Should I get an anemone for my percs?

[aquawolf]

Hi everyone,

 

I have had my 12g Nano Cube DX, with 24 watts 50/50 stock lighting set up for close to 2 months now.

 

Here are my specs:

20 lbs LS

14 lbs LR

5 lbs LR rubble in back (no sponges, ceramic rings or bioballs)

Chaeto in back (small sandwich bag sized piece)

Poly Bag with Purigen and PhosGuard in back

Stock pump for now, but going to replace with MJ606 I just received.

 

My cleanup crew consists of a few dwarf blue legged hermits, 4 turbo snails and 15 Nassarius snails.

 

The only other inhabitants are my 2 true Percula Clown fishes.

 

My Percs seem perfectly fine without an anemone, but that is just the way I see it an am not sure if it is true or not.

 

Would they be much happier if they had an anemone to host with and, more importantly, what type could my current setup support?

 

I was thinking about a BTA if my system can handle it but as of yet am undecided. So, at this point, I am looking for your valued input as to what I should do.

 

Thanks in advance for helping out another lifelong newbie.

[soju]

to my knowledge, people usually upgrade the lights on the nanocube before an anenome. You might want to check reefcentral in thier clown & anenome forum. It will tell you about light requirements and stuff. Also a clown fish doesnt NEED an anenome to survive.

 

A friend of mine got a RBTA for his nano cube with stock lighting. Did good for a few days and then melted away. I cant say whether it was the lighting that killed it or just the way my friend is. (not to great at taking care of his tank and doesnt want to listen to me)

 

Just make sure u accimate it correctly. (friend just did a 15 min float in the tank and did not drip water or anything). And be ready for the anenome to wander the tank.

 

In my 29g, I placed it on a flat ledge on the top right of all my rock work. It then traveled down to the sand, then to the left side, then behind the rock work to appear on the front of the tank, then went to the back of the tank behind the rock again, then up the glass, under the ledge I started it on, the now is smack middle of the rock work. But it still seems like it wants to move. My clown fishes doesnt even notice it and thus will not host it right now. Too busy hosting the frog spawn.

 

well good luck with the BTA. I'd honestly think about upgrading the lights though.

[aquawolf]

Thanks for the info and a lead off into another direction.

 

I also have a new 12g Nano Cube DX with the 48 watts of lighting but I am taking my time and trying to be patient before setting it up. Once I put in LS, LR and water I was planning on letting it stay that way for at least 6 months, although I may have to add a cleaner crew before then.

 

Anyways, if your clowns are hosting frogspawn and I am sure I have read about others on here doing the same thing, it may be time to do some research on that and forget about the anemone thing all together.

 

Like I stated earlier, I am trying to be patient and do what's best for my tank inhabitants.

[nalbar]

if you are at all interested in patience, forget the anemone.

 

mine hosted a group of frilly shrooms. imo frilly shrooms are the best choice. cheap, dont need much light, and come in a hundred varieties.

 

to give you an idea of scale, the clown on the right is about three inches long.

[aquawolf]

Thanks Nalbar!

 

I started doing research on the frogspawn and found they need strong lighting, which my cube does not qualify for, and that they have these 6 inch long sweeper tentacles. If it decides to sweep in a 12 gallon NC it could cover nearly half the tank and seems way too dangerous for other corals and stuff. That, of course, is in my newbie opinion.

 

The frilly shrooms idea sounds even better yet! They look really cool and the fact that they don't require strong lighting would work perfectly for me. Besides that, even if my percs don't host the shrooms they would be something nice to look at.

 

How quickly do they grow and are they easy to frag?

 

Thanks again for the replies everyone.

[nalbar]

they grow quite fast. and are the easiest of corals to frag. they just let go!

 

frilly's are a highly under rated coral. anemone's are highly over rated.

 

one warning though, like anemones the LARGE variety of frilly's will eat small fish. avoid the large variety. the ones i have in that pic are a smaller variety.

 

luckily the larger ones are harder to find and can be pretty expensive.

 

 

nalbar

[aquawolf]

Thanks again, I am out looking up information about them on Live Aquaria right now. I have a new LFS I am dealing with, actually one I used to do business with 12 years ago, that is 2 hours away so I may give them a call and see if they have any in stock for pickup later on. They have been known to sell individual mushrooms on a piece of rock for $5.00 each which I think is pretty cool for the Nano world. I just haven't taken the dive yet.