When can I add an anemone?

Discussion in 'Inverts' started by Kadoogen, Aug 19, 2014.

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  1. Kadoogen

    Kadoogen Flamingo Tongue

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    I recently setup my new tank, its about 1.5 months old. Params are good and my diatom bloom finished up last week. When would be a good time to add one, should I wait for anything?
     
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  3. Pdxile

    Pdxile Coral Banded Shrimp

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    It's generally recommended that you have an established tank of one year or more with very stable parameters. Even though your tank has stable params now, they can really fluctuate during the first 6 months/year, especially as you stock your tank and the filter (mostly live rock) adjusts to manage the new bioload.
     
  4. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

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    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    Depends on the type of anemone.

    Three months in on stable tank I think it's ok to add a BTA or a Condy, Maxi-Mini....For other more sensitive types I would wait until you see good coralline algae growth along with coral growth and stability.
     
  5. Kadoogen

    Kadoogen Flamingo Tongue

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    Do corals and anemones count towards your bio load?
     
  6. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

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    No not particularly unless your feeding them a lot. If you must feed an anemone feeding a small piece of raw seafood every two weeks will not adversely affect your water quality. Most corals do not require enough feeding to make an impact unless your tank is NPS dominated.
     
  7. Pdxile

    Pdxile Coral Banded Shrimp

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    I never asked the size of your tank. Generally the bigger, the more stable when new.
    I'm going to disagree with coralline (sorry) about the three-month mark; long-term stability is what you are going for, and you cannot extrapolate short-term to long-term. Lots of things happen in your tank besides the nitrogen cycle.
     
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  9. Va Reef

    Va Reef Giant Squid

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    There really is not a "set time" for adding things. Any amount of months doesn't mean anything if you aren't familiar with your tank. The whole point of the 3-6 month thing is because at this time, first time tank owners generally have the gist of how their tank works, for example, when to dose, when to change water, when to top off etc, whatever is required for stable parameters.

    Personally I don't see much difference in 3 months vs 6 months, at that point it doesn't make that much difference.

    I'd say a good idea would be to buy a cheap maxi mini anemone when you feel you are ready for an anemone (following the guidelines for "ready"); sort of to test the waters, then go for the others, BTA, LTA, ritteri, haddoni, sebae, etc.
     
  10. Kadoogen

    Kadoogen Flamingo Tongue

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    Well I have been reefing for about 5 years now,, I have had a RBT in the past but I feel it was the stereotypical beginners luck that it lasted. I just want to make sure it will live the long haul and i'm not just throwing money at my habit. That being said, my old tank was a 36G bow front with a canister filter. I now have a 65 reef ready w/ 20g sump ( total water volume around 75-80G) so I have almost tripled my water volume so I think i'll be able to handle it. Just want to make sure there was nothing hiding that I was not accounting for.
     
  11. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

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    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    Just start with a healthy specimen.

    BTA's are almost always clones these days so they're well suited to captivity as long as the basics such as SG, temp and nutrients are within normal limits and you're doing the routine husbandry.

    What type of anemone are you thinking of?
     
  12. Kadoogen

    Kadoogen Flamingo Tongue

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    I really like the rose bubble tip, I need some nice pink/redish in my tank. My 6 year old clowns I have now loved the last one and i'm hoping they didn't forget and not want to host again