What anemones do you have and how long have you kept them?

[Maxx]

A lot of folks get into the reef keeping hobby because they see a clownfish and an anemone.
Its gorgeous, its delicate yet deadly to other fish, and clownfish frolic in them all day long….what’s not to like?

What many people don’t realize is that anemone’s are usually much more difficult to keep than corals.
Why?
Well, anemones tend to ship incredibly poorly and will often come down with bacterial infections due to shipping stress. There are other reasons, but I’d like to find out what anemones you’ve kept, and how long you’ve kept them.

By all means, please post pictures when possible.

I currently have 6 anemones in the same system. However, I only have decent pictures of three of them.

I have a brown based, yellow tipped H.magnifica anemone which I’ve had since 03-10-2006. This anemone is hosting a mated pair of Rod’s Onyx Percula Clownfish.

I have another H.magnifica anemone which is purple based and purple tipped. This one has been in my care since 11-03-2010, and hosts a bonded pair of Bones Reef’s Picasso Percula Clownfish.

The third anemone I have decent pictures of is my H.crispa. You can see it in the first two pictures of Purple H.magnifica I posted above. I’ve had it since 03-15-2007, and there is some debate currently as to whether it is really an H.crispa or an H.malu anemone. I don’t care one way or the other, I like the anemone. Its currently hosting a single porcelain crab.

The other three anemones I have are a small purple and green Stichodactyla Tapetum (mini Carpet) which you can see in the top pics of the Bown based/yellow tipped H.magnifica, and I have two E.quadricolor (Rose Bubble Tip Anemones, or RBTA’s for short.) I only had one RBTA, but it split when the rock it was attached to fell, leaving half of its foot attached to one rock that didn’t fall, and the other half attached to the one that did.

Post pics of what you have and tell us how long you’ve had them.

 

[Maxx]

This is a multiple choice poll, so pick as many answers as are applicable to you.

Nick

 

[BigAl07]

Well mine isn't listed or I've overlooked it LOL

I have (3) RBTA (Entacmaea quadricolor)
Started with (1) last year, it split into (2) and one of those (2) split into (2) giving me a total of (3) beautiful RBTA. Right now only one has a "friend" but it hosts a True Perc (5 years old) and a Porcelain Anemone Crab.

 

[IPisces]

I have two RBT and one GBT, and ones not on the list I have are, one beaded, two tube anemones.
I only have a pic of one of the tube anemones. Thats the purple w/black center one. I also have a purple one with fluorescent green center.
I have had the RBT's for over two years and they have both grown A LOT!
The GBT I have had for a little over a year and it has grown A LOT!
The beaded nem I have had for 3 months and the black tube nem for a little over a year and the purple tube nem for about a month now.

 

[Krish]

I had a wild Haitian anemone. Kept him for about a month or two when first getting into the hobby. My clowns never paid any attention to it and after I had that huge algae mess, I gave it to my buddy when I pulled down the tank.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[chrisdaphish]

I had a wild Haitian anemone. Kept him for about a month or two when first getting into the hobby. My clowns never paid any attention to it and after I had that huge algae mess, I gave it to my buddy when I pulled down the tank.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

haddoni, ive had it in my tank for about 6 months, the previous owner(luisse) i got it from i think also had it for about 6 months... so we'll call it a year. super healthy adn bright. i love it! sorry the tank/picture is so messy.

 

[BigAl07]

Chris beautiful haddoni!!

 

[Jesse_emel]

My green Bubble Tip Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) It was the first animal i pt in my 210 gallon display tank and has been with me ever since. Gone through one pair of clowns, a fight with a powerhead but stands strong. Has never split for me.

Recent Pics

Old Pics of same anemone

Pic after it's fight with a powerhead

 

[NC2WA]

I have had 7 very large RBTAs for about 2.5 yrs...to see my anemone farm as I called it, view the WebCam link under my signature and look to the far right side of the tank.

 

[Maxx]

Sorry for the short list of anemone's guys, there was only 10 options available, and only one poll per thread so I wanted to get as much in as possible.

Interestingly enough, my H.crispa was just identified as being an H.malu.

I'm not really concerned about it one way or the other as I like the anemone....

Great pics everyone, keep em coming!

Nick

 

[SaltyDog2]

Two RBTA with clowns and a carpet A with Porcelain crab

 

[viffer]

Hi Guys,

Could you give me some recommendations and tips for successfully keeping an anemone, i have always been put off by hearing that they don't last long but looking at some of your comments you obviously keep them well.

Thanks in advance

 

[IPisces]

Hi Guys,

Could you give me some recommendations and tips for successfully keeping an anemone, i have always been put off by hearing that they don't last long but looking at some of your comments you obviously keep them well.

Thanks in advance

Having an established system, that has gone thru all its stages of cycling and water parameters are stable and kept stable, and having good lighting I think is the key. With that you should be fine. Some, like the bubble tips may travel. They will position themselves in the lighting and flow that they like. While moving they could potentially sting and kill coral. If your going to have coral in the tank, you might want to get the anemone first and let it settle down before adding coral. If you already have coral, keep an eye on where it settles and move the coral if necessary. My GBTA did sting some of my candy cane coral and kill a few heads. I since move the coral. All my anemones are under T-5 lighting with moderate to low flow.
Just my experience.

 

[NC2WA]

also getting sucked into a powerhead intake is another cause of death..so might want to cover the inlet with some foam..

 

[Jesse_emel]

also getting sucked into a powerhead intake is another cause of death..so might want to cover the inlet with some foam..

+1 you can see from my pictures above what happens when an anemone fights with a power head. I now keep the foam covers on my MP10's

 

[NC2WA]

what happens when an anemone fights with a power head.

involves several water changes and running carbon to get the gunk/ammonia out of the tank.

 

[chelseagrin]

here is a pic of my maroon clown with my green carpet anemone. i had them in a 16 gallon for several years until i sold the tank. i had some pics of my malu with my percula pair as well as some pics of my tomatoe ritteri pair but this stupid computer wont let me download them.

 

[spllbnd2]

RBTA kept for 3 years before accident.
Maxi Mini Carpet Anemones (Stichodactyla tapetum) and Mini nems have kept since early 2010.

I use to have a RBTA, but lost it to a skimmer PH. Survived once but on the second escape into the bak-pak skimmer box the nem was too shredded up to survive. I currently have what are referred to as Maxi Mini Carpet nems (Stichodactyla tapetum / Stichodactylidae) and Mini carpet nems. I have 9 of these that range in size, anywhere from the size of a US quarter all the way up to about 6" in diameter.

When I first introduced these Stichodactyla tapetum to the aquarium they move around some but not like most nems. They also stay put for a long while once they find a place they like in the tank. Oh and did I mention they're very sticky. :lol:

First photo shows a pair of the quarter sized mini nems. This is as large as this particular one gets. The other photos show a few of the various colorations of the Maxi Mini carpet nems that I currenlt have under my care (minus the illusive yellow one :lol.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[Maxx]

Hi Guys,

Could you give me some recommendations and tips for successfully keeping an anemone, i have always been put off by hearing that they don't last long but looking at some of your comments you obviously keep them well.

Thanks in advance

Viffer,
Welcome to the board!
I have a link in my signature to the resource library of the board. I also have a link to the anemone articles of the resource library.

I dont consider myself an expert by any means, but I've worked hard to keep the anemones I have healthy. Here is a thread where I documented what I had to do to get the purple H.magnifica anemone healthy....Heteractis Magnifica-Tell me some success stories.

For us here in the Midwest of the USA, getting healthy livestock is the biggest hurdle. Many of these anemones just dont ship well at all. H.magnifica is a notoriously bad shipper. S.gigantea is also a horrible shipper. However, you might have better access to healthy anemones than we do here in some parts of the States.

Biggest thing I could tell you would be to research anemones, and figure out the one you want to keep. Then design a system around that anemone's habitat. For example, both H.magnifica and E.quadricolor anemones live on the rock work. However, H.magnifica requires high flow, and my experiance with E.quadricolor, (bubble tip anemones/BTA) is exactly the opposite. To high of a flow rate will cause E.quads to begin to move. That same flow rate over an H.magnifica would be desired.

M.doreensis, (Long Tentacled Anemone/LTA, or Corkscrew anemone) is a sandbed dwelling anemone that is also pretty hardy, as is S.Haddoni, (Haddoni Carpet, or Haddon's Carpet). The Haddoni carpet anemone is a notorious fish eater so you want to keep that in mind when putting one of those in your tank.

Do your research, get your system set up for that anemone, and then find a healthy specimen. E.quadricolor/BTA's are actually one of the easier anemones to start off with, and have the added bonus of reproducing in captivity, so obtaining a healthy one locally is easier that way.


Hope that helps,

Nick

 

[IPisces]

Those are some beautiful nems Alex.
I just remembered I have one. I dont have any pics of it yet though. Got it about a month ago.