amphiprion
Member
This is an interesting article I came across on the internet. The author is Joyce Wilkerson, author of "Clownfishes; A Guide to Their Captive Care, Breeding & Natural History.
HOST ANEMONES
Joyce Wilkerson, PE
Clownfishes and Anemones
The anemone and the clownfish relationship is probably THE most compelling relationship in aquarium keeping and almost every hobbyist desires, at one time or another, to observe the anemone/clownfish relationship. Here is where clownfishes sometimes win our minds as well as our hearts. The same hobbyist who carefully buys a hardy clownfish jumps right into buying a delicate anemone without first doing any serious research. It is a lethal (to the anemone) mistake made by nearly every new marine hobbyist. Before making an informed decision about buying an anemone, consider that anemones have natural life spans of SEVERAL HUNDRED YEARS IN THE OCEAN. In captivity anemones too often survive for only a few months; although there are exceptions.
If one really wants to make a clownfish happy, then one can simply skip the anemone and buy the clownfish a mate.
Unfortunately, anemone husbandry is not yet well understood as is evidenced by the lack of detailed information available on their care. The general complete care information found is less detailed than what is provided when purchasing a damselfish. Little is further from the truth than the "old fish tale" that anemones are hardy.
Clownfish hosting sea anemones too often die after 3-6 months for no apparent reason. Most hobbyists dismiss it as a personal learning experience without questioning those who misrepresented them as hardy animals.
Anemones disable prey and discourage predation upon themselves by discharging nematocysts which paralyze prey. The high molecular weight of the venom from stoichodatylids (the largest family of host sea anemones) lends credence to speculation that clownfish hosting sea anemones are food specialists. Surveys of hobbyists have fueled this speculation as food preferences seem to vary by anemone species. Thanks to those of you who have participated in the anemone survey, I have made charts of which foods seem acceptable to which host anemones.
Anemone Species Foods Accepted
Sticky Carpet
(Cryptodendrum adhaesivum) Shrimp, Fish, Liquid Invert Food, Smelts, Brine Shrimp, Bloodworms, Mosquito Larvae
Bubble-tip or Rose
(Entacmaea quadricolor) Squid, Shrimp, Clam, Brine, Scallops, Crab, Krill, Silversides, Formula 1(tm)
Sebae
(Heteractis crispa) Fish, Plankton, Shrimp, Brine Shrimp(adult live), Smelts, Bloodworms, Squid
Ritteri
(Heteractis magnifica) Shrimp, Crustaceans, Fish, Mollusks
Long Tentacle
(Heteractis Malu) Mosquito Larvae, Clam, Brine Shrimp, Feeder Goldfish, Prime(tm), Invert Food(tm), Silversides,Tankmates (corals and crustaceans)
Long Tentacle
(Macrodactyla doreensis) Shrimp, Silversides
Carpet
(Stiochodactyla gigantea) Shrimp, Squid, Silversides, Tankmates (fish)
Carpet
(Stiochodactyla haddoni) Whole Shrimp, Tuna, Cod, Perch,
Carpet
(Stiochodactyla mertensii) Fish
The survey from volunteers showed that
45% of anemones kept by hobbyists with less than 2 years of marine aquarium keeping experience were dead after an average of 3 months.
Those hobbyists with 2-5 years experience were not a lot more successful with 30% of the anemones dying in an average of 7 months. Only 5% of those surveyed with 2-5 years experience had kept their anemone for two years or more.
Even among hobbyists with more than 5 years experience, 36% of anemones kept were dead after an average of 8 months.
One in 6 anemones in the survey reached the 24 months in captivity milestone.
Only one out of every 13 anemones in the survey had been in captivity for 3 years or more.
One in every 32 reached 5 years in captivity.
But let me cease with the gloom and doom and highlight the very positive: 4.7% of the anemones in the survey were asexually "reproducing." They are Entacmaea quadricolor species. Historically it has been left to marine hobbyists to learn how to culture ornamental marine animals for scientists are not adequately funded to develop the process for us.
My personal philosophy on host anemone keeping is that I don't keep them but if I thought that I was adequately prepared (with information, money, time, and energy) then I would consider putting my best efforts forward to try to determine how to propagate them in captivity. I'm not adequately knowledgeable yet (despite about 5 years of obsessing over the matter) to think I can do any better than the dismal statistics quoted above so I refrain from keeping them. Also it breaks my heart to think of some poor wild juvenile clownfish that will be eaten because its anemone died in my aquarium. Perhaps others are better prepared than I and can learn to propagate anemones in captivity.
Hopefully, captive culturing of host anemones will become a hobbyist industry and allow hobbyists to own these beautiful animals YET leave wild clownfish's protecting homes in the wild where they are essential to clownfish survival.
HOST ANEMONES
Joyce Wilkerson, PE
Clownfishes and Anemones
The anemone and the clownfish relationship is probably THE most compelling relationship in aquarium keeping and almost every hobbyist desires, at one time or another, to observe the anemone/clownfish relationship. Here is where clownfishes sometimes win our minds as well as our hearts. The same hobbyist who carefully buys a hardy clownfish jumps right into buying a delicate anemone without first doing any serious research. It is a lethal (to the anemone) mistake made by nearly every new marine hobbyist. Before making an informed decision about buying an anemone, consider that anemones have natural life spans of SEVERAL HUNDRED YEARS IN THE OCEAN. In captivity anemones too often survive for only a few months; although there are exceptions.
If one really wants to make a clownfish happy, then one can simply skip the anemone and buy the clownfish a mate.
Unfortunately, anemone husbandry is not yet well understood as is evidenced by the lack of detailed information available on their care. The general complete care information found is less detailed than what is provided when purchasing a damselfish. Little is further from the truth than the "old fish tale" that anemones are hardy.
Clownfish hosting sea anemones too often die after 3-6 months for no apparent reason. Most hobbyists dismiss it as a personal learning experience without questioning those who misrepresented them as hardy animals.
Anemones disable prey and discourage predation upon themselves by discharging nematocysts which paralyze prey. The high molecular weight of the venom from stoichodatylids (the largest family of host sea anemones) lends credence to speculation that clownfish hosting sea anemones are food specialists. Surveys of hobbyists have fueled this speculation as food preferences seem to vary by anemone species. Thanks to those of you who have participated in the anemone survey, I have made charts of which foods seem acceptable to which host anemones.
Anemone Species Foods Accepted
Sticky Carpet
(Cryptodendrum adhaesivum) Shrimp, Fish, Liquid Invert Food, Smelts, Brine Shrimp, Bloodworms, Mosquito Larvae
Bubble-tip or Rose
(Entacmaea quadricolor) Squid, Shrimp, Clam, Brine, Scallops, Crab, Krill, Silversides, Formula 1(tm)
Sebae
(Heteractis crispa) Fish, Plankton, Shrimp, Brine Shrimp(adult live), Smelts, Bloodworms, Squid
Ritteri
(Heteractis magnifica) Shrimp, Crustaceans, Fish, Mollusks
Long Tentacle
(Heteractis Malu) Mosquito Larvae, Clam, Brine Shrimp, Feeder Goldfish, Prime(tm), Invert Food(tm), Silversides,Tankmates (corals and crustaceans)
Long Tentacle
(Macrodactyla doreensis) Shrimp, Silversides
Carpet
(Stiochodactyla gigantea) Shrimp, Squid, Silversides, Tankmates (fish)
Carpet
(Stiochodactyla haddoni) Whole Shrimp, Tuna, Cod, Perch,
Carpet
(Stiochodactyla mertensii) Fish
The survey from volunteers showed that
45% of anemones kept by hobbyists with less than 2 years of marine aquarium keeping experience were dead after an average of 3 months.
Those hobbyists with 2-5 years experience were not a lot more successful with 30% of the anemones dying in an average of 7 months. Only 5% of those surveyed with 2-5 years experience had kept their anemone for two years or more.
Even among hobbyists with more than 5 years experience, 36% of anemones kept were dead after an average of 8 months.
One in 6 anemones in the survey reached the 24 months in captivity milestone.
Only one out of every 13 anemones in the survey had been in captivity for 3 years or more.
One in every 32 reached 5 years in captivity.
But let me cease with the gloom and doom and highlight the very positive: 4.7% of the anemones in the survey were asexually "reproducing." They are Entacmaea quadricolor species. Historically it has been left to marine hobbyists to learn how to culture ornamental marine animals for scientists are not adequately funded to develop the process for us.
My personal philosophy on host anemone keeping is that I don't keep them but if I thought that I was adequately prepared (with information, money, time, and energy) then I would consider putting my best efforts forward to try to determine how to propagate them in captivity. I'm not adequately knowledgeable yet (despite about 5 years of obsessing over the matter) to think I can do any better than the dismal statistics quoted above so I refrain from keeping them. Also it breaks my heart to think of some poor wild juvenile clownfish that will be eaten because its anemone died in my aquarium. Perhaps others are better prepared than I and can learn to propagate anemones in captivity.
Hopefully, captive culturing of host anemones will become a hobbyist industry and allow hobbyists to own these beautiful animals YET leave wild clownfish's protecting homes in the wild where they are essential to clownfish survival.
