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See here... Sea hare 5/3/04 Tube Anemone Good evening my
wonderful reefers! lol <live it, swim it, smoke it... er,
well.. two of those things at least> I won a Aplysia
dactylomela the other day at a raffle. I won it on
purpose out of sympathy, I didn't want it to end up with some
poor bloke w/out a clue where it would starve to death.
<interesting... perhaps a polite mention to the club/donors to
be more conscientious about submitting items of challenging needs
for random win/purchase by others> After a bit of hunting
around my tank for some red algae (which proved non-existent, the
info on the specific type of algae these guys eat is rather
lacking, a lot of authors say they eat red algae they just
don't specify what kind! I think it must also take them
awhile to adjust their diet to green algae) <I do not spy it
quickly at hand... but we have a link in our bibliography for our
Reef Invertebrates book to a web page that lists the exact foods
for many species of opisthobranchs> I tried putting in some
red/purple Nori by Two Little Fishies (Julian Sprung & Co)
and my guy started to chow down. Since then all it does is eat
and sleep. hehe <ahhh... good to hear> I was wondering if
you could tell me approx how long this sea hare
lives? I've read from 1-2 years is
all. <hmmm... I am not certain, although I recall
the larger temperate species living somewhat longer
than the typical 24 months or less> Do they live longer if
they don't mate? <nope... not to my knowledge.
There is precedent to support this in other mollusks (like the
famous octopuses with a defined lifespan, breed or no)>
It's funny, I live in Miami and went snorkeling the other day
and saw a mated pair of Dactylomelas. I didn't
know mine was the same even though I've seen them many times
when I snorkel. Also, treading into dangerous waters... are there
any colorful Nudi's that can be easily kept in a reef tank or
is this a lost cause? <hmmm... sort of. The key to any
Nudibranch is identifying and supplying their food source. Many
will keep and breed easily if you can do this. I keep an active
colony (several hundred!) of beautiful blue Berghia (Aiptasia
eaters). Other folks keep and breed Elysia sp algae eaters...
some folks even dabble with the Zoanthid eating species. The
problem with keeping in reef tanks is that most such systems have
excessive powerheads and overflows. If you plan well though, you
can keep some beauties> I always feel so bad when I see these
really amazing looking, doomed Nudi's at the
LFS. There should be a campaign on to stop the
collection of specialized feeders such as these. <no formal
campaign is needed. Educated aquarists simply vote with their
dollars and do not buy them. They die in the dealers tank, and
when it happens enough times, the dealer stops ordering them
<G>. You might help this along with a polite
mention of the reality (supported by a helpful list of web links
or photocopied documents) that you give to the LFS. If that
doesn't work... tell us their name and we'll post them on
the wall of shame <G> Ha!> Oh, about how big will a tube
anemone get in a reef tank? <it won't...
because it does not belong in a reef tank and will never be
placed there by a conscientious aquarist. If you know of anybody
tempted to the contrary, please direct them to our extensive
archives at wetwebmedia.com for an explanation why not
<G>> Will I need meters of sand eventually? lol I hope
not. ( <8-12" would work nicely... let it mature for 6-12
months before putting a Cerianthus in a species specific tank (no
corals or other anemones unless you intend to sacrifice some)>
Ah, the pot calling the kettle black I know, but I'm going to
try and provide for it) It's only 3 inches long at the moment
and eating fine. <sigh... disappointing> Thanks for all
your help! Love you guys, Morgan <sob...sob... another anemone
destined to be a statistic. Anthony :p>
See here... Sea hare II 5/3/04 Tube Anemone Blast! hehe
Why is my tube anemone doomed? <the problem is not
so much the anemone (Cerianthus are aposymbiotic and actually can
be kept well if fed well enough - several times weekly with a
variety of finely minced meaty foods in substitute for
plankton... a plankton reactor in support better yet). The real
problems here are that most people are not willing or able (busy
lives) to target feed these anemones by hand several times weekly
for a lifespan that exceeds the family dog (anemones live decades
and some seem to be "immortal", as in "no tissue
degeneration", read: no definable lifespan). Without
speaking to the extreme end of the potential lifespan, my
argument is that few people will commit long enough to get the
anemone to live more than just a few years (and that's being
generous). We see most of these animals die very slowly of
starvation. Add to that the fact that they are extremely
aggressive and pose a direct and serious threat to fishes and
other cnidarians in the confines of aquaria. I frankly think they
are excellent choices for anemones (well... maybe not
"excellent for their ability to sting people fiercely... but
still a hardy candidate)... IF, one is willing to keep them in a
proper, species specific display> I've read a lot of
faq's on people that have kept them for years. <yes,
agreed. Still... most die within just a few years. That's not
responsible aquarium keeping IMO> I will be moving it to a 180
in a few more months and we keep 4-5 inch DSB, it'll probably
be deeper when we get the 180. <I'm truly glad to hear
it... but we hear this story all the time. Everyone expects to
move into a bigger tank. Some folks do, and other folks
"life happens": job change, house move, children,
finances change, etc. And this anemone does not need a bigger
tank... but rather, an isolated species tank. Perhaps a DSB
refugium at the very least (still will not temper
allelopathy)> It eats really well and I feed it meaty foods,
DT's, Cyclop-Eeze, etc, etc. <the DTs is
interesting... and likely not needed at all... these are
zooplankton feeders> I am also willing to give it plenty of
breathing room so it doesn't sting stuff when it gets larger.
<focus instead on not mixing unnatural species my friend. You
and your animals will fare better for it> Why is it
doomed?? <as per above> All the WetWeb
faq's I read made it sound okay to keep. I don't want it
to die!! sniff, sniff... <understood... no worries. Hopefully
clearer now :) > I've kept my flame scallops and
tunicates, etc for almost 2 years now. <very nice
to hear... but to consider it against their actual natural
lifespans. We can't claim victory yet> What do I have to
do so it doesn't become a doomed anemone??? <you've
got the right mindset my friend! And the solution is really
simple and inexpensive. Could be a 29 gall or 38XT tank with
8" of sand. Preferably offline of the main display, but
tapped in if you must> Cheers, Morgan <best of luck,
Anthony>
See here... Sea hare III 5/3/04 Tube Anemone I'm
back about the tube anemone. ;] I reread all of the
WetWeb faq's and general info about these guys and there is
nothing in there that says these guys are doomed.
<no worries... as per prev e-mail, this is a matter of risk to
other inhabitants for their aggression and concern that most
folks do not have the time to hand/target-feed this
azooxanthellate feeder several times weekly for all the years of
its lifespan> Quote: <From my experience, if you provide
the tube anemone with enough space, it is not a threat to your
aquarium. However, some people have noted that their tube anemone
has eaten some of their smaller sized fish. Although this is
uncommon, it can happen. Overall, I would keep it -- It's a
very colorful and hardy addition to your aquarium.> <yes...
agreed> Let me clear up a few things: I keep a DSB 4-5 inches
of very fine Southdown, have a huge EuroReef skimmer and a
refugium, lots of flow in the tanks, do monthly-bi-monthly water
changes, and provide plenty of space for the anemone so it
doesn't sting other creatures. <excellent to hear all,
except the latter presumption that space of mere inches/couple of
feet will spare allelopathic aggression from unnatural tankmates
in the confines of a closed aquarium system> The small one I
have is temporarily (one month) in an 11 gallon tank w/ pc
lighting, 3 inches of fine CaribSea live sand, two powerheads,
and a hang on the back refugium w/ Chaeto, Caulerpa, and miracle
mud, and bunches of decapods all over the glass (no fish).
<OK> I have various other corals in the tank which are
doing fine, no obvious signs of chemical warfare.
<we have two different perspectives here my friend... I am
talking long term> The anemone is very responsive/retracts
quickly and opens up fully at night. It also eats
well. <a beautiful animal indeed> I also spoke with some
people on ReefCentral that keep tube anemones and they said
chemical warfare does not seem to be a problem. Of
course they had larger tanks like I will have this guy in soon.
<neither they nor I can quantify the impact of allelopathic
aggression in the confines of a variable 3-d environment (your
tank/husbandry/stock). Unless they cited scientific papers that
you can kindly point me too to add to my
collection/perspective?> Is it still doomed?
<not at all... just needs specialized care. No casual keeping
of anemones in mixed reef displays. Its neither natural nor
practical> As you can see I'm a bit stubborn.
hehe <not the word I would have used... but OK
<G>> If you tell me something's doomed I work harder
to make it not doomed, like the flame scallops. ;] <sigh>
Thanks for any and all advice! Morgan <Anthony>
Sea Hare IV 5/3/04 Tube Anemone Hi Anthony!
<cheers> Nice to get your reply so soon. <we
eat sleep and breath our hobby/passion :) > Well, I nor my
husband are casual reefkeepers, we are along the line of obsessed
reefkeepers. hehe <Hmmm... to clarify, what I mean
by casual keeping is/was the state of keeping organisms in
"garden style" mixed displays (species mixed randomly
or in unnatural combinations... diff parts of the reef [sand flat
anemones, reef crest corals, lagoonal fishes, etc] or those form
entirely different oceans. For better or worse, that is your tank
(mix of anemones, e.g.) and what I meant by casual keeping
(versus specialized care)> He's kept saltwater systems for
9+ years and I've only been in it for 2 yrs and I'm
almost more obsessed than him. I got hooked when I looked up an
Acro of his to see if it was a valida or loripes. Since then
I've done my best to become an unschooled marine biologist.
lol <heehee... very cool> To reassure you, I have four
other anemones (ha! how did I end up with so many??!! I'm
going to have to train several generations in saltwater aquariums
now) two flowers, a green bat, and a rose
BTA. Therefore I'm used to feeding at least twice
a week w/ a mixture of Proplan/Frozen brine shrimp/bloodworms and
DT's/BioPlankton. I'm trying to keep my
Tubastrea alive/not receding and I think that will prove to be
much more of a task than keeping the tube anemone alive.
<Hmmm... same frequency of feeding (3-5 times weekly), but
indeed tougher as the Tubastrea needs each individual mouth
fed> I usually dose DT's every other night and feed a
variety of foods to my fish/creatures during the day
(Cyclop-Eeze, Spirulina, pellet). I also feed live
brine shrimp about once a month. Now you can see why we have a 2
1/2 foot EuroReef on a combined 135gals of tanks.
hehehe And it does a great job. <a very fine
skimmer... one of the best> I definitely will do all that I
can to provide for this anemone as with all of my
creatures. I have lost a few corals since I began and
learned from it, I've had a very good teacher
too. I understand that there are some things that just
cannot be kept under any circumstances. We don't have any
choice but to move into a 180. We have a 75 and 58,
between our two tanks there is literally no more rock space to
put corals, including on the sand! haha My husband would get a
larger tank if I let him, but then our living room would be
reduced to a closet. lol I know you guys never worry
about esthetics, only about bigger is better. hehe <its a
pervasive thought for the masculine gender> As for the flame
scallops, I know I haven't reached the victory point yet, but
I can taste it. ;] Okay, onto another strange
subject. The 11gal is strictly an invert tank and I
have several tunicates in it. Some even came w/ the LR, which was
a surprise, I guess it really was cured! ;] Anyway, I go
snorkeling in the Florida bay a lot and collect a few encrusting
colonial tunicates that live on turtle grass/Halimeda/other
stuff. They're small, very colonial (like
pilgrims), and come in various cool colors (mainly orange and
red). Here's the question, well leading up to
it... I've tried to keep them before, but my hermits always
found them and said "Ah! Desert!" after a few
days. Now I have no hermits in my invert tank.
Bwahahahaha! So I bring them home and glue the Halimeda leaf to
the rock. Then in a matter of days the tunicates walk
over to the rock and completely desert the plant
leaf. I've seen it happen several times now.
Here's the question: How do these colonial
tunicates know to move onto the rock?
<chemosensory response... water flow... dunno> How smart
are tunicates? <1300 on the SATs... beats me>
Do they have unknown sensory organs? <if so, we
don't know of them ;) > I know that they're pretty
sophisticated, but hmmm... The tunicates that I collected
recently were on Halimeda leaves and in about 4-5 days almost all
of the tunicates have moved onto the rock and deserted the
vegetation. <my guess would be seeking optimal water flow
places/patterns for optimal feeding opportunities> Well,
that's my big stumper for the night/am. Always enjoy talking
w/ you. Maybe one day I'll go to IMAC and meet you
guys. <excellent... looking forward to it :)> Goodnight!
Morgan <ciao, Anthony>
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