How long has your anemone been in your care?

C

CA Reefer

Member
I have been deeply saddened by the high mortality rate and volume of posts by aquarists who are struggling with caring for a nem. I have also unwittingly watched a couple of these animals slowly demise when I first got into the hobby through the usual mistakes of insufficient lighting, inexperience etc..

Unfortunately far too many stores will sell these magnificent animals irresponsibly to those who are unable to provide their basic husbandry requirements of high intensity lighting and excellent, stable water parameters.

I have learned alot over the last 7 yrs in the saltwater hobby through good advice on boards such as RS. I have had my RBTA in my current set up for 4.5 yrs and also kept a PLTA for 3 yrs before trading it. I understand that these animals can live for 20+ yrs in the wild. I was curious how long you have had a nem in your care?
 
CATALYST

CATALYST

Well-Known Member
I was new and trusted my LFS...later to find out they were full of s***. They sold me an anemone in my 2 month old tank. They said it would be okay with the pc's that I had...they sold me the tank. It quickly bleached out. I started reading like mad and upgraded everything in my tank that I could. I tested about 3 times a day and learned all that I could about chemistry to keep everything stable for this guy. I added mh, a fuge, and a chiller. I was able to get all of its color back by feeding it daily and stabilizing the tank. I have had it for over a year and a half now and it's doing better all the time. It has grown a lot and seems to be happy. I'm very careful that I read about all of the critters I put in my tank after that incident. I'm saving for a larger tank and watching craigslist...I know the day will come that my tank will be too small and I'm willing to do what I can to make sure my critters stay healthy.
 
R

ReefNutPA

New Member
BTA for 7 years. Haddoni carpet for 8 years, but due to my own error when upgrading lights earlier this year.... I no longer have it :(

Tom
 
G

Ganrin

Member
My long tentacle was added to my tank 10 months ago when the tank was only 3months old(much to soon as I found out). It struggled mightily and was actually missing for 3months and presumed dead only to pop back out of the rockwork in May, and has flourished since then.
Late August, its grown since then.
lta1aug24.jpg


Early February, it had been in the tank for 3 months at this point, soon after this picture was taken it disappeared and after not seeing it for a month I believed it had died.
lta2-02-08-1.jpg
 
wonderloss

wonderloss

Member
I have had mine for almost 2 years. It was a hitchhiker, and I only had PCs at the time. I got T5s not long after to keep it alive.

It has split a few times, but I am back down to one. I had three when I moved, but lost two right after the move. It split again soon after, and I lost the clone to a powerhead.
 
R

ReefNutPA

New Member
CA Reefer said:
So far I think you have the longest living nem at 7 yrs - way to go! What happened to the Haddoni?
Click to expand...

The haddoni was in a tank under PC lighting since I got it 8 years ago. I switched from PC lighting to an Aquactinics TX5 light fixture (more than triple the lighting vs PC's) and failed to acclimate the haddoni properly. :( Over the next couple weeks it turned itself inside out, moved about the tank, hid behind a rock, disintegrated. Let me tell you.... a dead 16" haddoni makes one heck of a mess in a tank when it falls apart. :(

The worst part is I realize it was my own foolish mistake that killed it. It just never dawned on me, for whatever reason, that it was the new lighting causing the problem. After it was gone and I was discussing it with some other hobbyists.... it hit me! I was like "DANG! THE LIGHTS! WHAT DID I DO?!?!?!"

Tom
 
hma

hma

Well-Known Member
CA Reefer said:
I have been deeply saddened by the high mortality rate and volume of posts by aquarists who are struggling with caring for a nem. I have also unwittingly watched a couple of these animals slowly demise when I first got into the hobby through the usual mistakes of insufficient lighting, inexperience etc..

Unfortunately far too many stores will sell these magnificent animals irresponsibly to those who are unable to provide their basic husbandry requirements of high intensity lighting and excellent, stable water parameters.

I have learned alot over the last 7 yrs in the saltwater hobby through good advice on boards such as RS. I have had my RBTA in my current set up for 4.5 yrs and also kept a PLTA for 3 yrs before trading it. I understand that these animals can live for 20+ yrs in the wild. I was curious how long you have had a nem in your care?
Click to expand...

The longest time I had a RBTA, little more than 8 years, my present RBTA it is more than 5 years old. :eek:
 
J

jaybroreef

New Member
I think there are two things that are sadly overlooked when someone wants to keep a healthy anemone, one is water stability, your tank MUST be up and running at the VERY least 6 mo.! Also they should be fed regularly, I feed mine fresh shrimp, squid, whitefish, etc., and he has been doing wonderfully for over 3 years with his Clarkii clown. They are so much fun just to sit and watch after a hard day at work!!!
 
thearnley

thearnley

Member
I've had my long tentacle about 2 years - despite what seems to be my best efforts to destroy it. Not knowing what I was doing when I got it and having a couple of tank crashes (1 about 6-7 months ago) seems to have only made it stronger though. It has doubled in size over the last year.
tomsnem.jpg
 
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