Jestersix

Is there room for an anenome in a 20 gal?

J

Jonathan Chia

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Here’s a FTS...considering picking up a small BTA from Neptune, but not sure if there is room to do so.

What do you guys think?
 

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plenty of room. they dont move around as much as people would like to believe. and mine havnt bothered any coral they contact. i have 8 in a nuvo 20 with plenty of coral still in it.
 
No, but for other reasons not already mentioned above, First, stability. Nems require stable water parameters and it's very hard to keep things that stable in a 20 gallon. Without stability your nem is more likely to move and while Jorahx's moving Nems may not have killed corals that's not the outcome that is often experienced. I've had some sting corals and others not, but is it worth the gamble? Second, happy Nems are fed Nems and fed Nems are very, very messy animals. Twenty gallons can't take messy animals particularly well. Third, if and when your Nem does decide to move it will quickly find a powerhead in a small tank more than likely. Finally, and as Mike noted, Nems grow. A typical BTA will eventually grow to a foot or more.
 
Not to discredit what some are saying, but I have a 20g and have a bta with considerable success. I bought it small and even though I feed it 3-4 times a week, it has grown at such a gradual pace that I’m not concerned about space. As far as movement is concerned, I may have gotten lucky. Mine took a tour around the aquascape, but settled perfectly in the middle, where I wanted it to be, and there it has stayed for months. Just make sure there are spots on your aquascape that are conducive to nems and you should be fine. Also remember to put guards on your powerheads. If you are responsible with your water quality, you should be fine.


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One of the members here makes a 3D printed nem guard for vortech power heads. Which many of us here use. And it works great. I’ve seen mems walk across it with no damage.

Stability is key for all livestock. And I feel sps is much harder than anemones.

The only coral I have seen get effected by anemone was a frogspawn, they locked tentacles for a bit than wandered off. Zoas/ chalices / mushrooms seem to have been not effected.


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I keep lots of anemones, in tanks large and small. Here's my take:
1) If you have a powerhead and an anemone in *any* tank, put anemone guards on said powerheads. Anemones love to position themselves next to a current and when on the move they'll head straight for a powerhead. As others have hinted at, anemone puree is lethal to pretty much everything in your tank. @grizfyrfyter 3D prints anemone guards for a very reasonable price.
2) The risk is always present that the anemone will sting and damage or kill something. That said, I've had great success getting them to stay put. What you need is a rock with deep crenelations in it and a current flowing nearby that the anemone can extend its tentacles into. They do not like current blowing on their front, on their body or on their foot.
3) Stability of parameters and pretty clean water are important for anemones. The smaller the tank, the harder this is to pull off. The smallest tank that have kept anemones in was a JBJ-24 all-in-one. I had the hood on and a Tunze nano ATO, so salinity stayed bang on where I set it. I converted the middle rear compartment into a refugium and did a 5-gallon water change weekly. As a result, nitrates were consistently ~ 0.2ppm. I still have the rose BTA that was in that tank, so I consider that a success.
 
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ashburn2k said:
Yeah, bottom line never ask anemone questions at BAR
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Yes, you are likely to find the conflicting advice ... well, conflicting. The real bottom line is that you are going to get more conservative advice from some folks here, especially given that you are new to the hobby and we want you to have a positive experience rather than a disheartening disaster, which might result in you giving up on a hobby which can be a life-long rewarding one.
 
I've kept BTAs in a Fluval 13.5G without issues before I decided to setup a dedicated nem tank. In the fluval, it found a cave to stick its foot into and stayed put.

my current nem tank is a 20L+20L sump...

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jorahx4 said:
One of the members here makes a 3D printed nem guard for vortech power heads. Which many of us here use. And it works great. I’ve seen mems walk across it with no damage.
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That would be @grizfyrfyter and I am one of his happy customers
jorahx4 said:
Stability is key for all livestock. And I feel sps is much harder than anemones.
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I absolutely agree, especially the more exotic acroporas, chalices and montiporas.
 
Coral reefer said:
I guess our difference of opinions is based on our views of what will work long term. Not sure your tank has been up long enough for you to see it my way yet.
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All depends what you want to do. If you let one anemone grow to be 12” than your going to had a bad time.

If you let an aggressive coral grow to be the same size.... bad time.




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I think a bta would be fine. Had one that turned into two before my 24 nanocube crashed. I was also fortunate that it decided to stay put where I wanted it.

As far as the others are saying there is definitely a posibility for them to move, split (and overrun the tank) or outgrow the tank. So even if others, such as myself, have had success with a nem in that tank size, it is good to take those possibilities into account before you make your purchase.
 
Being new to the hobby myself, we too got a nem for our 20g. I pretty much agree with what everyone has said here. It is unfortunate there is no concrete answer to if the nem will be "okay". We had pretty much both things happen in our 20g. We got an RBTA we placed and it never moved and grew 3 times its size before it split and we had a GBTA in the tank that ALWAYS MOVED and never could find a good spot till it lodged itself under a rock and died. Currently our RBTA (split 3 way) is doing great. All three pieces moved a couple inches from its original location but then just stay put and are growing faster than ever. This all pretty much happened in months time so looking down into the future we were thinking of getting a larger tank to move everything over. This is just the experience we had, but unfortunately and fortunately every tank is unique. Not really giving advice but thought I'd share what we experienced and you could take something from it.
 
Nem decided to move here after I split it in half 2~ weeks ago. The coral is still alive and over growing the corner of my tank. Haha.

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Opinion:
Possible ... sure.
Optimal ... no.
You have so little space, and so many corals to choose from, so it seems like there are better choices.

My suggestion if you do : put them on a separate rock.
In particular, something with lots of folds and crevices. They like that, so may stay put.
If there is a problem, easily moved or removed.
 
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