Anemone Survival?

Oscar · #1 09-10-2008, 06:05 PM

I have been reviewing the Canreef reference papers and anemone threads.

A number of the reference papers suggest that keeping an anemone in a reef tank is guaranteed to shorten their lives. That they can live to 100 years in the wild but commonly die after less than 6 months in a tank. One paper actually has a summary of a survival survey conducted among reefers.

But on Canreef forums there is certain no shortage of discussion on anemones, which species, size of tank, splitting and some on losses.

Can those of you who currently have or had anemones speak to this issue of survival success?

ElGuappo · #2 09-10-2008, 06:38 PM

Well ive been reefing now for about 16 monthes and am on my 3rd anem. all were/are bt as i have a smaller tank. the first 2 never made it more than 6 weeks. my clowns never took to hostin until recently(but host in a torch and hairy mushies). the one i have now was bleech white as it took a home under a canopy with no light. it was too difficult to spot feed so when i took my tank apart i moved the rock to be a shelf and now the anem is atop. i have been spot feeding 2 mysis 3 times a week. his tips are no longer witherd and have started to get the rosey back in the tip. the rest is still white. this anem is now about 6 monthes, and is making a serious comeback.

In my experience think that an anems chances are really out of your hands. its just a matter of how well it took the shipping. ifeel as soon as its removed from the ocean you have a 50/50 chance and the rest is up to you. i use reefers best coral marine now after switching from coral marine seasalt about a monthe ago. i have regularly fed cyclopese and thats about it (and other frozen foods). i think thats what kept him alive while in his terribly picked location. i could not get him to move at all his boot was in a 3/4 inch deep hole that fit perfecly around so i had no chance of removing him. the PowerHead trick didnt work either.

if interested i will try to find picks from all stages.

a4twenty · #3 09-10-2008, 06:41 PM

i'm not sure what discrepancy you mean?

IMO just about anything left in its natural environment will out live one in captivity, even if all conditions were equal but they aren't and then there is the human factor, power outages, mistakes, inexperience, shipping..........

i wouldn't want to guess the percentage of anemones captured to the ones that make it six months in captivity.

just because people on the forums are talking about their successes doesn't mean there aren't others keeping quiet about their losses.

i did a lot more reading after getting my S. gigantea, about how many don't make it and i am not sure i would get another if this one didn't make it. there are some species that are just best left in the ocean and others that will prosper and reproduce in the average tank.

justinl · #4 09-10-2008, 06:57 PM

the whole "things live longer in the wild" is really species and system dependent. For example, gigantea anemones can get to several hundred years of age in the wild but rarely last more than 5 years in captivity for whatever reason you may have. However, some smaller fish species might outlive their wild couterparts because they don't have any predation in a captive system; old fish are slow and sick fish (easy targets). That said, let's not mislead ourselves and decide that every death we see is due to old age. The unavoidable truth is that the vast majority of the organisms we box up will live longer in the wild.

Oscar · #5 09-10-2008, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by a4twenty

i wouldn't want to guess the percentage of anemones captured to the ones that make it six months in captivity.

just because people on the forums are talking about their successes doesn't mean there aren't others keeping quiet about their losses.

That could be the issue after all, maybe I will rephrase my question.

fishoholic · #6 09-10-2008, 07:11 PM

I have had my GBTA for a little over two years now and it's doing great. I bought a 2nd one but it decided to move real close to my other one (tried moving it but it kept going back) and it died after about 2 weeks.

trilinearmipmap · #7 09-10-2008, 07:32 PM

My first one (RBTA) died within a week. Actually it migrated into my sump where I found it later all shrivelled up.

My next RBTA did great, I forget how many years I have had it, 3 or 4 years at least.

The difference was the first BTA came from a store, the second BTA was a clone from SamW I believe.

Get a clone from someone rather than one that has been collected from the wild, shipped etc.

My BTA has now split into 5 parts, 4 of the BTA's are under T5 lighting doing great, the 5th BTA is under pc lighting doing great.

IMO BTA's are easy to keep for any competent aquarist, other types of anemone I would stay away from unless I had specific expertise and a specialized setup for the anemone.

Diana · #8 09-10-2008, 09:20 PM

My anenome after 2 weeks shrunk up, bleached, lost all its tenatcles, and hid in a crack for 3 months. I thought it was a goner. Then one day it appeared, I "nursed" it back to health, and now several years later it has split many times and is in perfect health. I have no idea what happened or why, but all I know is anenomes are weird creatures and that they certianly can live a long time in a reef tank.

mike31154 · #9 09-11-2008, 05:04 AM

GBTA in a 75 gal under 2 x 39 watt T5HO hosting a pair of Maroon clownfish. Purchased at LFS, it was quite small and fairly white. It's been in the tank for well over a year, has coloured up nicely, grown substantially and is doing well. There have however been some anxious times.

Early this summer it decided to slowly migrate farther down on the perch it had occupied since I placed it in the tank. Similar scenario as ElGuappo was dealing with. It ended up mostly hidden under the rock near the back of the tank where I couldn't monitor what's going on, nor feed it effectively. Of course my clowns hung out back there now too and much of the entertainment value of the tank was gone.... What to do? I let it be for almost a month having read that nems will move to find a suitable spot. Well, this clearly was not suitable and it appeared too inept to get out of the predicament on its own for whatever reason. I checked it periodically using a mirror and could see it was bleaching and shrinking. Again, like ElGuappo, I decided to rearrange the rockwork (big job...) in order to get the thing back under some proper lighting and enable me to feed it.

So far so good, it is staying put and has recovered nicely. Colour is all back and it's putting on another growth spurt. Both clownfish fit into it no problem. The only thing I've changed in the tank set up this year was to add a VorTech pump in April. This improved water movement substantially, but the nem has always been in the lower quarter of the tank and I'm pretty sure the extra flow was not a factor in it deciding to hide. It's getting more flow now than ever and hasn't moved since the last little episode. I can't imagine my tank without it and the Maroon pair.

Oscar · #10 09-11-2008, 07:50 PM

Ok, I am getting a better feel for peoples experiences with anemones. Sounds like general success although some babying and cautious care is required.

A couple of more questions regarding improving success:

1. How old should a tank be before considering an anemone (probably a BTA)
2. To allow the anemone to move around and select its preferred site should the tank only be minimally stocked with corals?
3. What is the minimal tank size for a BTA? I have a Cad 39G but ~ 1/3 of that volume is dedicated to 4 chambers in the back that house additional live rock rubble, skimmer, refugia and return pump/heater.