Cerianthus

Moort82

New member
I know technically they aren't anemones but does anyone have much experience with these. The plan is for one in a non photosynthetic tank and i think i have the perfect flow and setup for it, but was wondering how hard they are to keep and what they are like with tank mates. Basically any tips you could give would be great.

Thanks
 
Thanks i read that a few days ago, which dispelled a few of the myths i had heard about them and got me thinking. I was really looking for first hand experience from people who have had them if possible.
 
They are not particularly difficult creatures to keep, but you almost need a species tank for them.

First, they are mud anemones. They live in silty, sandy bottoms where they build a mucus tube to live in. They withdraw into the tube when threatened. This tube can get pretty large and nasty; as it gets a half inch thick or more and it is kinda slimy. They are not happy in a standard reef tank unless it has a suitable deep (and soft) bottom that it can dig into.

Once settled, they are easy to care for. They are not photosynthetic, and will eat more or less anything that contacts their tentacles. They do better with small pieces of food (almost detritus) than large chunks. If fed regularly they can get very large very quickly. They will sting anything they contact, but I don't think their sting is nearly as powerful as that of a large anemone - or perhaps because the tentacles are so small and threadlike there just aren't as many nematocysts available to sting.

Once established they stay put. If they cannot find a suitable deep sand environment, they will continue to move by backing away with their foot/column (they move backwards). This may include abandoning an old mucus tube and establishing a new one. If this occurs, I recommend you remove the old mucus tube because it will be a rather large chunk of nastiness that you won't want in your tank. It you try to place them in a rock pile, they will back into the rock pile until they reach the bottom and then try to dig into the substrate. This may end up with you having a cerianthus anemone deep in your rocks.

They prefer moderate current.

Aside from that, there is really not much else to say. They will obviously not host anemone fish, but I did not find them particularly dangerous to fish, in general (as compared to carpet anemones for example).
 
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I just bought one off of Live Aquaria last week....it's beautiful and feeding really well. I have it in my tank with just some crabs and snails right now, but am planning on adding a few fish within a week or two. So far, it hasn't tried to eat anything other than the mysis shrimp that I've fed it (just dropped it in the water.....he's got great sticky tentacles). He definitely has long tentacles at night, so I've got him placed away from my rockwork so he doesn't sting any other corals I want to place in there. Hasn't moved at all from the spot I put him in (deep sand bed). My tank has a lot of flow (hoping to cut it down somehow) but that doesn't seem to bother him. I can keep you updated on how things go as I add fish to the tank. If you have any other questions, let me know. I'm new to these guys as well, but I really really like them.

Karen
 
Thanks Bonsai nut, i don't have a deep sand area but have heard that they are just as happy is a pvc tube surrounded by mud or fine sediment. I also plan to feed small food as i have a non photosynthetic tank, so it's easily done. But thanks you've confirmed what i've been finding so i'll be looking out for a nice small one soon.

Karen, hi thanks. I'd love to know how you get on. Good luck with it.
 
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