would two Pink tip Anemones survive under 2x24w T-5's?

--Dan

Generally speaking Anenomes aint the hardiest of critters to do in a tank. Heres why...

1. You need some pretty pristine water.

2. They need lots of light!

3. They do best in a tank that has some age to it and has about 9 plus months of maturity under its belt. This gives you a chance to to sort out the water chemistry and allow things to stabilize out so there are no signifcant swings in Ph, Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates and a host of other chemistry issues. Anenomes dont handle changes in water parameters well and in something like a nano this could be a less than ideal situation due to evaporation and then the sudden adition of make up water.

4. Due to the size that they can reach...any tank under 30 gallons pretty much becomes a species only tank. Some Anenomes such as the Carpet Anenomes get to be about 3 feet plus if they live long enough!

5. Small tanks with powerheads and filter intakes + anenome = Anenome Puree.

Anenomes will move around on you until they find a spot of there liking with proper water flow, proper light intensity etc...In doing this, they have a really unique ability to find a power head and get sucked up into it killing them as the pump impeller shreds them.

Now back to the question...In a nano tank such as a 10 gallon or less, the T-5's will be a minimal acceptable light with regular supplemental feeding. I would really not recommend this in such a set up but...it leaves a bit to be desired. If your using the old and out dated "Watts per a Gallon Rule" to determine light needs then I would highly recommend that you pretty much disregard that formula at least when it comes to reef tanks. This forumla fails to take a lot of other variables into consideration.

You say Pink Tipped Anenome? I really need to know exactly what type of Anenome it is. Are we talking about a Condylactis (Condy, Hatian Anenome as they are commonly called), Rose Bubble Tip Anenome etc... Keep in mind too that Condy's arent a host Anenome either. This means those nice cute little clown fish are potentially on the menu. Thats an expensive dinner for the Condy and possibly a real bummer for you.

If you can give me more info, such as the correct name of the anenome, the price they are asking for it (prices can help narrow down what species in many cases), the size tank and its equipment and inhabitants I will try to come up with a little more of a concrete answer for you. I have quiet a few Anenomes and have a lot of experience with them, and would be happy to help you if I can.

This (Anenomes) is on my List of articles I am in the process of writing and posting on the forum.

HTH's....

Well, its also known as a Haitian Anemone, but Im not sure as to what the scientific name is.

I found another I would like to keep though, cheap, low light, decent colour and hardy. It's from the Atlantic, so I doubt it'll host any Clowns, but I still like it. It's called a Curlique Anemone! Thanks for the help though!

--Dan

I was kinda thinking the Hatian Anenome given the discription you provided. These are some of the hardiest anenomes and the lighting set up you have would work out okay. They are also pretty neat looking and look cool in a tank. I had one of these that was too strikingly colored to pass up and had it in a 20 gallon with 130 watts of PC. It did well for about 2 years. Be advised that these are not a host anenome, so clown fish wont get too friendly with them and it would be hazardous to there longevity if they do.

For your Nano, have you considered some Zoanthids, Ricordias, Colony Polyps, Corkey Finger Gorgonian, Candy Cane coral, Frog Spawn, Hammer Coral and prehaps for fish a Percula Clown, Royal Gama or Canary Blenny. Small colonies of these corals and 2 or maybe 3 small fish would do nicely in such a set up with the T-5's for light

Just an option to consider

Really? I didn't think most those corals would survive with a lower amount of light.

I didn't think they would host, but they sure are neat looking. Most of the anemones that I've read about, which host Clowns, need a lot of light. So Im not really expecting something like that.

I like the the Yellowhead Jawfish, and the Firefish. I think those do well in 10g nano set ups.

--Dan

The Jawfish is definitely interesting. I got to see one in the flesh for the fist time about 9 months ago and I might have to do one of these some day. The recommend tank size is 20 gallons on these guys. If we were talking about a 15 gallon tank I would say go for it but I am not sure about the 10.

The Fire Fish on the other hand...is a stupendous choice! I would recommend a couple no doubt. It would be an excellent addition to your 10 gallon Nano. A word of warning is due here though. They are certified Jumpers! They will spook easily and take that blind leap of faith so to speak and you will come home one day and find that you now have "fish jerky". To solve this problem cover the tank with a somehwat snug lid, egg crate from the Lighting Store.

I missed the Curly Cue Anenome in the earlier post (Sorry), and I think that will do okay in your tank but just one only! It needs to be at the bottom of the tank in the sand preferably at the edge where the rock and sand meat is a good starting place for them. They too will move a bit.

Not all corals require Retna Frying 400 watt 10K halides. Many out there will get by just fine at lower wattages. You have to remember, by the time you get sand in there and some rock your 12 inch deep tank will only be about 10 inches deep or there abouts. At that shallow of a depth the light will have very little water to "penetrate" so a little light can go a long ways here. Things like Mushrooms, Yellow Polyps, Zoanthids and Green Straburst Polyps will do excellent under these conditions of light. The others I mentioned will be pushing the envelope a bit but if placed in the rock work so that they are 1/2 way up in the tanks water coloum should do okay, not great but okay. I have done SPS corals and T. Maxima clams in a Nano 10 gallon using a Coralife Quad-4 96 watt PC before with good results. Its becuase the tank is so shallow that I am able to pull this off with light demanding critters like that. To be honest with you most of my Prompagation tanks are 15 gallon tanks on a rack and are only under VHO's. The secret here is a shallow tank with lights sitting pretty close to the surface of the water (as can safely be permitted of course).

I hate to disagree but hatians are not hardy by any means, they are very easy to colect because of the low wages payed to the locals who collect them but thats the only reason that they are so common.

None of the Anenomes are all that easy to keep, but the Hatians seem to be easier than most of the other types of Anenomes that are sold in the retail market in my experience.


You right though they are collected in huge numbers making the retail price very cheap. Too cheap! This makes them apealing to many newbies that often times lack experience and knowledge. Unfortunately this does indeed doom many of them to a short life...