Naesco: Well, what kind of Anemone did you have?? What was the tanks parameters?? Theres a good chance I can tell you why it may have died.
The statistics that state anemones only "survive" 5% of the time is really absurd from what I have seen.
Lets see, more than half of the ones that probably have "died" where from people that would put up a post like the one I saw at reefcentral stating " I just got an anemone, so how do i tell if its doing good, and what does it need". This is where most deaths occur from. Just like ANY animal, research should be done first. This is so true for all fish and other inverts on these BB's. People buy the "pretty" looking creature first, then ask the questions later when most of the time its too late.
Most deaths from anemones occur because of simple reasons like the following:
Improper:
Water parameters(salinity being a huge cause of death, along with too low or too high temp,)
Lighting: too much or too little, time of light etc,
Powerheads: Another biggie, how those "stats" would rise if people would have screened their powerheads
Movement: How many countless posts have i read from individuals moving their anemone because they didnt like the spot it settled to, ripping an anemone from its spot causing tears to its foot is not a smart thing to do.
Keeping anemones in the wrong kind of environment(ie: with other inverts and fish not associated with them, causing physical or chemical warfare or both)
Power outage is another one, but this is a killer of all creatures in the tank for the most part, and unless you are willing to spend x amount of dollars for a generator, it will continue to happen, especially with the trend towards overstocking tanks.
All of the above things are very easily corrected, I can state many more causes of death, but Im hoping the point is getting across.
My favorite and prized possesion is my Ritteri(Magnifica Heteractis) anemone. Many people call this a "wandering" anemone that ends up on the glass many times. Also of being an anemone with a low survival rate.
Well mine has never once wandered, and has only grown and has doubled its size many times over with only minimal feeding.
Lets go over why.
First off, its located mostly on reef crests.
This indicated a few things first off.
1. Strong water movements
2. Moderate to Strong Lighting
3. Potentially nutrient poor water
So this tells me that I will use some good strong MH setups, along with a very high tank turnover rate with lots of direct current blasting on it. I am also told that its very unlikely that this anemone is a "filter feeder" and feeds mostly on direct sunlight(hence its very bright colors)and prey that it occasionally catches.
Next off, we take a look at its anatomy(shape). It has a very large foot which equals its size along with relatively strong sting with many tentacles.
This tells me again that since it is in strong current, it uses a very large foot to anchor itself and relies on its host clownfish and tentalces for protection. You do not find these anemones in jagged rock structures for the most part, and their column is mainly exposed. They normally are found planted on a solid relatively smooth surface for their foot to grab on to. So instead of the usual Live rock, I used a very large piece of hand picked rock that was relatively smooth and has ample room for it to grow and move on. This is a reason why many are found on the "glass", many go to the glass because it may be the only place for these creatures to get a secure footing on, along with normally following the current which tends to be in conjunction with a return from a main pump. I solved this problem by suspending a very large powerhead on a rotating device right on top of the smooth live rock boulder, which was up high in my tank near the lighting, so all of its basic requirements were met in small area where it could be happy. It hasnt moved since. I also just recnetly purchased 2 more(they are actually a colonial anemone too)and actually put one on the front glass, and another on the opposite side of the tank on some of my regular live rock. Guess where they went? Right to the top of the large piece of smooth live rock where the current was strongest, now they are all happily together and havent budged an inch.
Also, acclimation, this is very important step many people forget about. I aclimate my anemones over a 12 hour period. Anything less can be threatening to them. They cannot regulate salinity changes like fish can and can go into a "meltdown" phase. Also, another HUGE thing to know is where you anemone came from. All my Ritteri came from the
Red Sea. THe Red Sea has a much higher salinity than the Pacific and it averages around 1.028-.029 roughly. Keeping a Ritteri in a tank with the average 1.023-1.024 salinity would potentially slowly kill this animal over time and it would decline and die. This is probably the biggest mistake made with all anemones. And I cannot stress this enough. My tank is has the high salinity for these anemones and is a good reason for its longevity too for sure. Last thing I do is keep the host Anemone with Natural occuring clownfish, which in this case are True Perculas. When clownfish are present, it only helps with the environment of the anemone.
Anyway, Naesco, if you had 2 anemones die, Im sure it was something that you could have easily overseen on your own part that was not in line with some of the basic needs mentioned from up above. Sometimes the problems are so simple its too easy to see.
