Oooh OOoh Read mine!

S

SemperFish

Self Proclaimed Genius
Hi! I just got out of the military and I'm getting back into some of my old interests. I'm currently restocking my house with reptiles and amphibians, and starting to get interested in marine life. I set up a 55 gallon FOWLR with 200+ lbs of rock, a few damsels and a Shrimpgoby that came with the rock. That tank has since evolved into a complete system with a 90 gallon main tank and 40gl Sump. I would call it a FOWLRASSC (fish only with live rock and some simple corals). Current stocking list is as follows:
2 (Mated adult pair) GSM clownfish
1 10" anemone(LFS called it a "False Rose" ?)
1 lawnmower blennie
1 Orange spot shrimpgoby
1 longnose hawkfish
1 scooter blenny
1 zebra Moray
2 cleaner shrimp
various hermits/snails
some simple corals

It seems the deeper I dig, the more there is to learn about this hobby.
 
Hi and welcome! Are you aware of the massive amount of light anemones require? (They need more light than most corals). We love it when people post pictures of their tanks around here. Yours is no exception!
 
I have found a lot of conflicting information about how much light anemones actually need. Some people say they need TONS of light, others say then need to be fed often and fed a varied diet. My system has medium light(fluorescent), and the clown fish take good care of it, making sure to feed it well and often. It seems to be doing very well so far. I have had it for about 2 months, it has not moved once, and has almost doubled in size.
 
Fluorescent light is not enough for an anemone. Fish will feed it, but anemones still make most of their own food through photosynthesis. They start to bleach without enough light, and if they can't photosynthesize, the fish feeding them will only sustain them for so long. Good luck keeping yours, but you can ask pretty much everyone on here that has tried to keep an anemone in A) either a tank that's less than a year old, or B) in a tank with insufficient lighting that the anemone does die. And when it dies or gets sick, it releases all its toxins into the water. This usually ends up crashing the tank and killing everything else in it too.

That's why I do not recommend anemones for people with anything but strong metal halide or T5 lighting, or people with tanks that are less than a year old.
 
+1 Biff.
I'll even go a step farther and not recommend them for a reef tank.Even if its just a few soft corals.
 
I have a 4 bulb T-8 fluorescent system that was carried over from the FOWLER setup as Bifferwine suggested may be the case.
How long will an anemone last under insufficient light?
MH lighting is out of the question. If I need to, I will put direct LED light on it.

Yes AltoHombre, Zebra Morays can get fairly large. In the wild they are known to get up to 50 inches but captive eels never get much more than about 30-35. Right now he is about 26 inches and spends all day and most of the night in a space about 2 square feet. They are pretty efficient users of space. He is an outstanding community fish, real gentle and really cool. He loves to eat out of my daughters hand.
 
I'll look into getting a T-5 setup.


My daughter is 8, and just as enthused about animals as I am. She has a pair or leopard geckos and a breeding pair of Veiled chameleons, I do very little of the work to take care of either, it's really cool to watch. She insists on naming every living thing in the house, except for my dart frogs since they are practically identical to one another.

Those are some Gnarly videos with the morays, and some incredibly stupid people.

Contrary to the video footage, however, it is possible to safely hand feed a moray. I wouldn't try it with a Green Moray, or any other aggressive fish hunter, but Zebras are far more docile than most other species and have blunt teeth designed to crush crustaceans, not to pierce flesh. Mine has nibbled me a few times while feeding, but is slow to bite. They have fairly strong jaws, but are too finicky to bite without knowing exactly what is in it's mouth. He's like a little, slimy, elongated puppy-dog.
 
On the topic of BTA's. I recently removed my GBTA due to his wondering around. As I have a reef tank I couldn't take those chances. But I also have a brite RBTA who has split AGAIN. So I had 3 BTA's and with the green one on the move I took him to the LFS. Both my now RBTA's do not move, once the small one becomes good and large he'll go to the LFS to. If I have a roamer, he comes out. That's the advice I give to anyone with a reef tank. Unless it settles, it's not happy, and it will take out other corals in the process, best to take him back.

Back in 2004 I kept a GBTA under PC lighting for about 7 months. I had just started and that's what the LFS said was the "best" lighting out there. I found out different and went to MH. I didn't notice any differance with the BTA, but other things like the clams and a Favia took off in both size & color.
 

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