Anemone delimma

[bbatman99]

I have a carpet anemone and I'm not quite sure what to do with it. My tank is only 3 months old and I already went through all my fish dying (ich) after I put a sick fish into my tank.

 

I decided to hold off on fish for a while and get my reef tank off the ground first.

 

1. Do I keep the anemone or trade it in?

 

2. Will it do fine w/o a host for a while?

 

 

Thanks,

Brad

[ThePremiumAquarium]

There really are alot of factors in decided whether or not to keep your anemonie. Questions that I would ask myself before making the decision would be: How has it been doing over the last month or two?, What kind of lighting am I keeping it under? Is it moving around alot or does it seem ot have a nice spot that it likes? What are my water parameters like? How much room do I have for its growth? Do I plan on keeping anthing that it can sting or eat easily?

 

There are lots of variables really. You don't at all need a clown fish to host in the anemonie. In fact for the most part the anemonie really only needs lots of strong light and an occasional feeding of meaty foods.

 

Hope this helps a bit.

 

 

Garrett

[dsoz]

Anemones only need a host in the wild. They can do just fine in a tank without a clown. Same goes for clowns, in the wild they are too slow and clumsey to survive without an anemone/coral to host, but in our tanks there is not a lot that will eat a clown so they do fine.

 

If it were me, I would trade in the carpet to a LFS to get credit for fish. Wait until your tank is about a year old before trying an anemone. Then you should try a bubble-tip. They are considered the easiest to keep, and the most forgiving for less than ideal conditions.

 

Any type of anemone can get HUGE. Especially carpets. Unless you have a large tank (200+ gallons), the anemone could be the only thing that you can keep in there. If it is happy, it will overgrow everything else.

 

dsoz

[bbatman99]

thanks guys...2nd part to the dilemma, how do I get the anemone off the LR it's on to trade in? Or do I need to take the whole rock into the LFS? Of course it found a safe haven on my favorite LR and on the back side of it (go figure).

[ThePremiumAquarium]

You could try working it off of the rock carefully as to not harm its foot too badly. I would probably just trade in the rock with it. You will likely be able to trade for an equal weight/quality rock if you explain that you couldn't get him off and didn't want to hurt him.

 

Garrett