Anemone Care

[DLBerlin]

We all know anemones are beautiful fascinating creatures. Everyone loves to see a pair of clowns snuggling in an anemone. I love anemones and have several myself, some for many years.

Unfortunately we kill the majority of them, mostly because we do not research and provide for them correctly.

I know it does little good to tell people not to buy them. I prefer to help people provide the proper care to keep them.

The hard facts
It is very likely your anemone will die within the first two years.
Sooner if you have a newer tank or less experience.
Within a few weeks to months if you do not provide a proper tank.
They commonly starve, do not have proper lighting, get caught in pump intakes, do not have suitable water quality or proper habitat.

They have similar requirements to corals.
They are not beginner animals.
Anemones are not suited to fish only tanks.
Some are easier than others, but all have certain requirements that must be met. Research the specific type of anemone you want. Each has it's own preferred conditions. Some need a sand bed, some need extremely strong lighting, some need heavy feeding.

All anemones can and do move.
They will settle in a spot that meets their requirements and if they do not settle in a spot then your tank does not meet their requirements. It's up to you to either meet it's requirements or find it a better home that does.

Anemones are capable of catching and eating fish and other livestock.
A hosting clown will not stop this from happening, feeding well will not stop this from happening. Carpet anemones are the most common fish eaters, but I have heard reports from reliable sources of large RBTA and LTA anemones catching fish also. They can and will eat snails, crabs, shrimp, anything that bumps into them.

Anemones need quality Reef Lighting.Research your particular anemone to find it's lighting needs. Some will be okay with lower level lighting and some will perish without High level lighting.

They need to be fed meaty sea foods on a regular basis. Anemones will shrink in size and/or digest their own tentacles if not fed properly and supplied with the correct lighting. If your anemone has gotten smaller in size when inflated, or the tentacles are disappearing or getting shorter it is starving.

Think I am too negative on the topic of keeping anemones?
It is well known that anemones have dismal survival rates in this hobby. I have personally seen hundreds, probably thousands of posts about anemone problems that could have been easily avoided given some research and effort.
We can do better people!

So read, learn, and do it right! Know what you are up against, both the good and bad, and prepare for it. Anemones can be kept long term, if you are up to the challenge.

There should be no reports of anemones caught in pumps. We should all know better than to allow that by now. There should be no anemones bleaching or consuming their own body because we didn't give them the lighting and food they needed. If you can read this forum, you have the tools required to learn how to do it right, you just need the conscience and caring to follow through with it.

I'm no expert, not a Marine Biologist or famous reef keeping author. I just read, research, and learn what I can.

The internet is full of info. You have to find it, read it, and act on it.

Use Google image search and learn what a healthy, bleached, starving, and sick anemone look like.

Wetwebmedia, Aquarium, Pond, Marine and Freshwater Fish, reef tanks, and Aquatics Information has tons of great info from experts on anemone care, feeding, and health. I have listed just a few of the thousands of great resources for anemone info below.


HOST ANEMONES
Joyce Wilkerson, PE
Anemone Survey - Joyce Wilkerson

FIELD GUIDE TO ANEMONE FISHES AND THEIR HOST SEA ANEMONES
Dr. Daphne G. Fautin and Dr. Gerald R. Allen
Anemone fishes and their host sea anemones

Carpet Anemones: big, beautiful, and deadly
Carpet Anemones: big, beautiful, and deadly

Caring for Rose Anemones the right way
Caring for Rose Anemones the right way - INTRODUCTION

The Conscientious Reef Aquarist
Carpet Anemones in Captive Systems
CarpetAnemones

FAQs on Carpet Anemone Selection
CptAnemSelFAQs

Anemones in Captive Systems
Pt. 1
Anemones
Anemones in Captive Systems
Pt. 2
AnemPt2

FAQs on Anemone Use in Marine Aquariums 1
AnemoneFAQs

Entacmaea quadricolor. Bubble Tip (BTA), Rose Anemones in Captive Systems
BTAnemRMF

FAQs on Anemones and Lighting 1
AnemoneLightngFAQs

FAQs on Anemones and Their Systems 1
AnemSysFAQs

Macrodactyla doreensis; Corkscrew or Long Tentacle Anemones in Captive Systems
Macrodoreensis

Heteractis crispa; Sebae Anemones in Captive Systems
HeteracCrispa

FAQs on Anemone Stocking/Selection
AnemoneSelFAQs

FAQs on Anemone Behavior in Marine Aquariums 1
FAQs on Anemone Behavior in Marine Aquariums 1

Heteractis magnifica; Magnificent Anemones. A Poor Choice for Captive Systems
HetMagnifica

FAQs on Long Tentacle Anemone Use in Marine Aquariums 1
LTAFAQs

[iyachtuxivm]

Wow great info hope this helps out! I personally do not and have no want to keep an anemone. I like my fish and corals too much. Although there have been a few btas that made me go wow! Drool. They would be great in a species tank but thats it.

[tszetela]

Deb, glad to see you are relaxing in your "retirement"!

Great post by the way!


Tim

[tcwoodrn]

Great post Deb. I hope people use this for information and not to become the self appointed anemone police and go around flaming people.

Some people's pet peeve is tangs in small tanks, some people's is anemone care, mine is "statistics" extrapolated from poor studies (and I use the word studies very loosely). I already posted my thoughts about the MR poll (and you acknowledged that it was unscientific in your post), but Joyce Wilkerson's article also lacks even a shred of validity. Her data comes from "a usenet post by Rick Martin on 9/14/1996". These are not random samples from properly defined groups. The surveys have demonstrated no ability to measure the data that's being reported (both good and bad, the surveys can't test people who have had 100 nems die right away, or those who have had 100 live for 50 years). These are just numbers that the writer used because they benefited her point of view. For example she easily could have found other surveys on the internet and combined data.

This is a great article that's quality is lowered by the reporting of falsely acquired statistics.

[DLBerlin]

No poll is going to be accurate. Best you will ever get is a ballpark figure.

Where do you get flaming out of this? Yeesh one argument with someone giving bad info in 6 years here and I'm the flaming anemone police!

[John]

I find all of this info to be very useful.

As for statistics, it is true that they are never 100% otherwise it would be fact.

Just another thought, anemones cannot read...

[tcwoodrn]

Originally Posted by tcwoodrn

Great post Deb. I hope people use this for information and not to become the self appointed anemone police and go around flaming people.

I DO NOT in the least bit think you are flaming anyone Deb. I simply stated that I hope people use this information for good and not to cite while flaming others.

[tcwoodrn]

Originally Posted by John_OS

As for statistics, it is true that they are never 100% otherwise it would be fact.

The saying is that theories will never be 100%, otherwise they would be facts. Statistics are often, and can easily be, facts. For example the statement:

Michigan State running back Larry Caper had 120 carries for 468 yards in the 2009-2010 season.

This is both a statistic and a fact. I am not going to argue statistics anymore as I feel I've made my point.

[bjkpoker]

I read somewhere that anemones don't age. That they will live indefinitely if their needs are met. I'm not sure if that is true or not. I did see a documentary on a bird that doesn't age. Sorry if its offtopic but I thought it was interesting. I've had a large LTA for at least a year and its been doing well.

[woodn1980]

I think the whole point of the post is to emphasize that anemone care and lifespan is greatly reduced in captivity, not to argue statistics. Good to know the statistics police are on the case; flaming others for their improper use. Maybe there are also some grammatical errors that can be corrected.

[matt_a]

deb i appreciate the informative post as i am considering getting a nem it sure helped me

[detroit_fan]

Great post Deb, tons of useful information

[ByronREEFER12]

The way you have stated your statistics is flawed. Anemone owners like myself count against the number of successful keepers just because we havent successfully kept them for 5+ years or 10+ years doesnt mean we havent successfully kept anemomes. The statistics you list make it seem as though only 11 out of 186 mireefers are success at keeping anemones and that number is FAR from the truth.

If you post the statistics of how many are dead as a percentage of the whole then we will all get a better idea of how badly anemones are cared for...just my .02

I just checked the poll and as of 9:15 the percentage of anemones dead was 15.5%.

Im sure this number is lower than it should be because everyone wants to post and discuss their success and would rather not talk about their failures.

[fishtal]

Great thread Deb! I see "stickey".

[Fragster]

I have heard the arguement that nems can live indefinitely, however, do we have data that suggests the average lifespan in the wild? Could it be possible that this seemingly failure of a short life span in captivity is on par or surpassing the predicted life span in nature?