Originally Posted by
LexLuethar
http:///forum/post/2452673
I agree, i think a part of it has to do with everyone talking about how difficult they are to keep and how they can kill everything in the tank if they die. Now this is true, but I think the difficulty of keeping anemones is definately hyped up a lot more than it needs to be. While good water quality and good lights are a must, aside from these facts they are pretty easy to take care of. You don't have to feed them regularly, unlike corals you don't have to worry about physically moving them into a location that best suits their needs (b/c they move to that spot on their own).
I know anemones aren't for every tank, but I do believe they are easier to keep than most people believe.
I posted this a while back in another thread. IMO why I think or believe that the precautionary warnings and hype associated with owning and keeping an anemone.
No I do not believe they are difficult to keep, IMO. Although I haven't owned them all and I do believe some require more attention to environment than others.
I firmly believe that the warnings listed for this animal are for the well being of the creature and for the welfare of our tanks. The difficulty factor they are given IMO is not because the tank isnt mature enough, but more in combination the experience of the hobbiest too. Typically if you are inquiring about an anemone asking common questions like feeding, typical habits of a specific anem, lighting requirements, placement in your tank etc etc... then as a hobbiest you have done to date little or no research on this particular animal. In that circumstance I belive it is necessary to give advise reguarding the special needs required in caring for one. As a new hobbiest you are new to all aspects of reef keeping, husbandry, lighting, feeding maintenance etc... getting an anemone that has particular needs would be difficult to a newcomer who is still trying to get a handle on all of this. Issues like, how their tank is going to be maintained, schedules, water tests and water changes. Its without question that any accidents should they happen are more than likley to happen early on. EG. dosing without research and then asking after the fact, over feeding or adding too much LR again causing a spike or cycle. Obviously those are a few of many. But we have all read posts of what beginners have done before asking for advise. Among a list of other things than can go wrong with a new tank set up. IMO this all runs hand in hand with an inexperienced hobbiest, and now we add an anemone into the mix. And as we all know they are more delicate animals being affected by a wider range of obsticles and issues in our tanks. Getting sucked into power heads, moving around and fighting with corals. Unlike fish when an anemone dies it typically does not get consumed right away or at all by your clean up crew. They decay very quickly and can cause huge swings in water chemistry. If they get caught in power heads or filters and do not die they can release toxins into the water, and get stressed out. If not found and cared for they can die now you have 2x the trouble. Typically, recomendations to hobbiests to wait for tank maturity of at least 8 months is more for their experience level and growing pains than it is for the difficulty in keeping an anemone. It would be nice to make a sticky about anemones in the forum. I posted this as MO so I am not saying this should be part of it. But as a guidline it explains to the novice why an anemone is considered difficult to keep.
