Heres a story

So I set up my 55gal, about 8 months ago. Took it slow, let my tank mature a little, than started checking into anemones and clown fish. I was going to wait a little longer than the 6 month mark to get my first anemone, but a friend offered me 1 of his splits after I upgraded my lights. I take everything slow and do my research. Honestly I got my anemone faster than I planed to. I also found my clowns quicker than I thought I would. I pick a pair of onyx clowns, I really liked the orange and black. I had to have them shipped from Sandiego Cal. No one had them in Oregon. I wasn't expecting them to host, I was hoping they would. I read enough to know a BTA isn't their natural host. What I missed was onyx clowns (mostly wild caught ones) tend to lose their color in anything but the natural host.

The clowns are young and haven't colored in but show promise. The smaller 1 hasn't hosted the BTA yet and he is the 1 w/ the most black coloring. The bigger 1 went to the BTA within the first week. The bars on both fish are coming in, but the bigger 1 shows no black.

They are captive bred, and the person I got them from isn't a breeder. He was just lucky enough to get great fish. He keeps his w/ a RBTA and his retain all their color.

I'm hoping for the best, that they'll color up as they get older, but I'm planning for the worst (replacing the BTA w/ the natural host). I'm not ready for a Carpet Anemone (Stichodactyla Gigantea), which I think is the proper host. My tanks not ready either. To my understanding their requirements are harder to meet than that of a BTA.

Time to start planing and reading.

Another thing is I really like my BTA, and am not willing to part w/ him. From what I have read, I could keep both anemones in the same tank as long as they stayed away from each other. I know there's no way to guaranty them staying a part, at some point 1 of them will move. I only have the 1 tank, and I'm waiting for my husband to forget how much this 1 cost him so I can start my next build, but even if I started a new tank now it wouldn't be ready for an anemone for 6 months min. that leaves me w/ no where for any body to go if a problem comes up.

Please help me plan this.

What are the differences in care for the anemones?
How possible is it that they could live together in pace?
Any one have details about this onyx thing? I haven't been able to find that thread again
Where should I start the planing for the possible addition of a carpet anemone?

I read when placed w/ the right host the fish do regain the black coloring.

 

The care for the two nems is pretty well the same, the BTA's can tend to stand semi-poor water quality better than the carpets and dont seem to require as much light, but dont take that to heart, they still need good lighting and nearly perfect water params. It is always good to feed a anemone on occasion but the carpets seem to do better when fed more often than other nems IMO. The BTA's will move up the rockwork or glass to get where they feel is a good position with light and water movement. The Carpets prefer to stay on the bottom or attached to some rockwork near the bottom, thus better lighting is a must for it to be healthy and happy.

You can keep more than one nem in a tank but keep a close eye on them. The carpet will easily overpower the BTA. Most confrontations though lead to one of them moving away from the other. For instance, I have 3 nems in the same tank, a condy, a BTA and a LTA, they have all met at one time or another but will mostly stay away from one another once they touch. Dont take that lightly, they need to be watched closely until they find the place they want to stay in. The carpets can get very large and a 55 gallon tank could prove bad for the BTAs health in the long run. A freind of mine has a Green Haddoni Carpet and it takes up almost 1/4 of his tank(125 gallons).

I couldnt find anything on the Onyx's fading colors in a unnatural host and have also never heard of that. Doesnt sound right but I could be wrong.

IMO, start the planning with a upgrade to a bigger tank, your gonna need it for a Carpet. lol Also make sure your lights are up to par for one to stay on the bottom....Make the Nem happy=make the clowns happy.

Good Luck hope this helps.

 

That helps a lot, thx. Needed to know what plans to start making. The onyx clowns loosing color is more so w/ the WC ones than the captive bred from what I understand. Mine are captive bred and still young. Like 5 months old. I'm taking a wait and see approach, but I know if I start thinking about it now it wont bite me in the bum later. This helps me get an idea of what to plan for thx again