Anemone Requirements

[jeepjon]

I would like to keep an anemone...but the first one I tried about 10 years ago with my first Reef tank made me get out of SW for a few years...basically nearly burned my house down. It was a Sebae anemone. So..what does an anemone need? High light, lots of food, or both? Lots of water, no water? I don't want the thing sticking to the front glass like it did last time. Basically I was thinking a bubble tip might by nice...but I didn't know if a 96 powerquad on my 10 gallon was going to have enough punch for one.

Am I being ignorant/silly about this thought?
Thanks,
Jon

[Rob]

well anemones care/needs do vary from one species to another (like everything). so instead of getting into a book on anemone care, lets talk about the bubble tip that you are asking about.

anemones are reef invertebrates, like coral, so to keep one you need a reef tank. when i say that, i mean you have to make sure you have a tank thats properly lit, filtered, and you maintain other water conditions as you would in a reef tank.

While all anemones are usually classified as medium to difficult invertebrates i have found that the the bubble tip is one of the easier of the common aquarium anemones, and is a good place to start.

Lighting - i have successfully kept both rose and green bubble tips under PC lights. i have kept them in a 29 gallon tank with a 130W of 50/50 bulbs. but they will usually not shy away from brighter light.

Feeding - Anemones like food, regular weekly spot feeding of most anything meaty will make them happy. i regularly feed mine raw table shrimp, but they also like clam, squid, silversides, or about anything you can find.

Current - they like moderate current. they need enough current to make there tentacles sway. the reality is if there is too much or not enough, they will move..

Placement - there should be lots of LR for them to attach to, and should also be placed in a place where they can can retract and be sheltered from light. they are good at finding these spots so dont worry too much. the other thing is you really cant force an anemone to go where you want it, so make sure you pay attention when it moves as it can sting other things in your tank.

hope that helps get you started, if you have more questions just let us know.

[fishcounter]

I am interested in keeping a bubble tip as well. I started doing some research tonight on the basics of anemone and here are some fun things to check out:

This link is great for explaining exactly what an anemone is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_anemone

If you are concerned about the anemone stingin everythign insught read this article. It will only worsen your fear. LOL.
http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=7438

I am considering a symbiotic partner for mine. Probably a tomato clownfish or a porcalin anemone crab. I think this would help to calm the anemone down since it can get additional food from the clown and such.

Also, when it comes to lighting, anemone can be like coral in that some of them have a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae. So, I would think that if you purchase an anemone that relies on zooxanthellae, that lighting would be fairly imporatnat for it to thrive. Light provides a food source for anemone and coral but since they are heterotrophs (unable to use photosynthesis to conver light into valuable nutrients) they rely on zooxanthellae which are autotrophs (Organisms able to generate nutrients from light using photosynthesis) to get food. Also, like rob said, another part of their diet is eating meaty substances which requires spot feeding on our part. One cool thing I have learned so far is that anemone are filter feeders so water current will play a big role in making sure that there is enough suspended food in the water.

As far as the thing ending up on your glass it should happen if it can find a place in your tank that fullfills all of its requirements. i.e. enough distance between it and competitors, a good light source for zooxanthellae to photosynthesize, etc. There is a great article in reefkeeping magazine about how one aquarists anemone becaome free floating, died, and then how he brought it back to life. Here is the link:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-03/nftt/index.php
I hope this helps!

[maxfischer]

i can tell you not to let it drift to close to a powerhead, yesterday i walked by my tank on the way outside and my BTA was stuck in one of my powerheads. I unpluged it and waited for it to pull itself out..............nothing. I had to make the choice to leave it or pull on the powerhead. It already looked pissed at me. The clown that calls it home was nipping at me hard when i would get near it. I pulled on the power cable and it didnt take much, rip! it pulled away fast leaving a little in the powerhead. This BTA is about 14" across, didnt even bother it. Today day 2, this thing looks great, like nothing happned. now i'm gonna see if the torn peice will grow into a 14" across BTA

[jeepjon]

So bubble tips seem to be a good species for beginner? I just don't want a horror story...like what you guys have explained or what happened to me.

[Reefbaby]

Are there certain factors that one should consider regarding what type of flow one has? I'm specifically referring to whether powerheads could be more of a problem for anenomes vs. a closed loop type of water current? My LFS has always shied me away from an anenome, because he knows that I have powerheads in the tank.

[Rob]

So bubble tips seem to be a good species for beginner? I just don't want a horror story...like what you guys have explained or what happened to me.
anemones are not well suited for beginners.
this is for two reasons IMO, one a tank has to be a fairly well established. and second, you should be experienced enough o be able to deal with potential issues.

powerheads vs closed loop, doest really make a huge difference IMO, all water movement requires that water be taken in and shot back out in some way, so an anemone can get caught in any of these, since there must be an intake somewhere. now, this usually only happens when the anemone is new, or a change has been made to the system. so when introducing it or when making big changes close observation is required.

regarding the stinging, i have found that bubble tip anemones are usually very passive. not that i recommend it, but mine have lived in touching range of button polyps, colt coral, and toadstool leathers, and have never harmed them. that said, i still dont recommend allowing them to come in contact with other corals. this is not true for all anemones but since we are talking about the bubble tips i will keep my info limited to that species.

[JR Aquatics]

I had a bubbletip for over six years. It had a yellow-banded clownfish for a host. I just recently had to get rid of the anemone because it decided to move across my corals. I can honestly say that I could not kill the anemone even if I tried. The first year I had the thing it got stuck in my rio powerhead and chopped off all of its tenticles. It grew from a 4 inches to a little larger than a basketball. The clown (4.5inches) was the most destructive part of the relationship, because he would always move gravel corals, and live rock to make room for the anemone (so be aware). I believe my success was due to the bond the clown had with the anemone, decent lighting, feeding and good water conditions.

[fishyshawn]

anybody know much about condy anemones?
Do they host clownfish?
Thanks

[kj_yoda]

Sorry, Can't help you there. I have only had success with tube anemones, BTA, and carpet. I wouldn't think that a condy would be much different though.

[Rob]

anybody know much about condy anemones?
Do they host clownfish?
Thanks
Condy's are usually fair easy to care for however, they can have a potent sting, and no, they do not naturally host clownfish.

[JR Aquatics]

I agree with Rob, this anemone is an Atlantic species and clownfish are NOT found in the Atlantic. The only clown I could see working with a condy is a tomato clown if any.

[nickricco]

Here's a warning and tale of woe about anemones and fireplaces!
I had bubble tipped anemone (BTA) in my 12g nano for a few months. It found a spot close to where I initially put it but would wander now and again to spots up to six inches or so away. It got tasty meals at least once a week, usually two or three times a week. It didn't bother any other corals and seemed quite happy and robust. It was also very pretty and made a striking addition to the tank. All was great until one day when some visiting friends tried to light my fireplace but forgot to open the flue first. The house filled with smoke almost immediately. The first thing I did was run to the nano to disconnect all circulation. My friends thought I was completely nuts for attending to the tank first, but they just don't understand. Anyway, we opened the flue and then opened all the doors and windows and let the cold Vermont air clear the house. I'd say the smoke was pretty much all gone within 10 minutes. I then returned to the nano to re-start the filter and circulation pumps. It was then I noticed that the anemone was scrunched into a tiny little ball. Since we had been oohing and ahhing over him and the rest of the tank just a little while earlier when they arrived I know he was his usual happy self before my friend’s ill fated attempt at lighting a fire. It was interesting that everything else in the tank, including a Crocea clam, peppermint shrimp, toadstool coral, various zoas and mushrooms, a gorgonian, a fire coral, a small encrusting SPS, some sun corals and various hermit crabs all looked completely unaffected. By the next day everything else in the tank continued to look fine but the anemone had died. We were all very saddened and the friend in question vowed to never play with matches unsupervised again…. at least when not completely sober. We drank to the anemone’s memory and then I lit the fire that night without further event. So, the moral of this sad little story is that BTAs appear to be particularly sensitive to environmental toxins (or perhaps just to city-folk friends).

Obviously one should not light fireplaces without opening the flue first, especially around anemones. But I wonder if more subtle environmental toxins common to the average home, like fumes from cleaning fluids, tobacco smoke, house paint, furniture polish, etc, that may seem mild to almost non-existent to us and that might have no effect on other tank inhabitants might prove toxic to an anemone. It's just something to keep in mind when trying to troubleshoot anemone issues that may arise.

Nick

[Reefbaby]

Thanks for sharing Nick. Your conclusion sounds reasonable to me. I think that we should always take care of what fumes/smoke/vapors etc are released in our home (not only for our tank's health and happiness!). It stands to reason that anything that we might be a bit sensitive to, our tank inhabitants will probably be even more sensitive.