I have searched in the archives and it seems that the RBTA is ok in a nano tank even though I had read that other anemones are not a good idea to have in a tank this small. I have also read the RBTA website http://www.karensroseanemones.com/. My tank is a 28g nanocube hqi. I have two clowns a watchmangoby and a fire fish. I do have some corals; Xenia, Zoas, Leather, and a Frogspawn. What makes me nervous is that the Anemone could move were a coral is and kill them. Basically, I am just looking on information, experiences, recommendations from people who have them in a nano tank. Any information would be a great help. I really want to make sure I make the right decision on getting one of these. Also, this maybe a stupid question and I think I saw the answer on in the RBTA propegation post video, but do they sting, do you need gloves when handling them?

I've never worn gloves when handling them.

I would say it depends on what else you want to keep in your tank. Nems will walk - split and walk some more. Some stay in one place and grow to 12" across. In a 28/ 29 gallon tank it doesn't leave room for too much more.

ALSO

Karen's site is now karensroseanemones.NET - someone purchased her .com name before she renewed it.

Go figure.

Cool, Thanks for the new link, the.com link still has her information on it, but the new one is much better. I don't really have solid plans. This is my first tank and I am still figuring out what I like and don't like. The only things I was thinking about adding in the near future were a few reccordia and maybe more Zoa paly frags. I am trying to keep simpler corals for now. Other then that I was going to let what I have grow in and work on making everything as stable as possible.
How fast do they grow? I know they do get big, but if they split on thier own or they can be cut, I would try to keep it to a reasonable size, if that is an acceptable to do.

Im going to ramble a bit here, this is just personal experience dont take this as solid fact.

I have had bubble tips touch, acropora, zoanthids, palythoas, and touch my frogspawn will no problems, all corals and anemone still fine. Although when i do see them touch i move them if at all possible. The zoanthids and palys grow on mats and cant be moved, nor can the anemone without risking damage unless you get good at it and they arent planted in a tight crevice. my anemone sat on some paly for months touching them every day and they are still alive, the anemone since moved to split (see my thread with crappy pictures). It was about 10inches when it finally split, so yes they can get large.

I never wear gloves handling my bubble tips, they do sting but you dont feel it at all. I have no alergic reactions to anything sting related, but if you are i would wear gloves just in case. The only way you know if they are stinging you is the tentacles will stick to you on some occasions.

As for cutting them when they get too large, it is a possibility but they have to be very healthy if you plan on cutting it. Cutting an unhealthy anemone could lead to death. Just make sure you get a good portion of the mouth and foot on each piece. I've seen people cut them in quarters, but thats a bit more risky than halves.

If you have read karen's site you should know about feeding silversides, and waiting for an established tank (about 6 months) before getting one. Although 6 months isnt really required IMO, a stable tank is. If you are new to the hobby i would wait the 6 months. If your more experienced in the hobby usually you will be able to read your tank to know if its time or not.

I think i answered all of your questions, if you have any more feel free to ask. If for some reason I dont get back to this thread and nobody answers feel free to PM me anemone related questions.

EDIT: Missed a question. Growth rate depends on how much you feed it. If you read the section on karen's site about bleached anemones then you know you have to feed them more until they recover. But once they recover you can cut down on feedings to keep their growth rate down. I wouldnt stop feeding them all together though, a small feeding or two a week will keep them healthy. I've had some grow an inch in 6 months, and some grow 5-6 inches in 6 months so the growth rate can really vary on the specific anemone. But all in all they are pretty fast growers. If you get one just start with a small, healthy, colorful one and go from there.

is it just me or does that site not load properly?

just you try lo-fi version

Thanks for the help. My tank is about six months old. I don't have plans to get an anemone right this second. I am just trying to figure out what I want to do. If I did want to get an anemone I think I would stop adding corals until I got the anemone and see what it does. Are my lights ok for one? I know they can do what they want, but I would hope it stays up near the top of the rock work, if it gets fead there. Also, would you know if the RBTA is a better one for clowns to host? A big reason I want one is to see if the clowns will host it.

Your lighting sounds fine to me, and its pretty hard to tell an anemone WHERE to hang out. It really depends on the lighting, flow, and food it gets in the area. Putting it where you want it and tuning the flow to their preferred liking can help. They usually choose to have their foot under an under hang and extend their disc out and upwards. They like flow just above their tentacles so water passes by them, not blowing directly at them. They HATE flow on their foot.

Its a very good idea to stop adding corals if you want an anemone, give it time to settle and it SHOULD stay there unless something in the tank changes. Lighting, lack of food, and different flow pattern are all reasons for it to relocate.

There is no guarantee that clowns will host it, are we talking about occ or percula? They dont host BTA's in the wild, but every clown i have had hosted one at some point (perc, occ, and maroon). Could take 10 seconds, could take 10 years or it could be never. But most people have good luck getting them host eventually. I would say considering your tank size a bta is your best bet at getting a clown to host.

I have a GBTA and a tiny RBTA in a 12gallon nanocube for over 6 months now. I just changed my bulbs last week and their about 9 months old. I feed my nem once a week and it has grown ALOT. My anemone deflated 2 days ago and still a little bit small. This happened after i changed my bulbs.
Also i have a percula and a ocellaris in my tank. yeah go figure they fight each other but not to the very extreme where the fins go missing.

Nemmy is right, if you change your flow pattern nem will move. I took my K-nano to wash for 2 days and nem moved from one side of the tank to the other.

My nem host my GBTA but not the RBTA. Only my ocellaris host my GBTA while my percula chase my ocellaris and shakes at the fish. I got my ocellaris to host the nem because bought them together. I told my LFS when i bought my nem and clown to put them int he same bag. Waited 3 hours until acclimation and clownfish had a internal parasite!
Treated the fish for 1 and 1/2 months and then cured. It took the same fish another 4 days until it started hosting the nem again. Whil my percula is now in the tank for 2 weeks and never have interest in the nem.

Here are some pictures of my nem in NC 12 over the course of the six months








Here is my RBTA


Today RBTA is bigger but dont have camera

I feed both nems once a week with shrimp

I have Ocellaris Clownfish. So if I got an anemone and let it settle in, would I be able to add some corals later, not thing to crazy like I said it would be riccordia, zoas, basic stuff...

I would personally avoid adding corals of any kind if you have a pretty big anemone.
My anemone is about 8 inchesin diameter and last week it walked onto my green zoa colony and i had to remove the entire thing. The nem didnt want to move. I had to manually pull the nem out of my zoa and some heads were pulled out by my nem.

Do you think there is a difference between green and rose. One sidte I saw listed green as peaceful and rose as semi aggresive. OR also any difference between colonial and true BTAs?

Personally, i dont thinkthere is any difference between rose and green anemone. people see rose as exotic because of its color.

No difference what so ever.

Cool, thanks. Do you guys think there is any difference in a true and colonial type rose anemone? I contacted this site. I am thinking about ordering one from here. They said the foot is purple on the colonial and might might stay smaller, other then that a true rose bubble is more money.

http://www.barrierreefaquariums.com/produc...p;idproduct=110

You may want to call Barrier Reef first before you order....
I went in there on thursday and bought the "colonial" rbta. They only had one on thursday.

-Sorry

Thanks ok, I emailed them just to ask questions the other day and they told me they were out for a few weeks. i am still gathering information and deciding if I want to get one. If you can, could you take some pictures of it in your tank? I am curious to see what it looks like in a regular picture.

If you click on the link in my signature, The first post will have a Full Tank Shot (FTS) and page six of that thread will have a close up of the RBTA. It is truly a beauty, if I do say so myself....

Cool, I am going to follow your thread. I really want an anemone, but I also want some corals. My tank is a litle bigger then yours, but I am curious to follow your progress and how you make out keep the anemone and a few corals.

Keeping a nem with corals is quite doable, and you will see on this forum that many people do it successfully. In actuality, a RBTA sting is not that bad and a lot of corals can stand being brushed up against every once in a while. There are a lot of rumors that people take as law. Every tank is different and everyone will experience something a tad different than the guy before them.

I would get the nem as one of your first inhabitants and let him roam until he finds a spot he likes and doesn't move for a while. He will probably wedge his foot into some crack so good and hard that you wont be able to see most of it. Once you think he is set at "home" go ahead and start adding corals. There is no guarantee that he wont move after that, but the chances are better.

+1

we got our nem first, let it get situated to a spot then began adding coral.
The downside is, change in flow Patterns to make the corals happier tends to make the anemone "walk" to a new spot. Luckily ours walks around frags and seems to avoid them (knock on wood)

another thing you want to make sure to do is protect powerheads/intakes.
A sucked in nem will cause a MESS in a small tank.

Cool, honestly, I was not thinking about getting an anemone when I started the tank. I had read that they are not good in smaller tanks and will out grow them very quickly, maybe it is just other types of anemone. I don't have to many corals in the tank now and what is there is mostly small and not glued down. so I should be ok.

do you need to suppliment anything if keeping one of these? My calcium and magnesium is low right now, would it be a bad idea to add one to the tank?

bump for my question above

What size is your tank?

I am keeping my cal and mag at 400-1200

Here are my recent pictures of my nem
Ihave stock NC lighting. but i just replaced my bulbs with Nanotuner brand. Not the internal reflector type. Just regular.
Super green!

looks good.Im just asking if a RBTA needs calcium or magnesium as a supplement

They do not, at least in any significant amount that would require dosing.