Anemones and why you should wait.

[Mag]

Hi I say as long as you’re chemistry is balanced you should be fine. I started a 120 It’s 11 months old after a month I went to petco and got this little anemone the size of a dime it was all bleached out. I said well is a little one hasn’t had a long life yet let me test the waters ten months later I now have 3 from the same little one that I got I feed them raw shrimp and kept my parameters in check

 

[JBKReef]

Have you fed it?

It won’t actively feed, I tried mysis and pellets, the last week or so I’ve given it a blast of reef roids anytime I feed my corals hoping he can get some nutrients that way.

 

[Mike Reef Addict]

It won’t actively feed, I tried mysis and pellets, the last week or so I’ve given it a blast of reef roids anytime I feed my corals hoping he can get some nutrients that way.

I go to the grocery store and buy scallops and shrimp "fresh" dice them small then spoon it into mini-icecube trays add RO/DI freeze it then bag it up defrost one every few days mixed with tank water and keep on the top shelf of the fridge, lasts 3-4 days, mine love it. Costs me about a $1 a month to feed them. I use long stainless steel penington forceps to target feed a couple pieces.

 

[Christopher Davis]

I probably spent over $700 on anemones before I've figured that anemones shouldn't be added to new tanks. These walking water bags are so beautiful but could be such a nuisance when they move or get shredded by powerheads.

I was just about to mention that! I just lost a anemone due to it walking. Given it was beat up from the store I tired to save it a beautiful green bubble tip... I’ve been in the hobby for 10 years and work in it now. They are so unpredictable having one in your tank is almost always a gamble! Walked right into a powerhead in the middle of the night. Luckily I was able to push carbon and manage my Permaitors.
I wish someone told me when I first started nice write up @crabs_mcjones
Posted these pics just to show how much these things move!!!

 

[davocean]

Hi I say as long as you’re chemistry is balanced you should be fine. I started a 120 It’s 11 months old after a month I went to petco and got this little anemone the size of a dime it was all bleached out. I said well is a little one hasn’t had a long life yet let me test the waters ten months later I now have 3 from the same little one that I got I feed them raw shrimp and kept my parameters in check

Well, hopefully they regain health and mellow on the splitting, and that is probably due to stress, not thriving...

OP gave sound advice on waiting for tank to mature and stabilize before adding of anemone's

 

[DSC reef]

Well, hopefully they regain health and mellow on the splitting, and that is probably due to stress, not thriving...

OP gave sound advice on waiting for tank to mature and stabilize before adding of anemone's

Agreed. Splitting can be due to stress and absolutely doesn't mean it's thriving.

 

[Mike Reef Addict]

Agreed. Splitting can be due to stress and absolutely doesn't mean it's thriving.

That is exactly how "breeders" get them to split...

 

[SashimiTurtle]

How I know my tank is mature... it just clicks. It'll seem like I'm fighting a losing battle, then all of a sudden it just levels out. No algae, coralline starts taking over, the water is crystal clear, glass hardly needs cleaned. That is when you know the tank has matured.

 

[DSC reef]

That is exactly how "breeders" get them to split...

I'm not a breeder and I'd rather my tank mature. Agree to disagree. Our nems did much better after 8 months of stability.

 

[davocean]

I "think" he was actually agreeing w/ you, in pointing out that stressing the animal will cause a split in BTA's, yet many confuse excessive splitting w/ thriving.

 

[DSC reef]

Meant no offense. I'm meaning agree to disagree as some have successfully kept nems in new tanks while I have not had any success in doing so.

 

[Mike Reef Addict]

I'm not a breeder and I'd rather my tank mature. Agree to disagree. Our nems did much better after 8 months of stability.

I didn't mean you I was just speaking in general, to clarify things up. I was just stating a fact that "Breeders" intentionally cause fluctuations in light and water chemistry to get them to split they stress them on purpose. I'd imagine that's why there are "white" (bleached) Seabae anemones and that we have such a poor survival rate these days that would be my hypothesis on the matter.

 

[NemNation]

Good information. I do want to put a bit of a spin on some of it though. The time frame depends on the reefer and their ability to maintain good water chemistry. Some can add an anemone from the go with little to no problems while others should wait. This is where honesty of your skill/knowledge level comes in. Ive been keeping anemones for years, in fact they are my favorite thing to keep in a tank. I recently set up a new 300 gallon system for nems (About a month ago). I already have 7 BTA’s, Sebae, and a couple mini maxi. All from a previous tank(s). Note that I think this helps becuase they are adapted to tank life (no data to prove it, just my observations). Pictures arent my thing, but here are a few of my current bta’s.

 

[Forsaken77]

This was an article in the recent Coral magazine. Info people should know.

 

[Crabs McJones]

This was an article in the recent Coral magazine. Info people should know.

Which issue? Just looked through the last three online (I dont have a subscription) and there was nothing similar in the table of contents for any of them.

 

[Forsaken77]

Which issue? Just looked through the last three online (I dont have a subscription) and there was nothing similar in the table of contents for any of them.

I just briefly checked and can't find it. It may not have ended up in the physical magazine, but just an article they wrote, because I got a link to it in an email from them and then may have clicked another article from there. So I really can't say exactly where, I just know it was from Coral. And I have a ton of those emails saved because like I said, a lot is material not in the magazine.

I read it roughly a week before you posted this. Though I don't think it was the topic point of the write up (not the title), which makes finding it that much harder, but it was definitely 100% talked about. I also didn't think I'd need to find it again .

Definitely not as in depth as you went, because they were talking about other material as well, but drove home the same point about anemones.

I wasn't implying you copied the material, if that's how it came across, more like "great minds think alike." And definitely something people should be aware of since a lot of new marine hobbyists go for a clown and anemone pair.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I just briefly checked and can't find it. It may not have ended up in the physical magazine, but just an article they wrote, because I got a link to it in an email from them and then may have clicked another article from there. So I really can't say exactly where, I just know it was from Coral. And I have a ton of those emails saved because like I said, a lot is material not in the magazine.

I read it roughly a week before you posted this. Though I don't think it was the topic point of the write up (not the title), which makes finding it that much harder, but it was definitely 100% talked about. I also didn't think I'd need to find it again .

Definitely not as in depth as you went, because they were talking about other material as well, but drove home the same point about anemones.

I wasn't implying you copied the material, if that's how it came across, more like "great minds think alike." And definitely something people should be aware of since a lot of new marine hobbyists go for a clown and anemone pair.

Awesome. Thank you for clarifying that for me lol

 

[Mag]

Well, hopefully they regain health and mellow on the splitting, and that is probably due to stress, not thriving...

OP gave sound advice on waiting for tank to mature and stabilize before adding of anemone's

I appreciate the info and yes i agree with you on the getting them stressed out.

 

[DancingShark]

So i followed instructions on pointing a power to make my anemone angry so it will move. I ended up with two. And the original one is still in the same spot. Jesus.

 

[mcarroll]

I think that's at best a rule of thumb....bordering on an old wive's tale. It may work sometimes, but on the other hand anemones let go for seemingly random reasons sometimes...how could you tell the difference?

Crabs get anemones to let go by carefully picking the "lip" of their foot loose from the rock. If you don't have good fingernails, you'll need to use a tool of some sort (imagination time!) – or know someone.

Can be time consuming sometimes, but it works.