what kind of anemone should i get if...please help

[halobaby]

hello. i have a brand new tank.(1 week of cycling done but still no amonia or nitrites) my goal is to have the live rock(mine is raw live rock taken from another tank 2 weeks ago) some corals, 2 clownfish that get along(the store sells them paired and already in a tank together), my blue surgeon "hippo" tang, and a serpent starfish. i need/want a nice "natural" home for my clownfish but i don't want it to kill my other fish or anything. how long do i have to wait before i can get the anemone? What kind of anemone should i get? my tank is 36"x18"x23" it's 65 gallons. on it i will have 1 biowheel filter, 2 powerheads on a timer, 1 skimmer, 1 heat stick, 1 white and 1 blue phlorescent light bulb. the live rock has stuff on it but it's almost about to decay i think. i have it in buckets filled with salt water but no filters or anything and i'm sure it'll start to stink before my tank gets cycled any suggestions on how to keep the live rock alive? and yes i know the tank is too small for the tang but i already have him so he will have to cope with it. right now he's in a smaller tank 29 gal and seems to be happy-swimming all over the place and constantly eating....constantly eating!!! i think all he does is eat and he is always hungry. i am trying not to overfeed him but i figure if he wasn't hungry he wouldn't eat anymore but his lettuce is gone every couple of hours. he eats flake food once a day, and frozen shrimp once every second day. anyways i want a natural habitat for 2 clown fish(they are almost 1" long with tail), big blue(he seems happy with his rock caves but not sure about veggitation for him), a starfish, and perhaps a couple small snails. the cycling tank has maybe 1/4 sand coverage as i was told that sand under the rock is not good.
so to sum it up...
what kind of anemone should i get for 2 small clownfishes(i think they were tangerine something or other)?
is there any kind of veggitation that blue surgeon tangs like to live around?
when can i start getting anemones and fish and veggitation for my tank? do i have to wait a certain amount of time?
do i have enough sand in my tank(it's all piled up in one corner about 2" thick)?
is there a way to keep my rock "living" until my tank cycles?
is my tank too slow-should i be seeing some amonia after 1 week?

thank you

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

A really really good :read: on nems

karensroseanemones.net - Before you buy one

BTA are good choices... Bubble Tip Anemone, but read about their requirements & care ^

 

[DaveK]

...
so to sum it up...
what kind of anemone should i get for 2 small clownfishes...?
...

The best answer to this question is really none at this time, and possibly none ever.

Anemones that clowns will host in require well established, stable tanks, with excellent lighting and water quality. This usually means about a year once it's cycled for the tank to be stable. Excellent lighting usually means T5 HO or MH or LED lighting. The lighting you now have just isn't going to be enough and will require a major upgrade. Water quality is likely to mean upgrades to the bio-wheel filter. In my opinion, used alone, the water quality will just not be there. I would highly recommend a large powerful skimmer, and some form of media reactors for media like carbon or phos-ban. You also have a possible issue with your tang. Tangs tend to be big dirty fish that create a lot of waste products.

I recommend you wait, then if you still want the anemone, upgrade the equipment. Also, consider using other corals or zoas. Some clowns will host in that also.

 

[rufus2008]

I'm pretty sure alot of people cycle their tanks with the live rock in. I bought a fully established set up so I never cycled a tank. I'm sure someone else wil chime in

 

[halobaby]

thanks everyone. i was told by the store not to put my rock in because everything on it will die. it has red, purple, green and brown alges i guess all over it. and some sponges, and little red tree like things sprouting from it, and worms i think. weird looking creatures so small its hard to find them. i wasn't going to have the sand but the guy at the store told me i needed it because things need to grow and hide in the sand so i put brand new crushed coral in there and then they said to cycle it and then put my rock in and then put my fish in. it's just taking forever tho...and yes the lighting system is definately going to be fixed as it doen't even work right now(brand new came with tank but won't stay on for more than 10 min) the original tank had a beautiful system with 3-phase lights for morning/afternoon, daytime, and night but it was built into a 6' canopy and was too much electrical for me to be comfortablt with-3 fans with adapters, 3 heavy black boxes for the lights which then plugged into another box and then into the wall. plus timers on everything. it was scarey. well it looks like i'll just have to wait to stock my tanks. 6 months isn't that long and on the bright side, i might have quite a few interesting things on the rock and maybe i won't need an anemone as my aunt(the person i got the original tank and rock and fish from) had a few of them in her tank which could still pick up on the rock. well thanks again everyone.

 

[SantaMonica]

If you build yourself an algae scrubber, it should keep the ammonia etc low enough to keep everything alive on the rock, even during a cycle.

 

[gbose]

... and still don't get an anemone at this time. Listen to DaveK's advice.....

 

[SubRosa]

If your main reason for buying an Anemone is to host Clownfish, the first thing you need to do after all of the basic care considerations for the Nem others have mentioned are satisfied is to determine exactly which species of Clownfish you have. Different Clown species have different preferences in host Anemones. For example if you have Ocellaris Clowns they'll be more likely to host a Leather Coral or Euphyllia than a BTA.

 

[halobaby]

Thanks for the advice. I am going with a seabea or something like that. The clowns are ocellaris and the lfs said a seabea is a good choice for them. I plan to put nem in first then the fish a few weeks after. Or should I have the fish in first? I sort of want the tank to have all the corals etc in before any fish so that its a more natural environment for the fish.

 

[cheeks69]

A Sebae anemone is one of the most difficult of the hosting Anemones to keep in captivity and wouldn't recommend it for your tank. They don't ship well most are bleached on purpose as most beginner's find the white an attractive color and you just don't have the proper setup for one. Also Ocellaris clownfish in general are very picky when it comes to hosts the Sebae isn't a natural host and may never be accepted by them.

DaveK gave you some excellent advice I suggest you follow it and do some research on hosting Anemones as they are one of the most difficult animals to keep alive long term there is in the hobby.

 

[ddelozier]

Clowns will host to whatever they want to host to, I've seen clowns host to a clay pot, cleaning magnet, powerhead, mini carpet nem, and others. In my 65, i've a pair hosted to a 6"rock covered in ordinary Zoa's. If the purpose of getting a Nem is to make your clowns happy, dont bother. Nems are notoriously difficult to keep as is, and are rated experienced to expert aquariust for most. In a tank less than 9mo, in the care of a new aquariust(no offense intended), placing a nem is a death warrant for the nem. Most anemone's are carnivorous, which means they can and will, given the opportunity, eat any fish in the tank. Even having a nem, is no guarantee the clowns will host to it. My friend has 3 different Nems in his 220g tank, and his clowns are hosted to his cleaning magnet. They ignore the Nems. Stear clear of nems till you have had the tank stable for a year, and even then, approach with caution. Clowns arent difficult to keep. A good patch of zoas, or a half a clay pot, and they'll be happy.

 

[halobaby]

well thank you. honestly i don't want a nem-not too fond of the stinging. i just read that in the wild all clowns have nems and wanted my tanks to resemble as much of a natural habitat as possible. the lsf said the clowns i want host in seabeas so thats why i decided to get one. it's on order so i will cancel for now and do more research. also the clowns are tank raised so they probably won't host a nem anyways-i wanted true percs but lfs said they would be expensive and ocean born and might be difficult to have in an aquarium. i'll just stick with corals for now and maybe in the future a nem will be on my list. thanks again.

 

[ddelozier]

there's no telling what clowns will host to. they are kinda like Teenagers. What they should do, what they aught to do, and what they choose to do, often dont have any corelation to each other.

 

[gbose]

HaloB,

A wise decision!

GBose

 

[SubRosa]

there's no telling what clowns will host to. they are kinda like Teenagers. What they should do, what they aught to do, and what they choose to do, often dont have any corelation to each other.

I disagree. If you have a healthy Mertensii Carpet or Magnifica anemone in a tank, you can bet your house that that's where your Ocellaris will host. If neither of those two are present, then agree it's anybody's guess what they'll do.

 

[gbose]

SubRosa,

Are either of those anemones suitable for beginners? I believe HaloB's just starting out in salt water....

GBose

 

[SubRosa]

Absolutely not, but if one wants to get Ocellaris to host, those are the only natural hosts. Since in the absence of the proper anemone they're more likely to host a powerhead than any other anemone, my point is that there's no reason for the op to get any anemone if he has Ocellaris.

 

[CarlJ]

Okay, if the live rock was already cycled and kept in water for a short transport, the best thing to do with it would be to put it straight in the tank. If the lighting and flow were or could be made compatable for the short term, the cycling of your tank would largely already be done.
Conditioning of a tank is the balancing act by which all of your new stuff settles into its groove, your bacterias, micro and macro algaes, calcium and magnesium and silicates ad nauseum all settle into a rhythm with your water changes, etc. This will take 4 months to a year as long as you don't make any major changes. Finicky creatures like anemones, mandarins, ... should not be added until this long cycle is at least mostly done.