I'm a new anemone-keeper, so I hope you get some input from some of the very experienced members on this forum. That said, this is what has been working for me so far:
1. A mature tank--mine has been up and running for 18 months. A minimum of 6 months is recommended; I took longer because I had a few different "themes" in this tank before finally deciding that I wanted to try an anemone for my clowns. I was also really nervous about caring for an anemone, having tried it unsuccessfully once before.
2. Stable water parameters--no detectable phosphates or nitrates, pH about 8.6, KH about 9, temperature about 82F (the propagator I bought my nem from keeps hers on the warm side).
3. Lighting is 150W/14K MH, with 2 36W actinic bulbs, run for 10 hours a day. MH isn't essential, from what I understand, but it's what I have on my tank and the anemone hasn't moved. They'll move if the light is too strong or too dim for them. The anemone is located about halfway down in the tank, directly under the MH bulb, and seems to be loving it.
4. Flow--provided by the return pump and 2 powerheads placed on opposites sides of the tank. The powerhead nearest to the anemone is positioned so that the current goes past the anemone, not directly at it. Make sure to cover your powerheads! The models I own came with foam sleeves that fit over the intake. I also anchored them in place with a rubber band, just in case.
5. Rock--mine has lots of crevices, which BTAs like to settle their feet into, and forms a kind of little grotto that the anemone sticks its tentacles out of. At night, it deflates a bit and withdraws into the cave. I think they like having an enclosed space, such as a cave or a deep crevice, to withdraw into if they sense a threat. It's also a good idea to construct a bommie--that is, an isolated island of rock--to keep the anemone away from your corals, if you have any. It's also supposed to discourage wandering, since the anemone isn't as likely to crawl across something it can't get a grip on (like sand).
6. Feeding--I've read a lot of differing opinions on this topic. The aquarist I bought my BTA clone from advises feeding two or three times a week with silversides, shrimp, or mollusk flesh. I'm avoiding feeding silversides, after hearing/reading that some anemone-keepers have had problems with them. I've fed my anemone three times so far, with tiny (smaller than a pencil eraser) bits of thawed krill, mysis, scallop, and squid. I'm planning to do more research into this topic, because there is such a wide difference of opinion on how much and what to feed BTAs (or whether to feed them at all).
7. Aquacultured--I think cloned BTAs are the way to go. They're hardier,acclimated to captivity, have to undergo much less shipping stress, and don't require the collection of a wild anemone that wild clownfishes and other animals need for a home.
Again, let me stress that this is only my second attempt at keeping an anemone, so I'm far from being an expert. I'm just going by personal observation and research. But that's one of the things I enjoy most about reefkeeping--it's a continual learning process. HTH!
