SPS and Rose Bubble Anemones

[nbd13]

Hey guys,

thinking of adding an anemone to my 275 gallon SPS tank.

First off does anyone have anemones in their SPS tanks?

if so where did you place them, did they move around at all? sting any corals? did they eventaully find a spot that they liked and stayed there?

i have a pair of ocellaris (still small) and my girlfriend has always wanted one. I was at a local reefers house today and say a nice bubble tip anemone in with all SPS. It stayed in "its" corner and looked real nice.

so it got me thinking, got home did alittle reading and am really considering it.

BUT what do you think? most of you have seen pics of my tank and know the specs, so what do you think? would you risk it?

ALSO bubble tips are less likely to eat fish right? basically fairy wrasses, anthias, tangs, angels, and so on.....

will my angel pick on it? the Centropyge interruptus Angelfish and i am going to get a blueline angel (same family as the conspic angel) here pretty soon once the fish issues are sloved.

also please post some pics.

thanks

Nick

[WayneL333]

I got three in my 300! I used to have two True Roses, but one split. What I did was kind of put them in the direction of my Tunzes. You kind of have to balance the flow. too much and they'll move, but just enough and they'll stay put. I found they tend to like medium flow.

I know Eric at FragFarmer has them in his SPS system too.

Oh yeah, I've got tons of fish in my system. including 2 Interruptus', and I don't think any of my anemones ate them. I've never heard any BTA's eating live fish.

[nbd13]

Thanks Wayne,

alittle off topic here, but post some more pics of your tank please! haha

ok so you found that med. flow is best. do they like flow right at them or kind of indirrect?

i want to put it near the bottom, do you think it will be happy? running 250w DE 14k hamiltons (going to try the new pheonix bulb here in the next month or 2). with some VHOs also for actinic.

i have heard stories of these things splitting and almost taking over an area, do you find this with yours?

will my ocellaris host in a bubble tip even?

thanks Wayne.

Nick

[OUinLA]

Nick, I use to have a BTA in my sps tank and it was fine. I know a lot of people that keep them. The best thing to try is to get a good piece of live rock that has some good spots for it to grab onto and place that like an "island", hoping that the anemone will stay on that rock. You want water movement but not to strong. Also, full light is required for that spot. After several months for some reason my BTA went for walk and got right in the middle of some corals. It wasn't stinging them, but I thought it would sooner or later so I removed the anemone, which is a whole other topic all together.

[nbd13]

Thanks Madison,

i just need to find a source for these guys. i hear they dont ship well right?

So maybe get a nice piece of LR and place it where i want the anemone. the place the anemone on that piece of LR?

i will have to figure out where to put it to give it the full light and right flow.

thanks again guys,

Nick

P.S. post some pics if you have them

[GTR]

IMO putting the BTA where you want it to stay is like setting a lead weight in mid air and expecting it to stay there.

IME it will travel the tank from a few hours to weeks until it settles where it wants. Also keep in mind that they "can" grow fast. What might expand 5" today could expand to 10" in a few months. You have to decide if you want to dedicate that much space.

Then you have issues with overflows and pump inputs you need to take care of.

SteveU

[nbd13]

I am really considering this. I think it makes the tank look better IMO.

just trying to figure out where to put it and where to get a nice one.

i think i may try it after i add the new ceramic rocks and add another pump for more flow.

thanks guys

Nick

[invincible569]

Hey Nick.. just PM'd you the info about this. You will be ok!

Especially with SPS around. The SPS actually keep the BTA in check. Here is proof from a local matured tank. YOu can see the BTA's in the background and the SPS do well around it. Just make sure they have a great place to anchor.

My SPS also keep the BTA in check and does not elongate its tentacles out like you would see in ZOOM's tank.

[nbd13]

Thanks Edward. very nice tank!

my other concern is a spawning event, will that happen often? didnt that happen in Zooms tank? and wipe out some SPS and fish?

How often do you feed yours Edward?

i will find a good piece of LR with a nice creevce in it.

does anyone know the "key" to getting them to have the bubble tips? i see some with them and some without them.

also these dont ship well do they? is drip aclimating them better?

thanks again guys

Nick

[invincible569]

Mine has never spawned so I cannot answer to that.

I dont feed mine often. Maybe once every 3 months. It has grown a bit, but is not overgrown where it affects my other corals. I used to have a clown, and then got a Glass shrimp. The glass shrimp stayed there for about a yr.. then recently, I couldnt find him.

The key to bubble tips is usually the reason that they are either satisfied or they are trapping food into their mouth. If they are elongated, this usually means they are trying to grab food out in the open. If you feed him, you will see that it will be bubble tipped for a while.

I got mine shipped.. and didnt have any problems acclimating him like any other coral.

[nbd13]

Thanks again.

does anyone know how to sex these RBTAs?

i heard from someone on RC that females split and males spawn. i dont want a male and have it spawn and kill fish and corals.

thanks again guys.

Nick

[invincible569]

Here's the pics I promised.. one is how its anchored into the rock.. and the other was a recent one (couple of months ago) when the peppermints were aggravating the BTA and it moved down. But is now back in place after removing the peppermint shrimps.

[nbd13]

Looks great Edward!

cant wait to get one! just want to wait till i get that reef ceramic rocks to "finish" the tank and add that other pump for some more water movement and i will be all set.

does yours sway back and forth in the current?

i want to put it in medium to high flow and want to make sure thats ok.

thanks

Nick