Anenomes :)

[EmilyB]

Originally Posted by kuatto

EmilyB
Sounds like it might be too big for my 54 how big?My 2 new clowns are trying to host in my zenia.The 115 isn't set up yet.

It's 18" across on a feeding day........... I'm still waiting for the BIG TANK person in Calgary.....

[AJ_77]

Originally Posted by EmilyB

I'm still waiting for the BIG TANK person in Calgary....

ummm, that's you.

[cag]

Well thanks for all the interest, I lost the big bubble tip last night. He was only in there just over a week, he hid behind the rocks most of the time, and then just shrivelled. The other anenomies look fine, and are taking food well. I had the water tested 3 times this week, and had no problems found. I don't know if he was very recently wild caught or had some reaction to something in the tank. There are a few corals, and fish, but nothing out of the ordinary. The anenomie crabs I got for him stayed with him till the end, and did all they could to cheer him up. He seemed fine until the late on Saturday night, then just crashed. Maybe he was not a bubble tip. He was shipped as one, but several have wondered if he was, and I could not find pictures of anything that looked like him. I don't know if he was perhaps something particularly fussy. My rose bubble tip has had 2 major run ins with power heads (which are now covered with big sponges) and is recovering very well from what seemed like life threatening injuries, so the conditions in the tank can't be that bad. I am not sure what was wrong for the big guy. I feel really bad, he was beautiful, and someone with more expeireince could maybe have figured out whatever the problem was in time to save him.

I tried to draw him out of the rocks with mini power compact lights, but he would only come out toward them for a short time, and then retreat within a few minutes. In the end after several days of fussing, he was just gone. I got some pics of him the first few days he was here, but I haven't figured out how to post them yet. Sorry, this whole bb on the internet thing is completely new to me. In the meantime, are there any other suggestions, (aside from the now odvious don't mix several anenomies) to be sure the others continue to do well. The really hot days may have been part of the problem, I don't yet have a chiller, and the tank came up just over 80 on the hottest days this last week. Does anyone have a chiller available that they have outgrown, that would work for a 60-100 gallon system. Let me know if there is anything out there, or if you have other suggestions. I really want the animals to thrive in there, and would love to know exactly what you guys feed, and how often etc. Mine are taking a mix of mysis shrimp and Marine Cusine chopped up and blown into them with a turkey baster. What regiments do you guys follow for your anenomies?

[Delphinus]

Anemone husbandry involves understanding what part of the reef the anemone typically inhabits, then trying to replicate that part as best you can in your tank.

Substrate selection is highly dependent on the species. Some prefer hard smooth substrate to attach to, some prefer in the sand. BTA's prefer a hard smooth surface, but need to attach to either a crevasse, overhang or a cave, because BTA's like to hide their pedal disk -- i.e., sheltered from light and current. But note - not the oral disk and tentacles. These need to be IN the light and IN the current. BTA's like it both ways.

Lighting is important for the long-term health of the anemones. Things to look at include intensity and spectrum. I'd venture that spectrum is likely more important than intensity, but only slightly so. You can get by with low intensity so long as there is appropriate spectrum, but there's no question that they do better with more lighting.

Feeding is also important. There has been some debate over this topic over the years, but this is the way I look at it. If an animal has a mouth, odds are it needs to eat. Anemones with symbiotic zooxanthellae, obviously derive some of their energy requirements from light, and this is the point that's debated: whether they can meet all of their requirements or just some. Personally, I lean to the side of the argument that says it is "some, but not all." As I understand it, the metabolic energy units derived from light tends to be more along the lines of complex sugars, i.e., high-energy, quick-release. So basically it's like eating candy bars or those energy bars that athletes use. But can you sustain yourself indefinitely on a diet like that? Probably not, at some point you need proteins for growth of tissue and so on. So feeding is, IMO, impossible to get away from.

Some people suggest that all the metabolic requirements could be met entirely by feeding, and thus they suggest a lesser importance on lighting. Personally I think this is too far in the other direction. It may be theoretically possible, but for our purposes, we shouldn't try to attempt this. Our best odds of success involve working in the space created by the span of both lighting AND feeding.

Choice of food, like choice of substrate, is also dependent on species. Some prefer shrimpy/crustacean type meat, others fish flesh, and the aggressiveness of the feeding response varies greatly from species to species. For example, carpets can be aggressive fish eaters (generally speaking the fish still has to blunder into the anemone, but once it has done so, there's no escape), but BTA's tend to be content with opportunistic scavenging (i.e., if a piece of dead shrimp happens to fall on it, it will eat it, but it won't really try to catch live shrimp that venture too close).

That said, one food that seems to be universally accepted among the different species, in my experience, is mysis shrimp. The FW mysis you can get has the highest protein content out of any food available, bar none. I've seen some amazing turnarounds that I attribute to that. SW mysis looks similar, but has nowhere near comparable levels of protein.

Current is also important. The dynamics of current can be a very challenging aspect of the hobby to work with. Generally speaking, the more indirect current you can produce, the better. Also alternating currents are "better" than steady-state/laminar flows. Never use direct stream-type current such as the output of a powerhead. However, two powerheads pointing at each other will create an awesome form of randomized indirect current at the points where the streams meet.

Generally speaking, I feel it is a bad idea to overload a system with anemones, because they can interact with each other. Either by direct touch, or even by more diffuse means (i.e., they might never touch one another, but they may be chemically interacting through a process called "allelopathic inhibition"). Allelopathy is when one species inhibits the metabolism of another that it may be competing with for resources. Whether this happens in anemones may be subject to some debate, but personally I feel it does happen.

It is possible to get away with it for short periods of time, however, I feel it is best to not plan for multiple individuals (unless they are clonal siblings) in the same tank, indefinitely.

The period of time following collection/distribution and retail is very stressful period of time for an anemone. The sad reality is that a lot don't make it. It is probably best to limit "saving" anemones to one at a time. If you can nurse it along to the point where it has adapted to life in captivity, and can provide for its needs appropriate, it can be hardy individual that seems "easy" to care for. But if its needs aren't being met and it's stressed, it will likely eventually perish, and for reasons that may seem not-very-obvious. That's why I suggest that if you're new to anemones, it's better to limit yourself to one individual, and even better to try to find a captive cloned specimen from someone because 1) not only has it proved to be a survivor, 2) you can learn from the setup where it came from.

Has any of this answered your questions yet?

For my BTA's, I try to keep them in a spot where they can hide their pedal foot (their "foot") somewhere out of sight, but they are able to get their tentacles out into the current and light. I also have metal halides over my tanks. I feed mysis every day, and I try to ensure that each individual gets several pieces per day.

You don't generally need to feed daily, however. A small piece of shrimp from the grocery store, once or twice per week, is more than adequate.

[AJ_77]

Nice, Tony! Can we archive this thread now?

I will add my 2 cents:
My large-ish LTA gets a chunk of mysis (1cm x 1cm) once a week or so. It can now extend itself to about 16" across, so I don't feed much more than that. It collects the odd piece from fish feedings as well, but those are very small.

I try to balance lighting and feeding as mentioned above.

[BMW Rider]

Great info, i'll add it to the growing file I have allready saved on anemones.

A couple of quick question, how smooth of a surface do you need for the BTA to attach? Is a not too lumpy piece of live rock ok, or something more like the tank glass? If the latter, how can one provide a surface for it to attach to LR?

[cag]

Thank you for your time, this information is very helpful to me. I appreciate your willingness to offer your experience and advice.[/img]

[monza]

So AJ_77 do you feed the mysis still frozen?

Dave

[AJ_77]

Originally Posted by monza

So AJ_77 do you feed the mysis still frozen?

about half-thawed, usually - or it's tough to get it down there with the tongs...

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by BMW Rider

A couple of quick question, how smooth of a surface do you need for the BTA to attach? Is a not too lumpy piece of live rock ok, or something more like the tank glass? If the latter, how can one provide a surface for it to attach to LR?

I think lumpy is OK, but maybe not something that's too jagged. For example, a piece of dead acropora with all those pointy edges might be too ragged and the anemone may wander away looking for something a little more comfortable. I would think that most pieces of rock will be fine. The anemone will tell you by wandering if it's not right..