Anemones in the nano tank

[AlmightyJoshaeus]

Well...any reasonable options? Are there any anemones that are ( A ) NOT the devil to care for, and ( B ) will NOT try to eat any fish in the confines of a 10 gallon? My mother and I visited a local PETCO today, and she was decidedly enthralled by the anemones...

[Cencalfishguy56]

Well...any reasonable options? Are there any anemones that are ( A ) NOT the devil to care for, and ( B ) will NOT try to eat any fish in the confines of a 10 gallon? My mother and I visited a local PETCO today, and she was decidedly enthralled by the anemones...

i have 3 bubble tip anemones that I've never had a problem with, also rock flower anemones are also intriguing, they will only consume fish if it is sick or dying and happens to float in its mouth

[Scorched]

I've had Rose Bubble Tip Anemones in my tank for almost 5 years nonstop. They are beautiful but really limit what corals you can have nearby. I pushed my luck for a long time by keeping acros and montipora within an inch or two. In the last year my largest anemone killed off 3-4 corals and has been working on another. Tonight I had enough and pulled it out. I want to get back to having nice big branching colonies in the middle of my tank. Now I still have another small bubble tip but his days may be numbered.

 

A friend of mine has had rock flower anemones in his nano for 2 years and it has eaten at least 2 fish.

 

You have to be prepared for what they can do, or limit the tank to just anemones or a very limited amount of other corals.

[Zoareefkim]

Mini Carpets work well for me. Also have a RBTA in my 28.

[ajmckay]

For a 10g an anemone is going to generally be a risk. Safest as mentioned is probably going to be a mini carpet anemone. I've had a relatively small BTA eat a fish before... Sucked.

 

Of course it all depends on what else you're planning to put in there too... If you're not planning any small fish or delicate corals then you're probably fine. Make sure your lighting is more than adequate (I would go with "overkill capable"), and know that anemone's are not for the inexperienced as they require very high water quality.

 

Soooo... I would encourage you to hold off for a while until you have had time to do more research. People buy anemone's all the time thinking they're the coolest things only to find that they didn't get the species they thought they bought (mislabled), they don't have a strong enough light, and/or their tank conditions aren't up to snuff. In many of these cases either the anemone shrinks up and withers away or worse decides to die right then and there potentially poisoning the other inhabitants as well.

 

Finally I would potentially suggest an alternate item, such as a torch coral. They've got their own set of problems but you gain some leeway in the lighting and water quality departments.

[dandelion]

Kind of off topic but I have a feeling that my coral only pico has better water quality than my 29G where my BTA is. I fragged a bird nest into the 29G and it browned out and one frag is actively dying. That said my BTA and maxi mini are happy as ever.

 

For a 10g an anemone is going to generally be a risk. Safest as mentioned is probably going to be a mini carpet anemone. I've had a relatively small BTA eat a fish before... Sucked.

 

Of course it all depends on what else you're planning to put in there too... If you're not planning any small fish or delicate corals then you're probably fine. Make sure your lighting is more than adequate (I would go with "overkill capable"), and know that anemone's are not for the inexperienced as they require very high water quality.

 

Soooo... I would encourage you to hold off for a while until you have had time to do more research. People buy anemone's all the time thinking they're the coolest things only to find that they didn't get the species they thought they bought (mislabled), they don't have a strong enough light, and/or their tank conditions aren't up to snuff. In many of these cases either the anemone shrinks up and withers away or worse decides to die right then and there potentially poisoning the other inhabitants as well.

 

Finally I would potentially suggest an alternate item, such as a torch coral. They've got their own set of problems but you gain some leeway in the lighting and water quality departments.

[Spec]

I have been keeping two Maxi-mini carpet anemone in my 5 gallon, fluval Spec. I have LED lighting (Current Orbit Marine) and was actually finding that my anemone and SPS were bleaching out, with nothing in the parameters to indicate anything wrong. I was always under the impression that it would be really difficult to provide enough light, so tried my lights at 100% after acclimation...however, I now keep my lighting at 75% in the white spectrum, after trying different options with it for a bit, and everything is colouring up nicely. IMO a nano tank is ideal for small anamone, if you can keep maintenance up. They would normally be in very shallow bright areas. I also feed them Mysis twice a week.

[LazyFish]

I prefer rock flowers myself very pretty & sooooo easy to keep its crazy. I even had them spawn once. I have 9 rock flowers in my 29g, 2 (had 3 till i moved it) in my 10 & 2 in my 4g I have had them for several years with no issues. The only fish that got eaten was injured & ill it swam into the rock flower & just sat there for too long & got eaten (it was going to die soon anyway). Most fish seem to stay clear of them in general. I have neon gobies & clowns that steal there food sometimes without becoming food themselves. They usually don't bother fish. They will not host clowns but do host some crabs & shrimps. I have one hosting a spotted anemone shrimp right now (nem is still a little irritated). They can sting & irritate corals but are more likely to be the one getting stung & they do walk sometimes but usually stay put for the most part once they settle unless you mess with them. I feed mine once or twice a week they get clumps of whatever i happen to be feeding the fish that day & eat it up. They will catch particles of fish food between feedings & are also photosynthetic so direct feeding is not actualy a necesity but it improves over all health & growth. I have kept them under PC, ecoxotix panorama led modules set at about 70% in my 29g & Led primes set as low as 35% on my 4g with no problems.

[Sunstar]

I had two microcarpets take two of my fish just this month (not the mini maxi - but the blood red ones) so just be warned with those.

[BulkRate]

A second vote for rock flower anemones as a viable option in sub 10 gallon tanks. Very easy to keep, fairly stationary (important in a mixed reef w/ corals) and about as fish-safe as it's possible to be & still be an anemone. I've kept 4 adults that are about 3-4" across (and about 10-15 babies that are slowly but steadily growing) in my 9 gallon tank for the past 2-3 years ... couldn't be happier as I could never get corals to do well on the ledge they've selected as "home".

 

If you have a great local store, ask if they can source the ones from Indonesia/Bali/Indo-Pacific - supposedly stay much smaller. Haven't seen any myself personally but am intrigued. https://reefbuilders.com/2016/07/21/flower-anemones-discovered-in-bali-indonesia/

[Nola Bear]

I have five or six rfa's and a small rbta, as well as a ton of sps, Lps and some softies. You can check out my thread in my signature. Depending on your design, lighting, flow and husbandry, you are more than capable of having them in a 10g. The bta will eventually grow out though, which is something to consider. Never lost a fish, but I did come home to my pistol shrimp shoulders deep inside a rock flower mouth. I reached and pulled him out and both are still alive and happy--actually the pistol shrimp is pissy but he has always been a bit of a a-hole.