My First Anemone

[CT_Srt4]

picked up for first nem today for my clown fishs one of the pics is with the actenic lights on and one with them off and one with them both on

 

[1234-fishy-freind]

Nice nem.
I really want to get one but im scared that it will die and pollute my tank. I really like the purple tip ones.

 

[Lynden]

The polluting the tank issue is exaggerated in my opinion. Yes, if they die and you leave them to rot for days, it will kill your tank. But if you remove them promptly, there will be little pollution.

 

[Colin_T]

anemones are easy enough to keep. Give them good light and clean water. And feed them every couple of days. A small amount of frozen fish food every day or twice a day will make them grow really quickly. Use small bits of food tho and don't give them too much. People give them whole whitebait and the anemone takes it all. But a couple of hours later they regurgitate most of it and the tank goes off from a rotten piece of food sitting in the corner under a rock. If you can cut the food into thin strips it is easier for the anemone to digest.
Make sure the anemone can't get sucked up the intake of any power filters. This is a big killer of them in aquaria.

 

[Lynden]

The problem with anemones is that they are often damaged during collection, rendering them weak and unhardy. If one gets a healthy specimen, they can be easy to keep. Otherwise, caution must be taken.

 

[1234-fishy-freind]

Oh right, thanks for that.

I think i might look into getting one now that my tank is nice and settled.

 

[nanocubeking]

Its bye no means hard to get a bad nem either.

 

[Lynden]

Definitely.

Anyone looking for an anemone should look first for a captive bred one.

 

[Colin_T]

You don't get captive bred anemones

 

[SkiFletch]

You don't get captive bred anemones

??? My LFS is selling 3 captive bred ones right now... Just have to know where to look

 

[Colin_T]

I think they are pulling your leg. If the anemones have divided then maybe, but they won't actually be captive bred.

I don't know of anyone who has bred them in captivity, let alone successfully reared the larvae through the plankton stage and then had them settle and grow. I have had local sand anemones produce eggs and sperm in the tank (at seperate times) and I have seen anemones develop from virtually nothing on live rock. But I haven't seen anything that would lead me to believe that someone is actually breeding them successfully in captivity. It would be fantastic if they were. But I am highly sceptical.

 

[Lynden]

I have seven captive bred anemones, six produced in a friends tank and one in my own. Andy's anemone is captive bred as well. Dividing = reproduction = bred + in captivity = captive bred.

 

[Colin_T]

I consider dividing as splitting and reproduction as male and female releasing gametes to form offspring. But I know what you’re talking about now
You are right tho, try to get one that has been divided/ split/ reproduced in a tank. They do better and will quite often split/ divide themselves. It is also much better for the wild populations if you can get a captive replicated one.
Make sure it has fully recovered before you get it. If they are moved or stressed before they have fully healed they can die. It’s a really fascinating thing to watch as well, albeit a slow procedure. The anemone slowly retracts two sides inwards forming a figure 8. Then it splits along the seam leaving behind two smaller versions of itself. One will stay put and the other generally wanders off to find a new home. In the wild you can find huge colonies of cloned anemones that have stayed next to their other half giving the allusion of one really big anemone.

 

[Lynden]

Yup, pretty cool.