Peter Gott Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 Hi all! After almost three years avoiding this hobby following a heartbreaking crash of my favorite reef ever, I can't avoid the itch any longer... ...so I'm back. I think I want to try my hand at nems. I'm still too sore over the loss of my montis to get back into SPS again, and I'm considering a specialty tank. Coral are soooo hard to resist though. Does anyone have experience keeping torch corals with anemones? Especially BTAs? Or maybe galaxea with BTAs? I'm thinking of doing a tank dedicated to the BTAs, including letting them roam wherever they want (besides my overflow), so if I have any corals I'd like them to be stingers capable of defending themselves. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 Keep them away from eachother. The BTA will normally win, but they can both be damaged if they get too close. The best way to do this I've found is to get the tank stable and add the BTA(s). Give them time to settle and once they do, don't adjust lighting or water movement. You should be able to add the torch or other euphyllias without risking the BTA's roaming around the tank at this point. Make sure to watch to see how large of an area the torchy's sweepers cover. I've seen some with really long ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 Only coral I've seen that seems indifferent to a BTA getting up close and personal is blue coral. Everything else looses out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 If your passion is montis then keeping euphyllias is more likely to make you happy than keeping anemones. I wouldn't try and mix them for a species tank. Someone on ARC posted a clownfish species tank with a bunch of RBTA's that I thought looked good. I think it was a 14 or 29 BC. I always wanted a nice BTA, but I'm no longer willing to accommodate them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gott Posted October 18, 2016 Author Share Posted October 18, 2016 This is all excellent info, thanks everyone! So it seems that if I want to try my hand at nems, I definitely want to keep it just nems. I'd rather mix different color morphs of the BTAs and then get some cerianthids (not true anemones, I know) for the sandbed for contrast then risk the bubble-tips burning any corals, even once the anemones look like they're established. I've definitely seen some tanks where BTAs have taken over before. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gott Posted October 18, 2016 Author Share Posted October 18, 2016 If your passion is montis then keeping euphyllias is more likely to make you happy than keeping anemones. I wouldn't try and mix them for a species tank. Someone on ARC posted a clownfish species tank with a bunch of RBTA's that I thought looked good. I think it was a 14 or 29 BC. I always wanted a nice BTA, but I'm no longer willing to accommodate them. Sascha, I'll definitely get back to montis. My favorite coral is actually leptastrea, and the two of them together are great for a bonsai-reef look in nanos. I'm just not ready yet...and I want to try my hand at something new, too. My partner does like Euphyllias a lot though! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 I know that different color morphs of BTA do not bother each other. I've seen green, red, and sherman all touching before. I'm not sure if a BTA, Long Tentacle, Ritteri, etc. will sting each other. It might be worth looking into. If you had a tank that was 29ish gallons then you could get two pairs of clowns in there hosting different types of anemones. In a 36-48" long tank you could probably add three different pairs. The species tank that I remember had one RBTA that cloned several times and 10 or so Oscellaris Clownfish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 I know that different color morphs of BTA do not bother each other. I've seen green, red, and sherman all touching before. I'm not sure if a BTA, Long Tentacle, Ritteri, etc. will sting each other. It might be worth looking into. If you had a tank that was 29ish gallons then you could get two pairs of clowns in there hosting different types of anemones. In a 36-48" long tank you could probably add three different pairs. The species tank that I remember had one RBTA that cloned several times and 10 or so Oscellaris Clownfish. All BTA's should be compatible no matter the color but other anemones are not compatible at all. Sometimes they don't even work in the same tank. This is often the case with riterris and carpets, they will often never settle if there's any other anemone in the same tank. Reterri's are so difficult they really shouldn't be available in captivity but people occasionally have success with them. BTA's and LTA's usually work as long as they don't ever run into eachother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gott Posted October 18, 2016 Author Share Posted October 18, 2016 It makes sense that different anemone species wouldn't get along since they're competing for similar spaces/similar niches. I think the cerianthids should be ok since to my knowledge the BTAs prefer the rockwork. It may be overkill but I was thinking maybe even doing a 55 gallon and having a few pairs of clowns. That would be beautiful; especially with a wavemaker to ripple through all those lovely tentacles. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 I really wouldn't put anything with a carpet, except clownfish. I've known too many people lose a fish mysteriously with a carpet in the tank. If I added an anemone to my reef tank then it would be a LTA. The books that I've read on them suggest they always stay on the sand bed. Pink Skunks and Clarkii will host them and they can get pretty large. I remember one at the Waikiki Aquarium that was 3' in diameter and had 12-18" tentacles! It was hosting something like 15 clownfish. I saw some really nice ones in the ASD auction a few weeks ago. The BTA is probably your best bet for a nano though. I'm not sure if you'd see anything except tentacles with an LTA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gott Posted October 18, 2016 Author Share Posted October 18, 2016 I really wouldn't put anything with a carpet, except clownfish. I've known too many people lose a fish mysteriously with a carpet in the tank. If I added an anemone to my reef tank then it would be a LTA. The books that I've read on them suggest they always stay on the sand bed. Pink Skunks and Clarkii will host them and they can get pretty large. I remember one at the Waikiki Aquarium that was 3' in diameter and had 12-18" tentacles! It was hosting something like 15 clownfish. I saw some really nice ones in the ASD auction a few weeks ago. The BTA is probably your best bet for a nano though. I'm not sure if you'd see anything except tentacles with an LTA. My goodness, that's huge!!! I thought only carpets got that big, and they don't have the epic tentacles!! I would never hear the end of it if I had that many tentacles in my aquarium; my roommates tease me mercilessly about my love for smaller tentacled-things as it is, lol. ...except now I've got the idea in my head... 15 clownfish in one nem? That's simply amazing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted October 19, 2016 Share Posted October 19, 2016 I took these pictures at the Waikiki Aquarium in 2008. It's not the big LTA, but maybe somebody can identify the anemones for you. All three pictures are from the same tank. Every rock surface was covered with anemones and there were a bunch of clowns tending them all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted October 19, 2016 Share Posted October 19, 2016 Just an FYI but BTAs can easily outgrow a nano so you still may not see anything but tentacles: http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/37486-s-t-r-e-t-c-h/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted October 19, 2016 Share Posted October 19, 2016 I took these pictures at the Waikiki Aquarium in 2008. It's not the big LTA, but maybe somebody can identify the anemones for you. All three pictures are from the same tank. Every rock surface was covered with anemones and there were a bunch of clowns tending them all. IMG_0690.JPG IMG_0689.JPG DSCN1260.JPG The one on the substrate is a green gigantea carpet. The ones on the rocks are something else, ritteri, or some super stringy BTA's maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted October 19, 2016 Share Posted October 19, 2016 Hard to get the scope on the size of this tank, but it was roughly a 4ft cylinder at the Denver aquarium. One of the coolest tanks I've ever seen. The curved glass really magnifies everything when taking a picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gott Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 Just an FYI but BTAs can easily outgrow a nano so you still may not see anything but tentacles: http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/37486-s-t-r-e-t-c-h/ I'm totally ok with that. It was seeing an overgrown tank that gave me my idea. Those pics from Waikiki Aquarium (thanks Sascha!) look idyllic to me; just the thought of currents of water rippling through all those tentacles makes my soul purr. That's why ininitially posted asking if there are any coral that can resist a BTA sting; my plan was to have an aquarium the nems totally took over!Although it looks like the 55g system I was planning to get to make this all happen may have fallen through now...[emoji24] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gott Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 Hard to get the scope on the size of this tank, but it was roughly a 4ft cylinder at the Denver aquarium. One of the coolest tanks I've ever seen. The curved glass really magnifies everything when taking a picture. Ooooooo...the curved glass is incredible; you're right! [emoji76] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gott Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 Lol now I want to start an "everyone post your favorite anemone tank photos" thread. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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