Tube anemone question 1/24/04
hi, I recently got an tube anemone from a mate who had to get rid of All his fish. well my question is: how do u know if an anemone is dead ?  coz mines just lying on its side, but its tentacles are out from the tube & waving about a lil bit.  its whitish & has  purple at the tips of its tentacles.  do I have to bury it in the sand ? it hasn't moved from its spot since I got it, which was yesterday.
<I would give it a few days to adjust.  Leave it on the sand, and it should find a spot it like on it's own.>
thanks for your help <My pleasure!  Adam>

Tube anemone question 12/31/04
First off .. Great site... lot of great info. Hopefully you don't have this one posted already. Sorry if you do but I looked long and hard and didn't locate the answer. <Thanks for the kind words, and especially for looking before asking!>
I have a Purple tube anemone with small greenish tentacles at the center. I have had it two years and it is doing great. Today I bought a small pink one. When I got it home I noticed that the center tentacles on this one were white and not moving. I figured it could be from the move so I didn't think much of it at first. Now the pink tentacles are full but the white ones are sunk in and still not moving. Is the center dead? Is there a way to save it? Or is it ok and I'm just freaking out for no reason? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Kevin <Most likely this is normal post-shipping behavior.  Give it a few days to settle in and it should be fine.  If there is a problem, there really isn't much you can do anyway.  Good luck!  AdamC.>

Tube Anemone/Health 11/6/06
A few days ago, the tube anemone that I've had in my tank for over a year suddenly emerged from the other end of its tube. It still seems like it emerges for about the same length of time as it always did, and seems to be reasonably healthy, except that instead of extending its tentacles in open water, it is now extending its tentacles in between a number of rocks. The only recent addition to the tank was an Alveopora (added about 3 weeks ago, and placed about 18" away in a 90 gallon tank), but I doubt that this has anything to do with it, as the anemone is moving closer towards it with this tactic. Is this normal albeit infrequent behavior, or is this indicative of something? My pH, alkalinity, salinity, calcium, and nitrate readings are within the same ranges as they have been for the past 5 years. Any thoughts?
<Tube Anemones can and will move to a more desirable location to it's liking.
I'm thinking the move was coincidental with the purchase of the Alveopora which is not overly aggressive.
The anemone actually creates it's tube from the nematocysts that it has discharged.
(Bob, correct me if not correct here.) <<This and other material. RMF>>
Another point, your set-up may not be to it's liking.  The ideal set-up is one with a deep sand bed to burrow in with plenty of live rock and a refugium for a food source.
They are non-photosynthetic and do not require intense lighting.  In fact, they are nocturnal in nature and generally open best in the evening hours.  Because they are non-photosynthetic, they need to be fed regularly when it is fully expanded.  Have you been feeding the anemone?  Small pieces of frozen foods, mysis shrimp and/or zooplankton will work fine.  Also keep in
mind the tube anemone is semi-aggressive.  James (Salty Dog)>
Mark A. Kaczynski

Re:  Tube Anemone/Health 11/10/06
My setup is a 90 gallon display tank, a 30 gallon refugium with a 5" sand bed (and tons of critters), and a 30 sump with a g-4 skimmer and redundant heaters (I also have a DIY chiller that I run in the summer). I feed the invert inhabitants of the tank every day with a mix of DT's and Cyclop-Eeze, with an occasional addition of oyster eggs, and I make sure that the anemone is well fed with this mix. The location of the anemone has a good portion of live rock around it, as well as being close to the deepest portion of the sand bed in the display tank (thanks to the hill caused by the antics of my eyelash blenny). I guess that, after a year of being in one place, the lease must be up and it must be time for the anemone to move...
<Wowsie, he's getting the munchies for sure.  Even a position change in a powerhead/return line can also cause anemones to look for new quarters.
James (Salty Dog)>
Mark A. Kaczynski