Mixing anemone types?

[CarmenH]

I have a 90g reef tank, approx 1 year running. 2 weeks ago I bought a large bubble tip nem and 2 sebae clowns. The tank also has a fair number of corals, some blue leg hermits, a brittle star, a 6 line wrasse, and a small rock crab (that I can't catch). All are thriving and one clown is hosting the nem, keeping the other away
The other day at the lfs, I saw a gorgeous sebae anemone. I thought it would be nice to give the other clown a nem, and it would give my daisy coral a break from his attempts at hosting it! Is it ok to mix types? Any potential issues I should consider? The bta wandered a bit just on the left hand side of the tank and now appears to have settle on one spot...

Carmen

 

[bigpapaoffive]

IME I haven't had any issues with multi nems in one tank, I currently have a Sebae, a bta and a rock nem all in my 125 gal no issues, my LFS keeps a tank full of nems for sale all together as well with no issues i've seen, hope that helps ya

 

[wm23oh]

With all due respect to bigpapaoffive,

I respectfully disagree. I believe it is possible under the right conditions to keep different Anemone's however they may wage a chemical war on each other. The chance of this happening may be low but IMO it is not worth the risk. So I think it is NOT good to keep different types of Anemone's in the same tank.

One other reason is you can't simply glue them in place so if they decide to get too close to each other you may end up with one getting eaten by the other or severely damaged by the other one.

Best wishes,

James

 

[Frankie]

Heteractis crispa is an aggressive anemone. Not a good idea.
It is ok to stuff a few of the same anemones together but I tend to agree that mixing is not a good idea. They will fight for space when necessary. Although this does not mean a fight to the death. More then likely the looser will just move on to a more peaceful area of the tank.

 

[Frankie]

IME I haven't had any issues with multi nems in one tank, I currently have a Sebae, a bta and a rock nem all in my 125 gal no issues, my LFS keeps a tank full of nems for sale all together as well with no issues i've seen, hope that helps ya

Speaks poorly of your LFS Paul if they are not separating species. I would question a place like that.

 

[DaveK]

I can understand wanting two anemones. The thing is that either one can more than easily fill a 90 gal tank. They can get large.

Ideally, if money is no object, the best solution would be to get a second 90 gal system. (grin)

 

[CarmenH]

LOL, I do have a second marine system going, right now FOWLR, with my mutant huge Green Spotted Puffer in it. I wonder if he'd get along with a nem? I would *only* need to buy some good lights. I'm sure my hubby wouldn't mind

 

[1Reefer]

Lol and the cycle continues! Its never ending I swear...