View Full Version : Success with anemones anyone?
I was wondering who out there has actually been successful with an anemone. I see tons of posts on various boards about people with problems with their anemones. There are always lots of standard responses like more light, established tank etc...
I was just wondering if any has kept one of these creatures alive for any length of time. I am thinking years here and not months.
Are they even viable in an aquarium?
OrionGirl
11-24-2003, 4:26 PM
Ahhhh. I have a curly-que anenome that is working on 2 years old. Started out in the reef, and got moved to the FO when it started killing neighboring corals. Lived with a lion fish, lost all it's tentacles, grew them back, gets nipped by the trigger, recovers, moves, thrives. It's about a half step away from aiptasia in my book.
For most anenomes, I honestly think the problem is in shipping. The zooanthellae are very important to the long term success of these animals. In the wild, anenomes that land in isolation from other photosynthetic animals don't live as well--they are not born with photosynthetic critters, these are captured. Introduce something that can share it's zooanthellae, and the bleached anenome reportedly picks some up and thrives. So, ones that are shipped and sit in low light tanks kick out their native flora as it dies off, and then suffer the consequences. Feeding can compensate to some degree, but I'm hesitant to say that it will suffice in the long run.
Another problem is handling--people fail to grasp the idea that the anenome is going to move around until it's happy, and try to forcible relocate it. Doesn't work well, and often damage the anenome in the process.
Speculatively, I wonder if most tanks can provide enough nitrogen for the photosynthetic cells. Not encouraging anyone to add stump remover, but sensibly, anenomes in the wild have access to ammonia sources--populations of clown fish.
I have a Sebae anemone that is almost six years old now :)
It started out the size of a baseball and is now about 19"-20" across.
http://www.motorworld.com/gcvt/pets/fish/reef/pics/Jpegs/01.jpg
I don't really do anything special for it but my tank is well established, has metal halide lighting, and I keep a very close eye on my water parameters. I guess I'd call it a success.
Glad to hear that there are some that beat that 6 month zone where so many others fail.
And that was really interesting read Oriongirl. It is too bad such information can't be passed onto the LFS that carry these guys.
slipknottin
11-24-2003, 10:41 PM
I have a bubble tip thats 7 months old now, and i have a condy that ive only had for a month.
liquafaction
11-25-2003, 11:14 AM
Well, I came in to do some reading, and start a new post, but I will just add to the conversation. I have a long tentacle anemone that I keep thinking is going to die, but some how, he keeps kicking. It will not take food, and will not attach itself anywhere. My clown fish is not interested in it at all, but my boxer shrimp keep hanging out in it. This may sound strange, but my clown that died, would hang out in the long tentacle, catch food, and go back to the anemone, and spit the food back out. He almost acted as if he were feeding it. I know you are wanting years, but I have had this guy for maybe 8 or 10 weeks.
I purchased what I thought was 1 hatian pink tip. When I got home, I had 2. They were real close together, and appeard to be one. These guys attached themselves immediatly. One of them moves around constantly. This one stays under rock and overhangs (out of the light) The other stays out in one place. They both feed very well (only feed 1 time a week).
Well, one day I came home from work, and my "day lights" were off. I have a little powerhead on the same timer as the day lights, so that was off two. I noticed that the anemone that never moves had moved. I figured it was because of lack of water movement, and lighting. By the way, my daughter had spun my timer, so everything shut off early. I figured no big deal, I will set everything back up, and he will come back. This leads me to why I wanted to post. A few day later, I found the stump of my anemone. Something had eaten it. The only thing I could figure was the shrimp. Knowing that pepermint shrimp eat aptasia, I asked the LFS before buying an anemone, will my shrimp harm it. I always get a "no"
Do you guys think the shrimp ate this guy? If they did, how come they do not hurt the other two?
Gealcath
11-26-2003, 7:53 PM
Certain types of Anemones are impossible to kill without a natural preditor since you can throw it in a meat scredder, pop it back into the aquarium and every piece will grow back into a new Anemone. But LFS are often notorious to make a sale, when i baught my Chocolate Chip starfish they had it in the same aquarium they where selling turbo snails, and cristmas coral, along with some soft leather corals, and they said they wont bother anything (even though chocalte chips will eat everything they can catch, mine has even striped the algae off the coral in my FOA)
liquafaction
11-26-2003, 8:42 PM
well, something attacked it, and now something has attacked my other one. I am down to one now.
8to 10 weeks is nothing. Are you sure the last one isn't just starving to death? I can't believe one feed a week is enough
liquafaction
11-29-2003, 7:21 PM
8to 10 weeks is nothing. Are you sure the last one isn't just starving to death? I can't believe one feed a week is enough
By all means, I am way more a newbie, than even a novice marine keeper. It seems that anemone keeping is very contraversial. I have read and heard anything from never feed your anemones, to feed them 2 times a day. I refuse to beleive that anemone keeping is as hard as a lot of people like to think. It does not suprise me that some are more bullet proof than others. The long tentacle anemone has now passed on, and I am almost sure that one starved to death.