2 clowns 1 anemone

JBReef

JBReef

Reefing newb
So I picked up 2 new (Tank bread) gold striped maroon clowns yesterday hoping to get one to host my RBTA.
Surprisiling I woke up to my wife saying "GO LOOK AT THE ANK THEIR HOSTING ALREADY!!!", well it was only 5:30 on a sunday morning :grumble: so I didn't know weather to be excited or pi$$ed.

I got up to check it out anyway and to my joy it was making O sweet love to the RBTA. :bounce:

The problem I have now is that the RBTA is fairly small and only fits one clown. So my other clown is eaither hosting the sand or fighting with the clown thats in the BTA.

Should I look into geting another anemone or will it move on to host another coral?
The only other softie in my tank is a leather.

The tank is a 20gal. thats been runing for about 9 months, I'v been real lucky with the tank so far (thanks to the patience in m cycling process) but I wasn't sure if a 20 is to small for 2 anemones...
 
You are pushing your luck with one anenome this early in the game. I would leave well enough alone. Just keep the nem well fed and it will grow into its hosts. Im hoping that you have been informed of the lighting requirements for anenomes?
 
With a 20 gallon tank,stick with the one anemone.Personally,I would only go with one no matter what size tank though.
 
I too would go with one. The clowns should be able to sort things out amongst themselves if they've been getting along fine up until this point.

Maybe try adding some frilly mushrooms to the tank. Clowns love to host those things.
 
If they are the only fish in the tank, or the largest, it won't matter much about the small size of the nem. They grow pretty quick, especially when the GSM start feeding him. It is pretty cool to watch

-Doc
 
I put the smaller clown back in the tank hoping they would give it a rest, Now I woke up to find prity much no tail on the poor guy. Would I be better off returning one of the clowns?
 
that is too bad. It is fun to have a pair to swim around together. Moving the rocks around may help, especially if you move the rock that has the nem attached. Do it with the lights off and see what happens. If they keep going at it, remove the weaker one. Sorry

-Doc
 
Well, had to get rid of one GSM clown. But the other clown is doing great!
My new worrie is why my BTA never comes out anymore? It used to come out and bloom but now it just opens, it doesn't inflate.
The clown still loves it but every now and then it looks like the clown is biting the bubbles.
Will the BTA get used to it or should I seperate them?
Thanks again
 
There are 3 main reasons a bubble tip doesnt "inflate".
#1-Its hungry and needs something to eat.
#2-Not enough light or not the proper spectrium.
#3-Poor water quality.
 
I agree with yote. It is normal for them to change from inflated to deflated during a days time. If it is hiding out for MORE than two or three days, it could be what yote mentioned.
 
So I upgraded mlight from a 2-24 watt T-5HO(Glo) fixture, to a 4-24 watt + 2 moon led T-5HO (sundial) fixture bringing me from 48watts to 96watts with the ability to run my actinics without my daylights!

I'm trying to find out how to acclimate the lighting to my tank?

My old fixture would turn on at 6am and shut off at 9pm both actinic and 10k

I would like my new fixture to Actinic on at 6am 10k at 7am 10k off at 830pm and actinic off at 9pm leaving the 2 leds to turn on when ever they do (they have an eye and I havnt seen how dark it has to be to turn them on)
and I know thoes are only for looks.

should I start off with less light sence I'm doubling the watts or just run em?

Thankyou-
 
Is this a 55 gallon tank?If so,that only gives you a little over a watt and a half per gallon.No where near enough light for an anemone.
If you stay with T-5s,you'll need bump your light up to at least 4 watts per gallon.
Anemones require more light than 90% of the corals.Including some of the SPS corals.
 
Sorry,I must of miss thread somehow.

It is hard to get maroon clowns to pair.Generally the one larger will fight with the smaller/weaker one til it kills it.I'm sure you are aware of this now,surprising someone didn't mention it earlier.

Did you put a 24'' fixture on a 55 gallon tank?That doesn't sound right,you sure it's not a 4x54w fixture?Aim for around 12 hours of light a day,actinics to come on one hour before the daylights and stays on one hour after the daylights goes out.Start with six hours a day and work you're way up to 12hrs after a week or two.,it may not be necessary but I'm airing on the side of caution.
 
Hmmm Yote is right about that lighting. Not nearly enough for most corals, let alone anemones which have higher lighting needs than most corals. An anemone staying retracted for longer than several hours at a time is a bad sign. Could be any of the things that Yote mentioned, but poor water quality and insufficient lighting are the most common suspects. Anemones will not tolerate nitrates well at all. Anything above zero is dangerous to them. And they need at least 3 times the light that you have over it (if what you say is correct). Keep an eye on it, if they die or get sick in the tank it is very common for them to poison the entire tank and wipe out everything else with them.
 
No. it's a 20 gallon, giving me around 4.8 watts per gallon. (but I just bought it yesterday so I'll keep an eye on the anemone).

I doubt it is my nitrates, I tested my waters and just to reasure myself I brought it to my fish store and had him test it. he said everything looked fine.

So I'm hoping it was theold lighting it didn't like.
 
There's a good chance it was the old lighting. Your new lighting will make him much happier. If you did not acclimate your animals to the new light, they may be in a bit of shock.
 

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