Many, many variables here.
Most of the issues relate to the ability to supply not only adequate strong lighting, but adequate,
STABLE water column conditions, consistent feeding patterns of suitable nutrition, and appropriate environment (current and location) that is shielded from the anemone to prevent accidental losses. Specimen selection, as well as which specie will have a huge impact on their captive survival. These requirements are known for a few species that respond well to captive conditions, yet the large majority of anemones are not well-studied and their care requirements are colloquial at best. In addition, many anemones do not ship well, and holding facilities are such that the week to 2 weeks that it may take to get a specimen to your LFS is more likely to damage the specimen beyond recovery (bleaching and physical damage) than any actual time it spends in your system. If you do decide to keep one, only do so after spending the time to collect the info on its husbandry, dedicating the time to set up a stable and adequate environment, and committing to the long-term needs of the organism.
I really do not recommend these organisms to folks that still have problems with basic set up (for example, stable salinity, or systems with buffer/Calcium fluctuation issues) or cannot dedicate the time or resources to the care of such an animal. The usual scenario for these creature's demise is acquisition, followed by an apparent acceptance of conditions in a particular system, and the appearance that the anemone is surviving and doing "OK" for up to 6 or 8 months, during which time the specimen is using up the stored nutrition it had acquired from the wild. Then these resources are consumed, the specimen goes through any number of unusual behaviors that then result in the ultimate demise of that specimen. Some of the wanderings attributed to anemones are attempts to find locations where they may gain adequate nutrition or lighting, and may contribute to the death of some specimens when they end up in unshielded powerheads or overflows.
In actuality, some species are quite adaptable to captive conditions, especially BTA's (
Entacmaea quadricolor ) if their acquisition is undertaken with a well-nourished specimen that has gone through a good chain-of-custody from collection to its sale. Captively propagated specimens are preferred, as these have already demonstrated their preference for captive conditions through their willingness to propagate under those conditions, and their acquisition does not require removal of a specimen from a dwindling population of these animals from the wild. In addition, this usually indicates that they are held in conditions that will not cause them to either bleach nor suffer many of the abrasions and/or tears associated with coming into the country from a great distance.
There are many species that should NOT be considered for collection/acquisition by any but those developing controlled studies for understanding what their requirements for captive care actually are, as some of these organisms still have extremely poor survival rates, and often will dump their zooxanthellae in response to the collection activity itself. When you see a white specimen, you are witnessing an anemone that has bleached, and will have an extremely small chance of survival in a captive (or for that matter, any other) environment.
For these reasons, and the poor track record of most LFS to be capable of husbandry skills necessary to maintain the captivity of these organisms, I do not encourage anemone collection nor sales to the average hobbyist. It has nothing to do with snob appeal, nor any "exclusivity" of the creatures, rather their poor survival rates in most systems. Eric Borneman did a survey in 1998 of a number of aquarists of differing skill levels (a couple of hundred, although I don't remember exactly how many) looking at how long these folks had kept the specimens they had in their systems. The average length of time was from 6 to 12 months (60%), followed by diminishing survivals down to about 18 months, where the figures stabilized at about 5% survival rate for anemones (If I remember correctly, this was all anemones, not a particular specie, I will contact Eric for the exact numbers and details).
With this said, there are some successes with the captive propagation of a few species, BTA's being one. Specimens collected from shallow waters apparently are primarily asexual clones, lending themselves to more likely doing the same in aquarium conditions. Once again, if you really want to pursue this, make sure to become well-educated on their husbandry, set up and stabilize a system that meets and exceeds their needs, and look for captively propagated specimens to insure your success. We do not need to carelessly experiment with trial-and-error on these unique organisms.
I hope this gives you some insight into the issues surrounding the collection and sale of the anemones.
Tom picks up soapbox and goes home for the holidays
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). Daphne G. Fautin has written a book with Gerald Allen entitled Anemone Fishes and Their Host Sea Anemones ISBN 0-7309-8392-7, an excellent book on this topic. It deals with the symbiosis between the two animals and many of the details of theior captive care. A good book for any collection, and an invaluable field guide as well.
