Nems......?!?.....

Nems do better in large plumbed tanks with lots of current. I think that there is lots to be learned about nems. I think generally people try one, have a bad experience ,and then discourage others. Or they simply dont take the time to understand them and the needs.

 

I may tempt one in my 125... its plumbed with plenty of flow...

 

Need to target feed and getting an anemone fish is always a plus. Another topic is do anemone fish feed nems or simply trying to store food for later or trying to hide it and go hunt for more............ IMO they are trying to store or hide food. My dominant clown does not bring food to the nem but the weaker one will...

 

I can say for sure that my clarkii feeds his house. If I put guppy feeders in the tank he will attack them and give them to the nem. Never eats them or shows any interest in trying to chew them up or eat them. Just drops them off at home and goes back on the hunt for more. When hes satisfied that his home has enough he will stay about an inch away while it eats and guard the nem from my snowflake eel stealing them.

 

Or is he killing them intentionally by giving them to the nem to rid of any intruders. Does he hunt till there all gone?

 

Good point. Hard to truly understand why a fish does anything.

 

Thats what makes them so interesting my friend. Im thinking about getting a large carpet and eel for my 55. Wonder how different they are from long tentacle nems...

 

I have 2 BTA's in my 90g. Once happy with lighting and flow, they will pretty much stay put. I feed mine quite a bit, like 2 krill each 2-3x a week, and 1/2 a silversides each 1x a week.


I know many guys have issues with the nems rolling around at first, but once you get past that, they are a beautiful part of a reef tank, and especially if a clown hosts in them.

My big old maroon clown can be nasty at times, but seeing him in his green and red BTA's is impressive.

 

Be careful what species carpet you go for, some of the commonly sold types will hit 18"-24" across the tentacle disk. Mine went from 8"ish to 12-14" across in a matter of months