With clownfish keepers wanting to add an anemone to their aquariums for their clownfish to host, we have noticed more and more people reaching out and asking for advice on the best anemone for clownfish for their tanks.
Due to seeing so many people reaching out and asking about using anemone with their tanks and asking what types of anemone they should be using, we have decided to publish this article to try and point our readers in the right direction.
Now, you have to realize that the best anemone for your clownfish will depend specifically on the species of the clownfish that you have.
Different species of clownfish are found all across the Pacific Ocean so will naturally pair with very different types of anemone depending on what is available in their local area.
This can make it difficult to recommend a natural anemone pairing for your clownfish without knowing the species but thankfully, there are a number of options that are not necessarily natural pairings with all clownfish species but do have a high success rate.
These anemones tend to be very common with various types of clownfish and usually don’t cause any problems in the tank while also encouraging clownfish to host them as well as helping to prevent strange behavior in your clownfish such as your clownfish swimming vertically due to hosting random objects in its tank.
Try A Fake Anemone For Your Clownfish!
The popularity of using fake anemone for clownfish is skyrocketing right now due to modern fake anemone looking much better than they once did.
In addition to that, fake anemone are cheaper than real anemone while also not needing any maintenance or posing a sting risk to other fish in your tank.
We have a dedicated article going over using fake anemone for clownfish that goes into more detail but if you are new to keeping aquariums or don’t have much time available to care for an anemone then just going with a fake anemone can be an excellent option.
They are such a cheap, beginner friendly option that are avaialble in a huge range of colors that we only expect the popularity of using fake anemone for clownfish to continue in the coming years.
Unlike real anemone, fake anemone really doesn’t have any major downsides or risks to your tank too allowing you to keep a communal tank with different fish species without having to worry about the sting risk of your anemone.
One thing that many beginner reef tank keepers also overlook is that your anemone is usually harder to care for than your fish and this is removed with a fake anemone as they are a set and forget solution.
Using Bubble Tip Anemone For Clownfish!
Bubble tipped anemones are considered one of the best options for clownfish due to being so cheap and easy to care for while usually not stinging any of the other fish in your tank.
Although bubble tipped anemones are not considered a natural anemone for clownfish, a huge number of domestic clownfish will pair with a bubble tipped anemone without issue.
Another advantage of choosing bubble tipped anemone is that they are available in a huge range of colors and sizes making it very easy to add them to your aquarium and stick to the look that you are trying to achieve.
There is a huge range of cheap bubble tipped anemone available online that are usually one of the cheaper options available.
One of the few problems with bubble tipped anemone is that they can look very similar to a number of other anemone as we covered in our article on caring for a purple tipped anemone.
The majority of reputable online sellers will correctly list their anemone for sale but if you purchase anemone from a friend or someone on social media it is common that you may end up getting totally different type of anemone that just looks similar to a bubble tipped anemone.
Octospawn Can Be A Good Choice
Octospawn is actually a coral rather than an anemone but many beginners incorrectly refer to octospawn as an anemone with many people using it for their clownfish so we wanted to add it to our list.
Octospawn tend to be very easy to care for making it a great beginner friendly option with some clownfish hosting octospawn without issue and taking to it quickly.
We have actually seen a number of reports of people who have an anemone in their tank as well as some octospawn with their clownfish actually choosing the octospawn over the anemone.
Just like the other recommendations on our list, you are usually able to find a wide range of colors and sizes of cheap octospawn online but unlike bubble tipped anemone that can commonly be misidentified and confused with some other types of anemone, octospawn coral is usually easy to identify so you get what you pay for.
This can work to your advantage if you are unsure how to correctly identify your anemone as you can put more trust in your octospawn purchase actually being octospawn.
Although some types of octospawn coral can sting fish, it is rarley enough to cause any real issues and once most fish have been stung they will avoid going near the octospawn again.
A Magnificent Anemone Can Work Well!
A Magnificent Anemone can work very well as an anemone for clownfish with many experienced reef keepers being able to keep their Magnificent Anemone alive in their tanks without issue.
That said though, the Magnificent Anemone is definitely not a beginner friendly option as the Magnificent Anemone is difficult to keep and was considered impossible to keep in reef tanks until around a decade ago.
Even though many experienced reef tank keepers are able to get their Magnificent Anemone to take and live in their tank without issue, just as many reef tank keepers who are just as experienced can have problems.
We have even seen people with two different reef tanks with very similar conditions have two different Magnificent Anemone in each tank with one taking without issue and the other one perishing.
You are often able to find some beautiful looking Magnificent Anemone for sale online with some of the rarer colors being truly beautiful specimens but the Magnificent Anemone option is more of a way for experienced fish keepers to flex on each other these days.
If you are a beginner then going with a fake anemone or a bubble tipped anemone will usually be a much better option for the majority of people.
Using A Heteractis Malu Anemone May Work!
Although some people can make a Heteractis Mal anemone work for their clownfish, it is not a very beginner friendly anemone to keep and it can be very difficult to find in some areas.
Prices are usually much higher than the other options on our list too due to it being so hard to find Heteractis Mal so most people will usually go with a different type of anemone for their clownfish.
In addition to that, it can also be problematic to get your clownfish to host a Heteractis Mal even after putting all of the time and effort in to get youre Heteractis Mal to take in your tank.
Some clownfish may totally ignore your Heteractis Mal and just choose a random item in your tank to host or they may simply never choose to hose anything and just be a free roaming clownfish.
Due to this, we usually recommend against Heteractis Mal for beginners with many experts only opting to use a Heteractis Mal anemone if they need it to fit the overall look of the aquascape they are trying to create.
If you are able to get your clownfish to hose a Heteractis Mal then they really do seem to love it though and some clownfish will rarley leave the Heteractis Mal and stay within range of it none stop.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over the best anemone for clownfish to an end. We hope that we have been able to help you and that at least one of our suggestions has met your needs. We have intentionally included a mix of beginner friendly and expert only anemone options to try and cover the experience levels for our readers while ensuring that your clownfish still gets a great addition to its tank.
