Questions before getting first BTA

[Sammydog]

I was hoping a few of you could answer some questions for me. I am looking to get my first anemone. the LFS just got a few in and there is a reddish looking BTA I am thinking of getting, which brings me to my questions.

I have a 25gallon tank that has been running for about 4 years now. For lighting I have 110W of PC's. One 55W Actinic Globe and one 55W 17,000K globe (that I need to replace with a 100,000K).

Can anyone see any glaring issues with my lighting.

I had been running cheapish LEDS which was fine as it slowed down the corralimorph population explosion, but the leathers were not as happy. I assume the PC's would be better with the BTA.

The water parameters yesterday were;

Salinity - 1.022
Amonia - 0.25ppm (probably less)
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates 20 (a tad high, but I think I know why)
pH - 8
Calcium - 425
Carbonate Hardness - 90
Water Temp is set to stay between 25 - 26 degrees Celsius.

Can anyone see any issues in there? Other than the nitrates being up a a little (would normally be around 10) the tank is pretty constant in the readings.

I've also got only one powerhead in the tank creating flow. Would I be better with another.

Final question, because of the number of Corallimorphs I can't have LPS or SPS corals due to the chemical warfare. Would the anemone be safe? Been scouring the net and can't find an answer to that question.

I've included a photo of the tank for reference.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

I wouldnt. You need 0 ammonia and nems arent fond of nitrates. By the picture, looks like your mushrooms are big which would be signs on low lighting and a rbta wouldnt do well in all of those conditions. Good luck

 

[salt_for_brains]

PC lighting is not ideal for anemones. I will say there have been a few success stories of BTA's under PC's but a lot more failures. Anemones are one of the most light demanding creatures we can put in our tanks.

Your SG is also a little low for an anemone and would be better at 1.025.

Unless that is a false positive for ammonia that will also kill an anemone. That needs to be 0.

Nitrates will also be an issue they need to be as close to 0 as possible. If you had an established anemone it would less likely be an issue but since you would be introducing a new and stressed anemone it would be a death sentence.

BTA's like flow just not direct flow. Another power head may be in order.

You have some beautiful morphs! BTA's are rock dwellers and there could certainly be some stinging and chemical warfare based on the picture I'm looking at. The anemone is going to move where it wants to be even if it parks on top of a morph.

It's ultimately your decision and all my answers are based on my years of experience keeping nems. Good luck!

 

[Sammydog]

That feedback is exactly what I wanted. Thanks.

End of the day, I don't want to be killing off an anemone just so I can have one. The LFS has a huge BTA under the same lights, so I thought I could be OK. I might chat to them about what globes they have in it.

I am also thinking of upgrading my tank to something a little bigger and will be getting new lights when I do that, probably best to leave the BTA until that tank is established.

I've also got an LED set up, but I haven't been particularly happy with them. The leather looks a lot healthier since I went back to the PC's.

By the picture, looks like your mushrooms are big which would be signs on low lighting and a rbta wouldnt do well in all of those conditions. Good luck

The red mushrooms are huge, but the blue/green and spotted mushrooms I have all stay quiet small n matter where they are placed in the tank. I am constantly giving away the red ones and in other tanks with various lighting set ups they are still huge. I would much prefer they were smaller.

 

[Greenman]

If all else fails you could look into upgrading to some T5 HO's. Price wise they really are not that bad. Also gives you a much wider range of livestock to work with.

 

[chichimom79]

Do you have four clowns in that tank? Are they not fighting?

 

[Sammydog]

If all else fails you could look into upgrading to some T5 HO's. Price wise they really are not that bad. Also gives you a much wider range of livestock to work with.

Going to the LFS today. I am going to postpone the BTA I think as I want to upgrade the tank and will do the lighting at the same time.

Do you have four clowns in that tank? Are they not fighting?

Unfortunately I didn't stock the tank, I got it second hand about 4 years ago from someone moving out of town. The tank also had a mandarin, so it was overstocked and had some inappropriate fish choices.

The mandarin is gone, but the clowns never fought. There is two obvious dominant fish and two very much smaller fish. That actually all changed last week. I went away for a few days and came home to witness the end of one of the fish. Was a pretty clear case of violent bullying and the main culprit was the other small clown. Will be keeping a close eye on the fish to see if I need to swap one out. Not sure I would replace it though, just leave the tank with two fish.

 

[chichimom79]

Good luck with everything and I think you are making the right decision to wait until your upgrade is established. :)