hosted just fine. I didnt realize this was such an issue.


----------



## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

Grosse Gurke said:


> Is it really that hard to keep an anemone?
> 
> I had one in a 72 bowfront that did just fine for the year I had the tank before I had to sell it to move. He would move all over the tank...and the clown hosted just fine. I didnt realize this was such an issue.


what kind of lighting did you have over the 72? when it moved around did you notive if it was moving towards current or lights?

that is one of the cooler things about them, they will find a spot that makes them happy unlike most corals where you have to guess and experiment to position them. except when it decideds its happy place is right were another coral is positioned


----------



## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

nismo driver said:


> Is it really that hard to keep an anemone?
> 
> I had one in a 72 bowfront that did just fine for the year I had the tank before I had to sell it to move. He would move all over the tank...and the clown hosted just fine. I didnt realize this was such an issue.


what kind of lighting did you have over the 72? when it moved around did you notive if it was moving towards current or lights?

that is one of the cooler things about them, they will find a spot that makes them happy unlike most corals where you have to guess and experiment to position them. except when it decideds its happy place is right were another coral is positioned
[/quote]
I just had a 4' powercompact with 192 watts of 10000k and 192 watts of actinic. Honestly...I dont know where it was going...it was all over the place. It even got sucked up and stuck to the intake of a filter a few times (ac500)....I thought for sure he was dead because I would only see about 1/10th of him...but I would shut the filter off and pull him out...and after about 5 minutes of being shriveled up...he would open up and be fine. He would mainly move at night though...so I dont think it was the light...but I dont know.


----------



## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Well...after reading more about them...apparently he wasnt all that happy because he was pretty mobile in my tank....but he was healthy...and didnt show any signs of stress. I do think that eventually he settled on a rock with a nice hole in it....but I will have to look back for pictures to remember for sure.


----------



## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

interesting creatures.. ive never really understood the appeal..


----------



## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

nismo driver said:


> interesting creatures.. ive never really understood the appeal..


Obviously you are single or dont live with a chick that fell in love with Nemo.


----------



## nismo driver (Jan 27, 2004)

Grosse Gurke said:


> interesting creatures.. ive never really understood the appeal..


Obviously you are single or dont live with a chick that fell in love with Nemo.
[/quote]

i do have two clown fish mostly because of my g/f but an anenome roaming free stinging my sps would be un welcome..


----------

