Anemone and lighting?

[KelliZackMOM]

Is there any type of anemone that clowns may host that I could keep with current lighting? 4 bulb fixture(2x54w actinic, 2x54w day) over 55 gallon tank. Also, I was thinking about adding a LED strip to add more light. Any suggestions?

 

[Cheeser]

Anemones like very strong lighting and a well established tank. I think u should b fine but I think ur lighting would b on the low side (IMO) for a nem. Make sure all ur parameters r in check and don't fluctuate too much.

 

[Bifferwine]

I had the same lighting over my first tank (a 55 gallon) and kept a bubble tip anemone for years.

 

[FishyReef]

Does this mean there is a clown pair on the way? :D

For what its worth, clowns won't necessarily host an anemone if you get one for them - they often choose to host all sorts of random things - power heads, return lines, rocks, corals we wish they wouldn't host [:grumble:], etc. If you're nervous about a nem, then you could try something like hairy mushrooms instead - which clowns like a lot and they don't mind the clowns. Otherwise, if you do go with a nem, go with a well-colored bubbletip and keep an eye on it - if it starts loosing color then trade it in.

 

[KelliZackMOM]

Clown pair is already here LOL. I got my black ocellaris pair that I've been wanting for what seemed like forever. Almost 2 weeks ago I got them so now I am fully stocked with fish. My signature is just not updated because for some reason I can't do it from my IPhone and also why no pics of anything lately.
I'm still on the fence about whether or not I wanna try a nem. At first I said absolutely no way, but my son is bugging bad to get one. I'm so afraid of crashing my tank if it dies and I have worked so hard at getting things right. Tank is still only 7 months old and I still battle the nitrates. Can't get them under 20 so I think tank is still too new for a nem but just wondering if my lighting would even be adequate once I get everything else in check.
Before anyone has a stroke over my nitrates, everything is doing great so I quit obsessing with it. Fish and inverts are happy and healthy and I even have some coral growth from my frags.

 

[FishyReef]

If your nitrates are stuck at 20ppm, then I definitely wait on the nem until you can get them down to 0-5. Have you tried chaeto in your tank? If you have some already, is it getting adequate light and flow? I don't remember if you have a sump or not...

 

[FishyReef]

Oh, and as for the LED strip, while it might add some fun color, it probably won't do anything in terms of useable light for a 'nem - most of the stunner strips are .5 to 1 watt bulbs -- you really need 3 watt LEDs to sustain corals or nems via LED. But from the above responses it sounds like your lights are adequate for a 'nem as they are, so you could always add a stunner just for fun :)

 

[KelliZackMOM]

If your nitrates are stuck at 20ppm, then I definitely wait on the nem until you can get them down to 0-5. Have you tried chaeto in your tank? If you have some already, is it getting adequate light and flow? I don't remember if you have a sump or not...

No chaeto and no sump. I was just thinking about chaeto the other day now if I can find some without having to order it online and paying a fortune for shipping. I can tie some up in a net and have it directly in display right? Can you put it in skimmer? Also, I was thinking I gotta take my skimmer out and clean it anyways. I made the mistake of leaving filtration sponge in it so that may be my nitrate culprit.

 

[FishyReef]

Oh yeah, that sponge could definitely be the culprit! If sponges aren't rinsed every few days they can get really nasty and become nitrate factories. I don't really know about adding chaeto to a skimmer, but I personally wouldn't do it - my guess is that if you put stuff inside the body of the skimmer it will reduce its effectiveness at producing bubbles and really building a nice head of foam to remove gunk. You can put the clump in your display tank, but it needs to be in an area with good flow. For my 10g, I got a small HOB filter and converted it to a fuge for chaeto just by taking everything out of it, adding a few small pieces of live rock rubble to the bottom, adding a small clump of chaeto to it, and then adding a clip on light to it. Pretty easy modification. I used to pull out the filter every few water changes and clean it out, but now I just put a snail in there if I notice algae growth or gunk and the snails cleans it out in a day or so and the finds its way back into the tank!

Here's a pic of what I did:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellabugz/7422793730/

 

[Bifferwine]

You can't put chaeto in the skimmer. But you can put it in the display tank. You can use a plastic container with a bunch of holes punched in it for water flow.

Your clowns don't need an anemone. But if your son is really interested in seeing the mutualism between the animals, there are other (easier) options. Clowns will often host in hairy mushrooms, which are much easier to keep than anemones. And even if you do get an anemone, there's a good chance the clowns will never go near it.

 

[Amba]

I've had clowns host in Kenya tree corals.

 

[Cheeser]

ive had a few anemones through the years and a few different clownfish and ive never had a clown host a nem. if i were u i would start with something a little hardier like fuzzy mushrooms or xenias. i would focus more on getting a sump set up with a skimmer and get u some macro algae so u can get ur parameters in check and it would be easier to keep an anemone. do some research as to what kind of anemone would be best for your system.