Whats a good first Anenome?

Hi all, I need advice on a good first Anenome. Our tank is doing very well and our mated pair of Clown Fish seem to be missing the Anenome they had in their tank at the lfs. They sit most of the day in an empty plastic cup thats in the tank that holds mushroom frags. I heard that you can train an Anenome to stay in one spot by having it on a liverock island surrounded by sand? We have lots of mushrooms, polyps, zoas etc that I would like to prevent from getting stung.

 

theres no guarantee your clowns will host it, I have a pair with my RBTA for 6 months, nothing. and the anemones will usually walk all over the place until they decide they are happy. I havent heard of the trick you mentioned before.

 

You can't stop a nem from moving when it wants. I've had Condys, Rock Flowers, LTAs and BTAs move across the sand. The LTAs and Condys literally had to lay on their side and "crawl", but they made it.

 

The "trick" you speak of will help with sand dwelling nems some of the time...assuming they are happy with other params in that spot. A lot of rock dwelling nems will find their "happy place" where they can get their foot in a hole/crevice or just under a rock. If you're hoping for a host anemone, Bubble Tips are probably the easiest and many species of clown will use them as a host.

 

so attaching it to a rock with a nail gun is out? lol

 

lol only if you want to kill your tank. best thing to do is let it get settled and then move the corals away from it basically build your tank around it

 

I know the topic of buying/keeping an anemone can stir up some people. To some they say a tank should be up for at least a year just to ensure tank stability, as they can be sensitive to parameter swings. To me a confident, hobbyists thats done thier research can safely and correctly care for one.

Having kinda said the disclaimer, I didnt look thru threads to see your tank, or experience level. Me personally to be on the safe side I would consider picking up a mini-maxi as a starter nem. No they wont host a clown, but they are however a safer & cheaper alternative to ensure that your tank, lighting, care level etc are enough to move onto bigger and better (and hosting) nems.