Thinking about an anenome

[Scoot]

I'm thinking about getting a bubble tip anenome. Wanted to get feedback about if my tank setup is ready to handle one.

I've had a pretty stable 75g tank for a few months now, one minor outbreak of black spot ich 2 months ago on my yellow tang (right after bringing him home) that was cleared up with a FW dip and hasn't returned. Water params are very stable, doing weekly PWC's, and have yet to have any sort of ammonia spike.

Ph is stable at 8.2, ammonia/nitrite 0.0. I'm not checking calcium - do I need to?

I have about 45 pounds of LR, 10 of which is in the sump. I usually add a few pounds at a time, as my LFS gets it in.

Temp hangs around 82 steadily. Ambient temperature in the room is 77-78 constant, so I'm getting head from the lighting hood.

Currently I'm using the stock floursecent lighting, built in to the tank's hood, only about 60 watts total.

I have a 4x65w Odyssea on the way (4 more days!) with 4 moonlights. I'll mount that on the legs, and that should cool the tank off considerably when I remove the hood. I can't use the lights I have now without the hood.

I don't think I have any "jumpers" that can get out of the tank (see list at bottom).

I'm running a Coralife SS 125, which is removing about one full load of dark, extremely smelly goop every 2 days.

With PWC I'm keeping nitrates at 10 or under, and have added a small fuge with a little chaeto to assist with nitrate removal. It hasn't grown any yet, but hasn't receeded either. I think I need some better lighting on it to really get it growing.

The water is very clear, except for a few days after a PWC over 10%, then I get a greenish algae bloom for a few days - I have a 24 watt UV filter on the way which should help with that.

I have a little bit of coralline algea, which my parrotfish has nibbling most on, but I can already see more growing in other places, and some starting to grow where the parrotfish has scraped it off.

Does everything sound "good to go" for a BTA?


Current residents:
2 Clownfish
2 Pajama Cardinalfish
1 Parrotfish
1 Royal Gramma Basslet
1 Blue Damselfish
1 Yellow Tang
1 Lawnmower Blenny
1 Coral Beauty Angelfish
1 Cleaner Shrimp
1 Arrow Crab
2 dozen hermit crabs
a couple turbo snails
1 serpent star (I think - I haven't seen him lately

 

[ianrich147]

a couple of things i would consider firts
1) your on the low side for lighting 3.5wpg most ppl recomend 5-8 wpg
2) before i got any corals or anenome i would try to get my nitrates down my tanks all stay at 0-1ppm are you useing ro water are you over feeding
3) i would get all my lr in first

 

[Scoot]

ianrich147 - thanks for the response.

Lighting - I've read most places that BTA only need moderate lighting. I'm not interested at this point in stony corals, mostly because my parrotfish would probably nibble them to death.

I was thinking I could rig a raised mount for my existing strip, which would add 60 more watts, 60W+260W=320W, which gets me up to 4.3 wpg. Its not a deep tank (18" I think). Maybe another strip like I just bought (around $100 on ebay) would be in order down the road. That would get me up to 7wpg.

Keeping nitrates at 0 to 1ppm, without tons more LR, is going to be pretty much impossible without daily 100% water changes. I probably can get it down much more if I can get my chaeto to start growing, I know I need a better light on that. Of course more LR would help, right? 1 to 1.5 pounds per gallon to get nitrate-eliminating results?

No RO water. Treated tap water.

Not overfeeding at all - cleanup crew promptly gets anything the fish don't eat.

 

[macman7010]

First, are you planning on running your tank with no hood whatsoever? If that is the case then I would recommend that you do not do that. While none of the fish you have are renowned jumbers any fish is a potential jumper and dark conditions or a quick chase can force a fish to jump. In addition to that glass hoods gather evaporation, protect your light fixture and are a very important thing to keep on and secure. While hoods hold in more heat they are needed for the above mentioned security reasons.

If cooling is an issue I would recommend mounting a small fan above your sump to encourage evaporation and cool the tank.

As for your tank's suitability at keeping an anemone here are some issues to consider.

First any anemone, including the BTA is tough to keep and requires a dedicated and knowladgable aquarist. BTA's require weekly feedings of frozen foods and naturally these foods raise the nutrient level in the water. Second to that BTA's wander, can harm other inverts, and require that all filter, powerhead, and other intakes be covered with a mesh to prevent them from being sucked in.

As for you water quality it sounds like it could support a BTA. Your nitrate level is a little high and adding more skimming/filtration or larger water changes could lower that - even so 10 ppm is not high enough to harm a BTA I wouldnt think. You are on the low end of the light p/gallon wattage requirments for one of these guys and while I think it would probably do ok you likely wont see the tremendous growth and coloration expresssed by those keeping BTA's under more light.

What is your salinity at? For a BTA you need full salinity with a density of 1.025 or slightly above. What size is your tank? You have lots of fish for a tank under several years old - so I am guessing it is 75-100+ gallons. Is your tank at the very least 6 months old? If not I cant think it is mature enough to support a BTA. The sad fact is many of these animals are sold, live a week or two - maybe a month, then melt away and let me tell you from expierence cleaning slimy, smelly, rotted goo out of an aquarium is not only nastly but horrible for water conditions.

 

[ianrich147]

i would make a nice high rock pile for the anenome pc lighting dosnt have a lot of penetrating power but if you get it within 8-10 inches of the top i would think it will do fine i would consider a ro filter the algea bloom is probably caused by phosphates in the tap water andy your probably getting some nitrates too since your an ebayr check out filter direct good ro filers prity cheep the chaeto should be growing you may need more light also do you leave the fuge light on 24-7

 

[roka64]

they are needed for the above mentioned security reasons

I use egg crate on my top. It keeps the jumpers in and the cats out. You can get it a HD. Also, when I had my hood on, I couldn't keep the pH stable w/out buffering. JME.

Scoot,
If you remove/replace the hood, make sure you watch the temp...mine dropped and I had to adjust my heater. It wasn't anything drastic, it is just something I didn't think to check....

 

[Scoot]

Thanks all for the info.

I was considering a glass cover (have priced them already). With the light(s) raised up on supports, the heat issue will probably be easier to deal with. Right now they're right on the hood, and the heat is easily felt directly underneath, less than 2" from the surface of the water.

I've been told to not use a full cover because of problems with air exchange and ph. In one of my first posts here I was told to take off my hood by a few people for that reason.

A fan over the sump is a good idea - I have a box full of computer cooling fans. I can look at that right now.

Yes - 75g tank, about 8g in sump, another 6 or 7 when I add a separate 10g for a fuge connected to the sump.

Tank is almost 4 months old.

Salinity is 1.022. Sounds like I'd have to gradually raise that.

All of my intakes, PH's, filter, skimmer, are screened or covered with foam.

I've been cycling the fuge light with the tank light, as I've read all over that chaeto need a "rest" period. So it's on overnight. There's just a small 60w desklight (with a glass cover over the bulb) on it now. Quite bright, but probably not the best spectrum.

Regarding feeding - I've read that BTA's do NOT need fed regularly, if they have a host fish and have enough lighting, since they're photosensitive. I read conflicting advice on that subject.

 

[Marc118]

BTA grow incredibly fast IME. Mine is up to 10" now, Im going to have to get rid of it soon Im affraid if I dont get a larger tank.

 

[lando]

First, are you planning on running your tank with no hood whatsoever? If that is the case then I would recommend that you do not do that. While none of the fish you have are renowned jumbers any fish is a potential jumper and dark conditions or a quick chase can force a fish to jump.

there is some truth to this, however, I have been running "topless" for three years and have not lost a fish yet. I consider it a better alternative then a glass cover (depending on species). As mentioned, egg create works as well but will reduce the amount of light that penetrates to your tank.

BTA's require weekly feedings of frozen foods and naturally these foods raise the nutrient level in the water

Sorry mac, I normally agree with you, but I have to disagree with this statement. I have never target fed either of my anemones and they have been thriving for a very long time. they get what they get at feeding time from the water column.

I can not really tell you if your tank is ready for any anemone or not at this time. I would say that your bioload is a bit high and would like to see the NO3 drop to more acceptable level and remain there before you attempt it.

 

[Scoot]

I ran out and bought a new light for my fuge/chaeto. I'll see how that does before I move forward. I mentioned above that its not really growing, but not receeding or wilting either, but not growing means its not working as a nutrient export, so, I hope the new lighting helps.

 

[seaham358]

Mac I also do not agree with your advice on feeding, if the lighting is enough ( which IMO its not ) feeding is not needed on a regular basis.
Scoot some things can not be rushed and it seems like your rushing to me. Your tank needs to be stable for at least 8 months before thinking about an anemone. they are delicate critters and they may seem easy but there not in a tank that has nitrates. You have a large fish load and IMO your nitrates will only get higher in the long run with only 45 lbs of LR in a 75. Get more LR at least another 30 lbs and maybe add a fuge if you plan on keeping all those fish.
Right now I have a BTA under my 4x65 watt PC Orbit light and it is not doing all that great. The tank is 3 years old and has about 70 lbs of lr and 0 nitrates and po4 and its just not enough to keep it happy IMO. And having 70 lbs of lr the anemone is mid way in the tank. When I put it in from my reef it was 4-5" across, now its around 3" and the color has is pale.
Do not rush into this, just because there cheap does not mean you need one.

 

[Scoot]

I wasn't rushing - I just wanted feedback about caring for a BTA at this point. That's why I'm asking.

The comments I made about getting new lights, UV, and extra lighting for the 'fuge are neccessary with or without a BTA. I want my nitrates as low as possible either way. That means fewer PWC's and better overall water quality.

There aren't many articles out there specifically on caring for anenome's, and so I'm here asking. I'm weeks away from doing anything because I'm going on vacation next week.

I do have a fuge with 10 pounds of LR rubble and chaetomorpha, just increased lighting on it. The chaeto hasn't been very productive so far.

Yeah, there are numerous fishes in the tank, but all but a couple are under an inch at the moment. Only the parrotfish, the yellow tang, and the coral beauty are bigger than an inch. The damsel, basslet, clowns, blenny, and pajamafish are all around an inch or less.

Am I wrong in thinking that's not a very heavy of a bioload for a 75g tank with about 15 gallons of sump/fuge?

 

[macman7010]

I will aggree that if you have sufficient lighting then you wont need to target feed an anemone, but in the case with Scoot here I dont think the lighting system he is installing would be enough to support a BTA without supplemental feeding, thus being the reason I suggested a once weekly feeding of a frozen food. Even if you have enough lighting I cant think that a weekly or bi-weekly feeding with frozen silversides or the like would be a negative thing in the case of any large anemone.

One thing about BTA's Scoot is this. In my expierence and over the years I have kept lots of BTA's as well as other anemones these guys are either hit or miss. You can do everything in your power to get it perfect and even then these creatures have a habit of thriving for a while then ending up dead. If I were you, and this is just a suggestion I would keep some of the hardier corals avaliable and some other easy to care for inverts (which is misleading because in essence no invert is easy to care for) and leave the aneome for another time when you have some more expierence under your belt and a more established tank.

 

[Scoot]

Thanks for the advice.

I can't do any stony corals (my parrotfish would devour them), but have been looking at soft corals, mushrooms, leathers, etc. I'll wait a few more months, to have a more stable tank, get some more LR to help with denitrification, then progress into some easy soft corals first.