Continued from page 3If you own a live sand aquarium and wish to keep one of these anemones, bury it in the sand. In my personal experience this is really the best way to handle such animals and the one that leads to their survival and growth. Placing them in between rocks is not necessarily contra-indicated but is not the normal manner in which Cerianthid anemones live.
It has often been remarked that Cerianthid anemones pose a threat to your fish. Rightfully so. That is their natural food. On the reef flats they catch fish and will do the same in your aquarium, given a chance. Smaller fish are their usual catch. The exterior rows of tentacles sting very powerfully and paralyze whatever gets stung. These long tentacles then trap the animal and move it inwards. The interior ring of tentacles which is much shorter, further deadens the animal which is then "food".
Preventing Cerianthid anemones from catching your fish is not an option. If the fishes come too close and get stung by the outer tentacles (which can be as long as 8 inches) they will become food for the anemone. There is no way to avoid this as this is natural behavior for all Tube anemones (except the plankton feeders of which there are only a few).
Should you keep these animals in your tank? That really is a decision I cannot make for you. They are beautiful animals but they do pose risks to the fishes in the tank. Carefully evaluate what you want to do. The type of fish you are housing in the same aquarium will give you some clues to go by: slow moving fish are more likely to get caught than fast moving ones. Smaller fish are more prone to be trapped once stung. Larger fish can sometimes swim away to safety but smaller ones cannot, being overcome by the toxin that is injected by the nematocysts on the tentacles.
Not all tube anemones exhibit long tentacles. Some exhibit a number of true anemone like short tentacles that are curly and branched. The species shown here which demonstrates this has not been positively identified.
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