hello everyone

[fishbait]

whew! i'm not near as depressed as i was. i have noticed that the clowns won't have anything to do with the anemone. it netted one of the clowns and put him in the anemone and he just swam off like a bolt of lightening when i turned him loose. kinda stange though, my cleaner shrimp loves the thing to death. he won't get no more than 3 inches away from it. when i moved the nem higher up on the live rock (for fear he wasn't getting enough light) the shrimp followed right along. he did move away long enough to molt three days ago. but now he's right back.
another quick question on my water qaulity. i keep hearing that my tank isn't mature enough for an anemone? what conditions should i be waiting for? here's my current conditions: ammonia=o nitrites=o nitrates<10ppm calcium=440ppm, and i have been suppimenting iodine twice weekly. any info will help me greatly. the only info that i have recieved is from an old timer that said "son, can your tank grow algae, yes sir, do you have copepods in youre live rock, yes sir. well give me 10 bucks and enjoy youre first anemone"

[Bifferwine]

Generally it's advised that you have a stable tank with no deaths for at least 8 months to a year before adding an anemone because they are very difficult to keep. New tanks usually just aren't stable enough to support them. But that doesn't mean it won't work in yours.

[fishbait]

what do you guys feed your anemone? i was told to feed mine phytoplankton and zoo plankton. is there really a need to feed both? what is the purpose of each? correct me if i'm wrong. doesn't the phyto cause photosynthesis? the pet shop didn't say anything about feeding meat. but ive given mine a piece of raw shrimp and he loved it! it was like he could smell it the second it touched the water. it was snatched up and eaten in a matter of seconds. it was cool to watch him eat. thanks for any info to the fish keeping gods!

[Bifferwine]

I think they would prefer the meats over the plankton since they have larger mouths. If yours likes shrimp, feed it that. You can also try other seafood from the grocery store such as squid, scallops or oysters, and you can try silversides from the pet store too.

[Adrastos]

Don't be nervous if your clowns haven't taken to the anemone. It is not odd at all - they don't always bond with them right away - some are very picky. I've always been told to buy your clowns and aneomone together. A large enough store should have clowns that have already bonded with an anemone. It makes the transition much smoother.

I have also been reading that you can try Xenias with your clowns as well - they will bond with the xenia the same way they bond with anemones...

[yote]

Yeah clowns will host xenia.My seba hosted xenia right up untill I bought a BTA,now she hosts both.

[bobby]

My old perc that recently died (god rest his/her soul) hosted a moon brain. My newer perc wont host any corals I have in the tank though, and xenia is one of them. I think its hit or miss with them. Your best bet would be to buy them together like AD said. Good luck.

[jhnrb]

Be careful not to overfeed your anemone. two to three times a week is fine until you get use to the anemones needs. if it spits back out undigested food it is not hungry. if it spits out stringy junk it is digesting the food. just dont give it too big of piece of food, they will take it but spit back out most of the food. hope this helps.

[fishbait]

thanks for the info. so far he's been taking food really well. i feed phytoplankton and zooplankton once a week. and two or three small pieces of frozen shrimp in between that. do they need both? can you overfeed?

[yote]

The phyto and zoo plankton is great for any filter feeders you have in your tank,but you nem needs meaty foods.I feed mine silversides,raw table shrimp,and my clown feeds it what ever I happen to feed my fish that day.
But yeah you can over feed them.If it spits out half digested food,then your feeding it to much. Usually something meaty every 3rd or 4th day is good.