When can i put an anemone in my 30 gal tank

[kasaki89]

hello, i just signed up for this site 5 min ago and i need alot of helP , ive had my saltwater tank for about 3 weeks now just put in 2 ocellaris clownfish not even the size of my thumb(im 15 ), and 4 hermit crabs looking things , that seem like they dont really do much , now back to what i was sayin , when can i put an anemone in my tank for my clownfish ?please if someone could reply you'd be alot of help , and ill be posting pics of my tank very soon

[Mr.Peanut]

Hi welcome to TRT.

An anemone needs an established tank. Usually at least 6 months old, some will say longer(I waited to the 6 month mark). 3 weeks old is a very young tank. Its probably not even ready for the fish you have added. What I mean by this is your cycle may not be over yet. This could be a very stressful situation for a fish.

What are you water parameters?

[Mr.Peanut]

I forgot to ask....what kind of clowns did you get?

[Loverotties]

Also what is your lighting,but I'd waite for a yr.

[kasaki89]

i have dual fluorescent compact bulb, ideal for fish,inverts,coral,and yah , and i have 2 ocellaris clownfish still really small , and are a bright orange colour and seem really happy they are really beautiful fish they dont leave eachothers side :P , and really 6 months , and can they live without one ? hope soo . .yah everythings good with the water , bigals fish store thingy tested our water , its really good they said , we were ready to put fish in the tank they said so we did

[motorslave]

Welcome top TRT!
Unfortunately, retail stores aren't always looking out for the best interest of the customer or the animals. This is seen time and time again.
When you say water is good, that doesn't say much. Three weeks is an extremely new tank, it is generally best to wait till around the two month mark for fish. A newly set up aquarium has to go through several different phases and there just isn't any way around that. When we try to hurry and push our luck, we set ourselves up for problems down the road. Some with the condition of the tank and others wih killing animals.
As for the anemone, the light they need is high intensity, like Metal Halide or at least T5. They need strong lighing and PC just doesnt get it in general. Yes, the tank neds to be a minimum o six months old. Minimum. I personaly think a year is more poper but six months seems to be a starting point. One reason is that an anemone is allmost all water....sea water. That being the case, that water needs to be proper in its characteristics and propeties. Now we do water changes in our tanks but all the stuff in there i.e. rock, sand etc, hlds onto these properties and therefor when the tank has had time to go through its growing pains its much better for the anemone. Paramount.
A true cycle can take up to a year. The ammonia cycle is generally over in 4 to 8 weeks, but the complete cycle takes much longer and the condition of the tank in regards to keeping an anemone is directly tied to this.

[kasaki89]

well thats true but like my brother works at the store too and these guys are big on there fish stuff hes been working there for about 5 years now , and like hes been testing my water alot and he says its really good , and like he said clown fish usally take a while to get use to the tank , and like after 5 mintues they were jsut swimming peacefully together so im guessing its really good , and like there starting to get a brighter colour and the lighting is really good it is Metal Halide 65ws i can already see some coral ,like fatavis or something like that growing on one of the rocks , and the hermit carbs are doing pretty good to,

[xmoltisantix]

hamilton,ohio?

[kasaki89]

no hamilton ontario and how much lighting should i have for the clowns, like think of a 15 year old thumb and there like half of that , there still small ,so i dont kno if i need alot or no , srry im new to the tanks:$

[Kakalakasha]

Fish don't really require a specific amoun of lighting.
Any lighting will do, as long as it's there.

[Jnicho]

Originally Posted by kasaki89

well thats true but like my brother works at the store too and these guys are big on there fish stuff hes been working there for about 5 years now , and like hes been testing my water alot and he says its really good , and like he said clown fish usally take a while to get use to the tank , and like after 5 mintues they were jsut swimming peacefully together so im guessing its really good , and like there starting to get a brighter colour and the lighting is really good it is Metal Halide 65ws i can already see some coral ,like fatavis or something like that growing on one of the rocks , and the hermit carbs are doing pretty good to,

65W is going to be a PC bulb not metal halide...not enough light for a "host" anemone...you might want to consider an alternative such as hairy mushrooms or frogspawn coral...my daughter has a bubble tip anemone in her tank and a frogspawn coral...her pair of Ocellaris spend as much or more time in the frogspawn as they do the nem.

Oh, and listen to the advice here...these folks have MANY years of experience (over 20 years of fish and reefkeeping myself)...reef tanks take a while to "mellow" out...at three weeks you have a LONG way to go before your tank is stable...sometimes it's hard to be patient, but it is the one thing in this hobby that will make the biggest difference in your level of success.

[Mr.Peanut]

Actually there isn't even any guarantee that they would even host it. Clowns are weird like that. My Clown ignored my BTA for a month before she decided to host it.

FWIW, I also have PC lighting and so far so good.

Patience is the key to a reef tank. When I first started in this hobby, somebody told me..............The only thing that happens fast in this hobby are the mistakes.

[Mrs Smith]

Originally Posted by Mr.Peanut

Patience is the key to a reef tank. When I first started in this hobby, somebody told me..............The only thing that happens fast in this hobby are the mistakes.

Bingo.

Reefing is sort of like bonzai - it takes time and patience, which is really hard to come by when you're brand new to it and really excited about it.

When you say your water is "good" that really isn't nearly specific enough. Should something go wrong, you need to know exactly what your water parameters are, and a test kit is one of those basic essentials you need.

A very basic kit will test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. You also should know your salinity and temperature.

As already reiterated, anemones require established tanks with high lighting - and there's no guarantee that your clowns will take to it anyway. A much better starter piece would be mushrooms - lots of color choices, very hardy, and don't require much light. (But you still need to wait awhile before adding any coral)

How big is your tank?

[kasaki89]

its 30g, and 1 more thing is it normal for the fish to eat the plants growing off the liverock:P , cause i have this one plant that was like 3-5cm big and then 1 afternoon it was gone:S? but im starting to think it wasnt the fish . the hermit crabs might have done it ?:O!

[fuzzybob4]

how many anemones can you put in a 50 gallion tank that has bean set up for a year?