Sea Anemones: A How to Guide for Selection, Care, and Feeding

There are over one thousand species of sea anemones in the wild and they are spread throughout the world’s oceans. They are classified in the phylum Cnidaria and, much like their cousin the jellyfish, they have stinging cells called nematocysts. Despite preying on small fish and crustaceans, its not uncommon to see anemones in the wild with symbiotic partners, most commonly the clownfish. In most cases, these partnered animals provide the anemone with a continual food source while the nem provides them with protection from predators.

The major thing to keep in mind when keeping anemones is that stability is your key to success. New tanks go through numerous cycles when first established and don’t really start to settle until around the six month point. To avoid stressing an anemone more than necessary, It really is best to wait until your tank matures to this point before you start trying to add them. The ideal parameters for nems fall in line with standard reef tank parameters so adding one to an existing tank should be just fine. Just like with reef tanks, the larger your system is, the easier it is to maintain stability. Although its nowhere near impossible, keeping anemones in tanks under twenty gallons can be tough as your parameters are more likely to swing. The best way to make sure your water is where it needs to be is to keep up with a frequent water change schedule using RODI water and a high quality marine salt mix. Hooking a ATO system up to your tank is also key in maintaining your sality levels and keeping your nem happy and healthy.

When setting up a anemone friendly tank, one of the most important things to keep in mind that anemones move, and can move a lot. It's not uncommon to put a nem in your tank and all of a sudden see it disappear, only to see it reappear in another spot a few days later. We have two good size bubble tips in our Innovative Marine 50 gallon lagoon and although one of them seems to be happy where he is, the second never seems to settle and seems to change its mind on a weekly basis. A variety of factors including lighting and flow can cause anemones to move and unfortunately there isn’t always a way to keep them where you want.

As some anemones are frequent wanderers, you may need to take action to “nem proof” your tank so that they don’t injure themselves. If you are working with a system where your heater is in your main display as opposed to in a sump or back chamber, it is possible that the nem will get a bit too close to it and burn itself. An easy solution is to place your heater in a corrugated plastic tube so that it will still have appropriate water flow while also isolating it from the anemone. One unfortunate experience a staffer at our office had was that his nem decided to wander into his powerhead. Some nems also have long sweeping tentacles that can get caught in powerheads even if they are just in the area. Some powerheads such as the Ecotech Vectra come with foam guards that can be placed around the pump to prevent fish and other animals from getting caught inside. Some level of protection such as this may be worth looking into to make sure that your nem doesn’t get caught as well.

There's a couple things to keep in mind when purchasing an anemone that you need to consider. Remember that these animals are predatory in nature. Even though certain fish, like clowns, thrive when paired with nems, there are many more that will just act as food for them. Smaller fish and crustaceans are especially susceptible to being caught and especially in smaller tanks may not make a good fit. Similar to some species of LPS like hammer and corals, nems with long, sweeping tentacles are also very capable of stinging corals that surround them. Unlike these corals, the nems are capable of moving around freely. This means that they may decide to settle down next to your most precious coral and harass them. As with any livestock that you are adding to your tank, it is important to research them before buying and understand the potential consequences of adding them to your system.

[jeanniesnider]

I had a tank raised clown, and it ignored the anemone. I taped a photo of a clownfish in an anemone and within a couple of days the clown found the anemone. after that it was true love!!! lol

[adamsavageee]

Can see your tang at the beginning Tokyo drifting round the power head good to know it’s not just mine 🤣

[lauraklautky]

thank you anew reefer, ihave a180 gallon tank with 6 clown fish and some beginner corals that are thriving !now researching the bubbletip anemone !

[byhjdjs]

loved that fish at the far left playing at 0:36

[BurchellAtTheWharf]

I had resently found a few wild anemones on my lobster traps, an want to keep it, but there was now budy for it

[paulmccaig]

Just bought one yesterday. Absolutely stunning. Very useful tips thanks 👍👍

[danielp]

Just bought one and what do you know, just the perfect video at the perfect time.

[HappyHostages]

Very interesting, pretty cool information 🧡

[UniteForgetLeftRight]

I never would have thought about one stinging cell organism being aware of another unless it was direct contact.

[jameswohler]

I have had good luck "training" them to stay in one place using filter pads as a sort of wall to protect other SPS LPS.

[michaelblack]

Really enjoyed this video. Thanks for all the details and the link. Great job

[nickdeknudt]

Thank you so much, I didn't know they split themselves and it happened 2 weeks ago. Since than they lost a bit of there colour and move a lot. I hope they recover from this cloning. You present well and it was very interesting, as I am from Europe I needed to check the different measures. Maybe you can add ours too next time (celcius/liters/...).
Keep on going the great job, following you!

[RustyShacklefardd]

I wish I had done my research on anemones prior to establishing my system. I would love to add a rose bubble tip, but I don’t want it rolling around and stinging my corals

[britishcanadianeh]

Anemone's don't carry parasites, so a very short quarantine is required. A coral rinse would be good, followed by regular acclimation. 6 month old reef tank minimum age

[theblindreefer]

Started off with one red Rose bubble tip now have three pain in the bum one of them always moving about my clownfish love them always laying eggs had them about 4 years now very easy to keep if you ask me p.s. what are your lights above the tank then 5 would like to know please they look like marzzers

[steakcraftsman]

I just started a new Red Sea Reefer 250 and cycling. I plan to get one and this is video is really helpful! Thank you!

[susanhansen]

Our 10 year anemone became distressed and floated around tank for 5 days. We changed the water and found the sand where the anemone was living very dirty so we stirred up the sand and did a water change. Also, we had purchased a new lighting system for the tank and the growth on the glass and particles in the water were unmanagable. We took out the anemone and placed him in a 10 gallon tank with minimal lighting and clean water. The anemone looks much healthier in the 10 gallon tank. Which leads us to wonder if the water quality and lighting were a problem. We want to know how to fix our water quality and dial in the appropriate lighting. Can you help? Thankyou, Sue

[atfinthehouse]

How about anemones of different species? Can you keep more than one color type or morph of bubble tips? How about adding in and mixing long tentacled? Rock anemones?

[cali-cali]

I think my crimson clown caused my bta to close completely up. It did just poop prior. It has been completely closed for hours now.

[JK-mphf]

What anemone goes along with fish clown and shrimp you are showing in your video. What kind od food should i feed the shrimp, clown fish and anemones..how much is the price range for a anemone and what size will be? What other salt water fish can get along with anemone, the shrimp and clown fish