Reef Discussion

[Agent M]

Who would have thought but I am quickly becoming an anemone fiend! I bought my first anemone a few weeks ago and I just spotted another last night I am completely in love with. I've never been interested in them before so I'm not sure why I've suddenly caught the bug after all this time.

My current tank has the Korallia style power heads for water movement so I wouldn't risk putting an anemone in there without containing it. Does anyone have a creative suggestion for screening off the powerheads to make them safe without impacting my flow (DO NOT laugh at me!) or any helpful suggestions really...

I am planning a frag tank that will be anemone safe but I would like to have an anemone in both tanks if I can.

 

[MagicJ]

There are a few options Megan that may be practical but not pretty - you need to create a cage around the powerhead which keeps the nem at least a tentacle length (plus a bit more to cater for growth etc) away from the pump intake. This would need to be a fairly fine mesh to stop the nem from squeezing through. I have also seen designs based on a false back with the powerheads located behind an acrylic sheet which is drilled with many holes to allow the water through and a larger hole where the powerhead outlet is located - hope this makes sense. With a small tank you might be able to create enough flow from just the return??

The best option is a closed loop type system but this is not always easy to implement.

 

[Agent M]

False back, or in this case, side, sounds good. I was planning on doing that with the frag tank, which will be sitting right next to this existing tank. So that wouldn't look out of place at all. The area under the powerheads annoys me anyhow as I can't put anything there. Where do I get acrylic sheets from? DIY noob right here... How many holes for allowing flow in? Do I put 'teeth' at the top or whatever its called?

 

[firebird]

you can get acrylic sheets from Bunnings-have different colours.only thing is that you'd have to get them cut to size.Bunnings was much cheaper for a big sheet than some of the acrylic supply companies

 

[firebird]

Megan-other option is what I've done-I've got fine weave fishnet around my powerhead. only thing is that it will even stop very fine particles of stuff from entering the powerhead so it has to be cleaned off periodically with a toothbrush to maintain flow. .Hiding the powerhead behind an acrylic wall is more aesthetically pleasing as well.

 

[Agent M]

Thanks firebird, lots to think about. So making the screen sounds easy - how do I secure it in the tank? Obviously needs to be removable in case I want to do something with the powerheads or give the screen a scrub.

Any pics online to an anemone safe tank or screens or false walls? I will go on a search now and post what I find but thought someone might know of some they have seen.

 

[Dr. Schell]

Hi Megan, good to hear you have caught the anemone bug, and even more pleased that you are taking precautions to keep it safe in your set up. to keep mine safe, I use a a sponge (coarse grade) over the intake to my internal pumps. What you should be aiming for it a very large surface area so that if the anemone is caught, it will not get draged through. Think of something aling the lines of fly mesh. My other pumps draw water from the sump, where no anemone are kept. The wave maker has intermittnet pulses, and as such, is no risk to the anemone. What type of anemone to you keep? If it is a bubble tip, or a leathery, provide cracks and crevices in the rock work. Once the anemone settles in a place to is likeing, and as long as it is fed, it should remain there. If it is a haddons, or a long tenticle (of even a leathery), provide deep sand as they will burrow though the sand and anchor to the bottom of the tank. Hope that this helps.

 

[daniel]

id like to see some photos of how one should look to, would be easy to make i would saya from what i am thinking, goodluck, if u make one, make a diy post about it