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Beginner anemone for nano tank


1st reef

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Rock Flower Anemone or Maxi-Mini Anemones both do very well in pico sized tanks and are both very hardy and play well with corals. Neither gets bigger than maybe 6" across and if you've got a lot of light, maxi-minis will never stretch more than 3-4" across.

 

Keep in mind neither of these will host fish, but they can host anemone shrimps or crabs.

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An LTA can get very large though, while it may not be particularly hard to keep in a small tank, in time it is likely to outgrow it.

I'd second the maxi minis or the rock flowers, the problem with most anemones is more that they can get big and some have fairly potent stings, but if you have fairly clean water, fairly high lighting (seems like maxi minis and rock flowers are both somewhat less demanding in this department), and you understand that they can and likely will move around at least a bit, anemones aren't especially difficult to care for.

 

I would try to give them some food directly each week, and keep in mind that other creatures sometimes will try to take it (even ones hosting in it), so you may have to feed the others before you feed the nem, but if your tank can support coral that need moderate lighting or more, an anemone shouldn't be any additional difficulty.

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52 minutes ago, PeterU said:

This is my Maxi-mini carpet anemone hosting a Porcelain Anemone Crab

That's awesome - looks like I've got to get me a couple porcelain crabs for my maxi-minis now!

 

OP: These are my two maxi-minis I've had for more than 6 years now and are both around 3.5" across most of the time and can stretch to 5 or 6" under low light. I originally kept them on the sand in a 2g pico with only 8w of LED with no lenses on them (so VERY low PAR) and are now in my bigger tank as I consolidated. They are incredibly hardy little anemones, don't really sting surrounding coral, and aren't very prone to walking. In the 6 years I've had mine, both of them walked a single time when they were overtaken by two huge RBTAs and had to run for their lives.

 

 

rug-1-62421.thumb.jpg.031632cf4c35730678a3a72ac9a8ed8c.jpg

 

 

 

This one lives right in between two colonies of zoas and hasn't killed any yet.

purple_mini-maxi.thumb.jpg.dd7c9679f8cf3d9733b80c776e0b4200.jpg

 

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A mini-max is a very sticky anemone that will kill fish if they land on it. A rock flower won't kill healthy fish. Both will host porcelain crabs. If you want fish, I'd stick with rock flowers, since all pico-appropriate fish are perching and could land on the mini-max. 

 

Wait until the tank is well established. You want to have been able to support corals for a couple months before you add either species of anemone, ideally, though both are reasonably hardy as nems go. If the tank is mature and you've had LPS for awhile, you should be able to house a rock flower nem. 

 

There's some anecdotal evidence that shallow-water RFAs grow larger than deep-water RFAs. Since deep-water ones are the more colorful ones anyway, that's not much of a problem, people tend to prefer the deep-water ultras. Most people seem to only have ultras grow to 3" or so, maybe 4" if fed a lot. 

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20 minutes ago, Tired said:

A mini-max is a very sticky anemone that will kill fish if they land on it. A rock flower won't kill healthy fish. Both will host porcelain crabs. If you want fish, I'd stick with rock flowers, since all pico-appropriate fish are perching and could land on the mini-max. 

100% this - I totally forgot to mention that! I'd like to think that some of the yellow in my rainbow Maxi Mini was contributed by the poor Yellow Clown Goby that was consumed by the anemone. He was totally fine for months and months...until he got caught...

 

For a small pico, I'd go fish-free if I had nems and stock it with a porcelain crab or sexy shrimp. Sexy shrimp do really well in picos with no big predators.

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3 hours ago, PeterU said:

This is my Maxi-mini carpet anemone hosting a Porcelain Anemone Crab. The anemone is about 4 inches across when stretched out.

2021-07-22 18.15.03.jpg

2021-06-30 08.53.42.jpg

Can this crab be kept with any fish? 

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1 hour ago, Tired said:

A mini-max is a very sticky anemone that will kill fish if they land on it. A rock flower won't kill healthy fish. Both will host porcelain crabs. If you want fish, I'd stick with rock flowers, since all pico-appropriate fish are perching and could land on the mini-max. 

 

Wait until the tank is well established. You want to have been able to support corals for a couple months before you add either species of anemone, ideally, though both are reasonably hardy as nems go. If the tank is mature and you've had LPS for awhile, you should be able to house a rock flower nem. 

 

There's some anecdotal evidence that shallow-water RFAs grow larger than deep-water RFAs. Since deep-water ones are the more colorful ones anyway, that's not much of a problem, people tend to prefer the deep-water ultras. Most people seem to only have ultras grow to 3" or so, maybe 4" if fed a lot. 

I don't think my light can support lps. 

Curent orbit fixture from what I've read is good for sps, softies.. But no lps. 

Not planning on getting one just yet. 

I like to research waayyy in advance so when the time comes... I decide on the fly. Lol.  Any easy corals that won't harm potential inhabitants? 

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Porcelain crabs aren't actually crabs, just a similar-looking crustacean. Their claws are weak, and they filter-feed to get a meal. Be sure to target-feed them frequently (just use tweezers or a pipette to put frozen, pellet, or flake food right next to it), and they should do well. They don't hurt fish. I had one try to catch a very small blenny once while excited from feeding, but it had no way to catch and contain her, so she got away fine and it hasn't tried again.

 

2 hours ago, 1st reef said:

I don't think my light can support lps. 

Curent orbit fixture from what I've read is good for sps, softies.. But no lps. 

Not planning on getting one just yet. 

I like to research waayyy in advance so when the time comes... I decide on the fly. Lol.  Any easy corals that won't harm potential inhabitants? 

SPS generally require much more light than LPS. If your light can support SPS, it can support LPS. 

 

Leptoseris are reasonably easy to keep, and very intensely colored. Zoanthids are easy, blue-green sympodium is a bit uncommon but very pretty, acan lords (technically micromussa lords) are relatively easy and come in some nice patterns. 

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less than bread

Rock flowers are not true “anemones” but they are a soft, tentacled, meat eating reef mate. They are extremely hardy, not very expensive, and beautiful creatures. It’s fun to feed them and they grow fast. I would highly recommend getting a couple of them

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2 hours ago, 1st reef said:

I don't think my light can support lps. 

Curent orbit fixture from what I've read is good for sps, softies.. But no lps. 

Not planning on getting one just yet. 

I like to research waayyy in advance so when the time comes... I decide on the fly. Lol.  Any easy corals that won't harm potential inhabitants? 

Current orbit is fine for softies and lps and some easier sps at the top or multiple orbits on 1 tank

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