What type of Anemone to Purchase

[ganowicki]

I am fairly new into the reef world and I am not sure what type of anemone to buy. I was looking at getting a Sebae, long tentacle or a bubble tip, but I am not sure if they are difficult or easy to care for. That's why I am here to ask you reefers your advice. Are these the types of anemones that I should be looking at or are there better ones for my tank?
I have a 33 gallon tank
Lighting - 2-36inch life glo & 1-36 inch marine glo.

Thanks

[Troy F]

Welcome to the board Gord. My personal advice to you would be to put off the anemone purchase for now. They are difficult to keep and should have more light than you have at this time. If you're hell bent on getting one, go for a bubble tip, Entacmaea quadricolor. There are members of the board that have captive clones available from time to time. The unfortunate result of removing anemones from the wild is that not only is the anemone gone but generation upon generation of clownfish will not make it either. Food for thought anyway.

[Delphinus]

Hi. Bubble-tips are probably among the more forgiving species of hosting anemone. Sebaes I would probably rank somwhere in the middle, not the easiest, and not the hardest. Long-tentacles, I have no personal experience with that species so I can't really make say anything with a degree of certainty but subjectively I rank that one somewhere in the middle as well.

First of all I should mention that the level of care required for anemones is equivalent to the keeping of more advanced corals. Possibly worse. They are high-needs animals with very specific requirements that need to be met exactly. The animal does not have the capacity to adapt to an environment not ideally suited to it. Thus, if it is not the ideal environment, it is stressed. Stressed animals tend not to live long, full lives. They may end up starving to death, or succumbing to parasitic infection. Also should be mentioned that as high-needs animals, they are at risk in reef tanks that are not mature. A tank needs to be at least 6 months old, possibly older, before a person can responsibly consider keeping an anemone -- any sooner than that is a bit reckless, there is just too much flux in a tank that hasn't had enough time to mature and settle down. So with that said, this might answer the question right away, and make the rest of this post a bit moot, but I will carry on with my thoughts anyways in the hopes they may be a bit helpful.

The chief variables important to anemone husbandry are the following: light, water movement, feeding, and substrate. Each species has its own variation of the above four. If one of the parameters is not to its liking, it will wander the tank looking for a spot where all four variables are indeed to its liking. For example, a ritteri anemone requires an insane amount of food, an insane amount of light, an insane amount of water movement, and a hard substrate. Saddle carpets require a deep sand bed. Bubble-tips require a hard surface, but need to keep their pedal disk sheltered and out of direct light (they want only their oral disk and tentacles exposed to light).

So, I think I mentioned up above that bubble-tips (Entacmaea quadricolor) are more forgiving. This is to say that the acceptable range for each parameter is somewhat large. This means there are very many different scenarios in which they may indeed thrive and very often split. This is one of the reasons that this anemone is frequently recommended as a first-time anemone. It is not that they really are "easier" per se. They still have exact requirements it's just that the ranges are larger thus it's easier for us to get it right for them.

Hosting anemones are obligatory symbionts to zooxanthellae. This means, they will need light as they are basically photosynthetic (not the anemone, but the zooxanthellae). Some anemones rely more on zooxanthellae, some rely more of feeding, but ultimately, all hosting anemones rely on both to some degree. Thus, the more light, the better. Your tank has a typical 3wpg intensity, and unfortunately this rather is quite at the minimum for bubble-tips. If you opt for an anemone it will need to be fed. Bubble-tips prefer crustacean type foods such as krill, shrimp, prawn, mysis. They are opportunistic scavengers. They will not really actively predate on any living tankmates, and they do not really pose a threat as they are not very sticky on their nematocyst response (as compared to say, saddle carpets Stichodactyla haddoni who is a notorious fish-eater).

E. quadricolor does have fairly narrow tolerances on subtrate and water movement. Actually, all anemones have pretty narrow tolerances on these two. Water movement ... the more, the better. Stagnant water is a killer. Fast moving water ... it not only keeps a fresh supply of oxygen for respiration, it carries away the CO2, it carries away waste products before they can decompose and create an opening for parastic protozoans to take a foothold, etc. And substrate. They need a hard subtrate, but a cave, overhang, or crevasse into which they can hide their pedal disk (foot), yet still be able to reach their oral disk (mouth) and tentacles out into the light and current.

If you can, your best bet is to get an anemone that has divided in captivity. This is an anemone that basically already demonstrated that it is adapted to life in captivity, and as such captive-splits tend to be hardier. Wild-caught anemones are STRESSED and suffer very poor chances of recovery because they are basically so stressed out they very often are on death's door by the time we buy them from the stores. Anyways this is another reason bubble-tips are sometimes recommended as first-time anemones, because it's not hard at all to find a captive-split out of a fellow reefer's tank.

Without having seen your tank, my first concern is that there might not be enough light to really maximize your chances of success. I had BTA's under 3wpg for a while and they did OK but it was a 50g and it was 160W NO light. Unfortunately, 3wpg is not always 3wpg. Can you consider throwing a little more light over this tank before you consider an anemone? There are many alternatives for light intensity these days, you can overdrive NO for inexpensive, or use PC, or halides ... many possibilities. It doesn't necessarily mean a huge investment of $$$, just a little elbow grease and some creativity. I should mention I don't have my BTA under 3wpg any longer ... because it's better to provide an "optimal" setup over a "minimal" setup.

Anyways, those are my thoughts. I have more, but I need to get back to work now :rolleyes: ... please feel free to ask any specific questions you have and I will do my best to answer them if I can. smile.gif

cheers

PS. I do have one last editorial comment. In the wild it is one story, but in captivity, clownfish do not "need" anemones any more than the anemones "need" the clownfish. They can demostrate their symbiosis, but it's a demonstration sport only, whereas in the wild it's not sport, it's survival. As such: please don't ever consider an anemone just because you have clownfish. Unfortunately, that's just not the right reason (clownfish in the wild need that anemone more than clownfish in captivity). The decision to take on the care of an anemone should be done based on for the love of the animal itself. They are absolutely fascinating creatures and I never grow tired of watching them, or learning about them. But they sure are demanding animals to care for ... there are many others who will give you fewer headaches (beleive me). So proceed at own risk, with eyes wide open.

[ 22 July 2002, 16:38: Message edited by: delphinus ]

[Tigger]

Welcome to the board Gord.

With the amount of light you have, you are better off with a captive bread bubble tip anenome. I was able to keep one with lower amounts of light with feeding and even got it to split (but my tank had a little more light than your, it is larger and had been established for 2-3 years.)

If your intentions are not to have a clown fish go into the anenome, then you are best off with a condylactic anenome. They are the easiest to keep, are fairly inexpensive and will accept food readily, but this is NOT a host anenome. Get a small one since you don't have a lot of room in your tank. I had kept one for a couple of years and it never ate any of my fish. Some of them are actually quite nice looking (a pinky colour with purple tips)

Steve

[kris]

hey Gord N, welcom to the board.


There is alot of great Informations and books out there on these little critters. Although i do not know alot about them and i my self have alot to learn on how to keep them. I thought id give you some links to read on them Anemone1 (http://www.keil.ukans.edu/ebooks/intro.html) Anemone2 (http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1997/aug/wb/default.asp) Anemone3 (http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1997/jul/wb/default.asp) Anemone4 (http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen8.html)

Well i learnt alot in these 4 links.. and they are quick to the point. Good luck and happy reefing

Cheers!

[ 22 July 2002, 17:04: Message edited by: kris ]

[ganowicki]

Thanks for all the info, you guys are great!!!
Wow, I didn't realize that they are that difficult and sensitive to care for. Isn't it sad to see pet stores like petcetera have anemones because you know that they either have no clue on how to care for them, don't have the appropriate set up for them or even both. I think I will wait until I upgrade my lighting and tank size.
Thanks Again

[kris]

Hey Gord, im glad to hear of your choice. Alot of time in this hobby, as i know with me, its seeing a new critter.. then finding out i can't meet its needs untill i upgrade my system; or something along that line. So then i have to hold off on getting one.

Im sure when your ready to get an anemone one of us will have a captive reasid clown for you. Just ask.

Cheers!

[Doug]

Excellent posts guys. Some top notch advice. Good idea to wait Gord.

And yes its a crying shame how anemone are treated by both the collectors and the stores. I have seen tons of almost bleached seabaes for sale, in a place where I know, almost no one has a reef tank, but 20 & 30 gal, undergravel, fish only. :(

[farmerjo90]

I though my clowns would pair up with my condy anenome. It wasn't from lack of trying. They would sidle up to it and swim around it but then...I noticed that there is a rather large crab living in the anenome. So, with the real estate already taken my clowns seem to hang out in my devils hand coral (???)
cheers
shirley

[AJ_77]

Gord, I was recently talked out of a BTA, and it's a good thing, too. You can definitely trust people who make the kind of effort to give you the advice you've received here. Good on you to take it to heart.

Cheers,

AJ

[naesco]

I want to applaud Gord for his decision and the excellent advice given to him.

But we all must take one step further.
The next time we go into a LFS, no matter where, we have to let the LFS people know that we do not want to see a continuation of the anenome mess we see filling their tanks.

If someone feels he has the equipment and experience to care for them, that reefer can order one.