OOPS they sent me a nem, I am scared

[jcgardner]

I need advice. I ordered a false perc and two purple firefish from liveaquaria.com. Apparently the messed up because I got two false percs and a nem. I have always wanted a nem but I have been to scared to order one because they are hard to keep. They don't want him back, my gift from them. I have a 100g tank that has been setup for 6weeks, it has been stable but not long enough. I have T-5 lights. Will this guy be ok? Or should I setup another tank, using this tank water and see what happens? I am scared and excited at the same.

 

[Willie McDaries]

what kind of anemone is it ?

I think I'd try it in the 100g,T5's should work just fine with enough bulbs,if it starts trying to climb to the top,you might need stronger lights....there's people growing SPS coral under T5 sucessfully,shouldn't be any different for an anemone HTH

 

[jcgardner]

Thanks Willie. I am starting to feel better. Was in shock when what I ordered was not what I got. Especially an animal this hard to keep. I have an sps and an acro that are both doing well in the tank, it is 6ft long and only 17" high so they get enough light. Think I will order new bulbs thought just to make sure. I have had a sw tank for almost 3 years just wasn't ready for this! I've seen so many people on the boards here have lost them.

 

[BigAl07]

If you're going to give it a try you'll want to stay on TOP of your game and keep your water as perfect as you can. It's intolerant of slacking water husbandry.

 

[Willie McDaries]

yes,water quality has to be about perfect,if it's a bubble tip it'd be a little easier to keep and they'll stay put once they're settled in,other anemones may wander around and hurt your coral,just keep a close eye on it and your water parameters and good luck with it

 

[jcgardner]

I will try and take a picture when it starts to open up. I've got him in a bucket and started drip acclimating him. Panic is starting to subside. I will doing more research on nem's.

 

[jcgardner]

If you're going to give it a try you'll want to stay on TOP of your game and keep your water as perfect as you can.

If it wasn't for the fact that I'm 3 hours away from an LFS(and not a very good one at that) I'd trade him in. The only other person in this rural community that has a sw tank is Brenda(sambrinar) and she lost hers as well. So I'll do my best to keep the little guy happy. Hope I can do it.

 

[Willie McDaries]

they're really cool animals,especially with clowns hosting in 'em,hope it works out for the best

here's a short video of my tank,mostly my 2 GBTA and my 2 black/white percs

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgIGeYv2N0s[/YOUTUBE]

 

[jcgardner]

Here are some pictures on my new nem. I acclimated him for about an hour and a half. I checked the sg w/ the refractometer and they were the same after that time. I introduced him to the tank and after about 10 minutes or so it looks like he/she is starting to get bulbs on the tips of the tenticles. My camera is old so these aren't the greatest pictures.

My 3 clowns. I originally ordered just one, but the 3rd was the suprise along w/the nem. Hoping the odd number will be ok, I've had the larger of the three for about 2.5 years now.

 

[Adalius]

The only downside to nems that I've really experienced is that unlike fish you won't always know they're stressed right away. They have a much slower metabolism which can make it take several weeks for any problems to become visible.

 

[jcgardner]

The only downside to nems that I've really experienced is that unlike fish you won't always know they're stressed right away. They have a much slower metabolism which can make it take several weeks for any problems to become visible.

Thanks, that is the reason I've never bought one before, they scare me because they can take out the entire tank. He looks to be doing ok, he let go of the sand earlier and got blown around into an outcropping of rocks. I'm just going to leave him be and see what happens. Here is the latest picture I took, he has great coloring and his tenticles have bulbs.

Sorry my camera isn't the best, it is like 5 years old.

 

[Willie McDaries]

Thanks, that is the reason I've never bought one before, they scare me because they can take out the entire tank. He looks to be doing ok, he let go of the sand earlier and got blown around into an outcropping of rocks. I'm just going to leave him be and see what happens. Here is the latest picture I took, he has great coloring and his tenticles have bulbs.

Sorry my camera isn't the best, it is like 5 years old.

yep,you got lucky,that's a BTA,very hardy nem IMO....it'll settle down probably in a day or so,if you have powerhead in the tank,just make sure it doesn't get caught it one of 'em...it'd be so cool if your clown will move in after it settles down

 

[Willie McDaries]

spot feed it about 1st a week with frozen shrimp or silverside,it'll love you for it you may have to guard it while it eats though,my cleaner shrimps try to take mines food,I have to keep them run off so it can eat,they eat very slowly,it will close up around it's food after a few minutes,when it does,the other critter can't take it good luck....after you've had that 1 for a while you'll have to try a rose bubble tip,they're much more colorful.....I'm hoping to have a rose before too much longer

 

[Ravenfan84]

I feed mine freeze dried krill and when i got mine from someone else and his foot was injured my clown did not touch him for 3 weeks and all is fine now but i def agree with the feeding of him to help him settle in on another note are they gonna send out ur fire fish ? i hope it works out for u i will be following ur thread on him good luck

 

[smkndrgn142]

Good luck to you! I hope this turns into a happy accident! I think your trepidation here will be your greatest asset. I was too bold in my early days and ended up killing a couple...thankfully it didn't nuke the tank! But it sounds like you know enough to know what you're getting in to!

 

[jcgardner]

Thanks everyone for the support. I spent a good while reading up on them last night. He seems to be doing good, he has crawled into a crevice and wedged himself in. Do you think a 4bulb T5 system will be ok for him or should I get a 6bulb system? This tank is 6ft long so I've got 2 36" fixtures on it.

It would be completely awesome if the clowns found him, I'm just hoping they give him long enough to settle in. I'm going to order some silversides and then the next time I go to the store I'll hit get some scallops, shrimp and stuff to start making my own food.

 

[Willie McDaries]

Thanks everyone for the support. I spent a good while reading up on them last night. He seems to be doing good, he has crawled into a crevice and wedged himself in. Do you think a 4bulb T5 system will be ok for him or should I get a 6bulb system? This tank is 6ft long so I've got 2 36" fixtures on it.

It would be completely awesome if the clowns found him, I'm just hoping they give him long enough to settle in. I'm going to order some silversides and then the next time I go to the store I'll hit get some scallops, shrimp and stuff to start making my own food.

very cool....

you said 4 bulb system,are you meaning 4x36"-2 bulbs per 36"fixture or 8x36"-4 bulbs per 36"fixture ?

if it's 8x36"-4 bulbs per 36"fixture,you should be OK,6x36"bulbs per fixture would be better though

 

[jcgardner]

Sorry, didn't explain that very well. Each unit (2 units) has 4-36" bulbs, so it is a total of 8-36" bulbs. I didn't want to try and deal with a 6' fixture because it would be almost 6" longer than I am tall.

 

[Willie McDaries]

Sorry, didn't explain that very well. Each unit (2 units) has 4-36" bulbs, so it is a total of 8-36" bulbs. I didn't want to try and deal with a 6' fixture because it would be almost 6" longer than I am tall.

that should be plenty of light,I wouldn't want to deal with a 6ft fixture either.....shipping 36" bulbs is much cheaper than 72" too

the anemone might want to climb higher in the tank but it'll find it's sweet spot and stay put,you shouldn't have any problems....

it'll probably take the clowns a while to move to the nem if they ever do....I've had a few of the orange/white percs and none of 'em ever gave my BTAs a second look,it's not their natural hosting anemone....

unfortunately,none of my clowns I have had ever lasted more than a few weeks,a month at best......after my last one died,and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong other than maybe just not getting healthy clown from the start(my other fish are doing incredibly well and LFS around here have poor saltwater husbandry too)I was ready to give up on clowns,but a hobbyist near buy had these 2 beautiful and extremely healthy black/white percs for sale at an incredible price($50 for both)I couldn't resist,I figured I'd give 'em 1 more try and so far so good,both seem more happy and a lot healthier and more active than the ones before 'em......

the moment I first released 'em into my tank,the biggest 1 went straight to the big BTA and the next day the smaller clown took to the smaller BTA.....

I think both clowns may have already changed to female,they are both very large and aren't much interested in each other.....I may try to get a couple smaller clowns in hopes of having 2 mated pairs later if these 2 don't start pairing up soon.....sorry to get long winded and hi-jack your thread

 

[crespeto]

that is so cool, good luck with it, looks very cool, hope the clowns do well also.