Introducing an anemone, before or after stony corals?

[JoelA]

I'm getting ahead of myself - tank not built let alone cycled - but what do folks think, anemone first or hard corals?

 

[frank180reef]

Soft corals, if that was a choice lol

 

[s_kelley]

Yup soft inexpensive ones to begin with then go from there

 

[P-Nut]

Introduce an anemone first. You don't want to wake up and find that it decided to move on top of an SPS.

That being said, the amount of flow required by SPS should make the anemone stay away from them and hang out in a corner of your tank (but you never know).

What size tank will you get? - remember that a dead anemone can nuke a small system, and if it dies, it will die at the worse time (most likely when you are at work and won't be around for another 8-10 hours).

 

[JoelA]

Building up a 120. Goal is a tank with nice reef elements and lots of swimming room as well for some small sized schooling fish.

So the most likely to succeed order (after full cycling) would be?

Chromis
Clownfish
Anemone
Wait
Mushrooms
Cardinalfish
Pygmy Angel
Wait
Hard coral
Anthias
Tang (or would it be suggested to add the Tang with the Chromis and Clownfish?)

Thoughts?

 

[frank180reef]

Fwiw the roses I have all stay put

 

[frank180reef]

Push the neon much farther down the line

 

[frank180reef]

Nem not neon

 

[JoelA]

Anemone down the line. Here's the thing. When I last had a tank I was pretty lucky. The anemone decided to attach itself to the glass about 2/3rds of the way up all the way over on one side. Pair of clownfish (Ocellaris) very happy as were all of us viewers. No telling about that next time. I'd like to be able to let the critter go anywhere and then set corals afterwards. So maybe the last item in the middle section, before the waiting period for the final adds of stony corals, anthias and tang.

 

[jason401]

Down the line meaning, you want an established and very stable tank for an anemone. Upwards of 6-12 months down the line.

 

[JoelA]

I get ya. These things are a bit like wine. Even if parameters are "right" they can still be harsh. They mellow a bit with age. Hmm - think I will go look for a glass of wine!

 

[jamesdong009]

I've always been an SPS guy and have always thought about adding one. Unfortunately my fear on them walking around to find the right spot terrifies me so I would probably add them before adding any SPS.

 

[mchartier]

Also what kind of anemone are you looking at? Some have more of a tendency to roam than others. BTAs and Magnificas can split, and sometimes those will wonder to find a spot that they like. Haddoni's are sand dwelling and once comfortable dont move, downside is a rather deep sand bed and low flow which SPS would not care for too much. Gigs high flow normally on the rocks. Mags and Gigs have been tough to keep as they dont ship well but there have been great results now using an antibiotic to help fight of infections. Then you have LTAs that vary from being sand or rock dwelling. I would look at the type of clowns you want and see what the natural host is for that species. As always there is a possibility that a non natural pair will not be hosted by the anemone you have but it is not always guaranteed. I knwo they can be a little aggressive but Clarkiis are the only species that are naturally hosted by all anemone species that we have available in the aquarium trade.

 

[JoelA]

@ mchartier -- I love Maroon Clowns and I'd be likely to go for one (then a second) in a Sebae Anemone, hopefully blue tipped.

 

[mchartier]

Good choice as a BTA is also a natural host for Maroons but you have to deal with splits with them. Sebea can be two species its just a common name for Crispa or Malu. Crispa really prefer to be on the rocks, pretty much attaches like a BTA, foot in a hole or crevice, and is the larger of the two. Malu prefers to be in the sand and is the smaller of the two. They can be a pain to acclimate, so I would try and get some cyproflaxin (also sold as fish flox) just in case you need to treat the anemone. There's a pretty lengthy thread on RC about the treatment and it has had great success.

Crispa has a very fat leathery column.
Malu has a skinny column, sometimes there are rings on the tentacles and few tentacles than a Crispa

 

[RMc]

Just some words from experience - I added a rbta after a mixed reef was fairly well established and it was pretty stressful. When irritated they have a powerful sting that can melt a lps or sps branch (had mine perform a little facemelter on an unsuspecting acan).

I ended up losing mine in a powerhead though... went away for a weekend and it wandered up and in. Came back to tiny bits floating in the water and no nem to be found. It didn't seem to affect the tank, but I did lose $65 to pure negligence. If you do get a nem, make sure you keep filter floss over your powerhead intakes. Don't assume that they'll avoid them, even if you've never seen the nem wander close - they have a habit of ending up where you want them least.

 

[JoelA]

Thanks so much everyone! Getting close on decision on tank. Need electrician.. etc.