True or False? Anemones life span less than 2 year?

J

jsharp1

New member
Hello, I thought I would get some opinions from the anemone keepers out there. I just started to research nems as I have always thought they are interesting and would eventually like to keep one.

Well, I came across this article that conducted a survey. This survey was specific to the clownfish/anemone host species Entacmaea, Heteractis, Stiochodactyla, Macrodactyla & Cryptodendrum. The results that came of this survey is that the life span of the vast majority of anemones in captivity is less than 2 years, while wild anemones are capable of living for several hundred years. This article also stated that 5% of reef keepers that have 2-5years of experience were able to keep anemones for more than 2 years and only 3% making it to 5 years. While the less experienced reef keeper might be able to keep an anemone for 3 months.

I wanted to see what you guys thought about this. It seems like the information above would be incorrect? Not sure as I have never kept an anemone myself, but hoping to get feedback from those that have.

Thanks,
Jen :)
 
I have local friends who have had Bubble tip's for years!
I have had a Green one since October and a Rose since November. As long as proper light and feeding is done they will like as long as the tank.
 
I would question the statistics because of the size of the timeframes. For instance, if you ruled out all nems that died within the first 3 months of ownership, I think it would drastically skew your numbers.

The first 3 months is the most critical since it covers all the usual events that occur out of the reefkeeper's control ( collection and shipping being the big 2 killers)
 
From the way you describe it, that seems about accurate....HOWEVER, it seems like they are taking an average of data and you might be reading into the results incorrectly.

The average lifespan of nem's is less than 2 years.....if you take into account all the people that buy a nem, don't have correct lights, water etc and die shortly - I'd believe that stat. Do not take this statement to read: An anemone CAN ONLY live 2 years in captivity. See the difference? They are capable of living very long lives in captivity, but due to the inadequacy of many setups many many die before they should.
 
bues0022 said:
From the way you describe it, that seems about accurate....HOWEVER, it seems like they are taking an average of data and you might be reading into the results incorrectly.

The average lifespan of nem's is less than 2 years.....if you take into account all the people that buy a nem, don't have correct lights, water etc and die shortly - I'd believe that stat. Do not take this statement to read: An anemone CAN ONLY live 2 years in captivity. See the difference? They are capable of living very long lives in captivity, but due to the inadequacy of many setups many many die before they should.
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I have to agree completely. Anemones can live (( heck they should outlive us )) a long time in a tank, IF given the proper conditions. Unfortunately, a lot of the time they aren't given the proper conditions.

My oldest ( in my care ) anemone is a Haddoni that I have had for 10+ years. I wouldn't be surprised if it outlived me.
 
bues0022 said:
From the way you describe it, that seems about accurate....HOWEVER, it seems like they are taking an average of data and you might be reading into the results incorrectly.

The average lifespan of nem's is less than 2 years.....if you take into account all the people that buy a nem, don't have correct lights, water etc and die shortly - I'd believe that stat. Do not take this statement to read: An anemone CAN ONLY live 2 years in captivity. See the difference? They are capable of living very long lives in captivity, but due to the inadequacy of many setups many many die before they should.
Click to expand...


I think experience and resources have a lot to do with this. Patience is one of the hardest things to overcome. Too many try to place them in a brand new tank and/or buy one that is less healthy than they should because they don't know when that species or coloration will pop up again at their LFS.
Either that or they just don't know how to distinguish a healthy anemone from a sick one. They see the white coloration and vibrant colors of a bleached anemone and take it home having no clue how to revive it from that state. Even most experienced aquarists don't know how to do this for a variety of anemone species. There are differences to each species that need to be kept under consideration. Do a lot of research and listen to the successful people and also observe what other habits they may have that they might forget to mention and you will increase your chances of succeeding. A large system doesn't hurt either.
 
jsharp1 said:
Well, I came across this article that conducted a survey.
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The first thing I would ask would be to see the survey and ask who conducted it, and when and where it was conducted. The second would be to ask what the purpose of the survey was. The third would be to ascertain whether it was a legitimate, statistically valid survey, or a qualitative survey masquerading as real research.

If it is the survey I think you are referring to, I would take all conclusions from it with a HUGE grain of salt.

Only 20 years ago there were legitimate marine biologists who were swearing that SPS corals could not be maintained in captivity. They believed that any collection from the wild doomed the corals in question to a certain death. We now know this is far from the case. As a matter of fact, many of the most valuable corals are those that have been raised in captivity from specific unusual/vibrant color morphs. SPS frag farms (both domestic, closed system, and international, open system) are now very prevalent in the industry.

Specific research is even now being done for the express purpose of commercial aquaculture of marine anemones. I predict that within 5 years we will see captive raised anemones from aquaculture facilities. We are already seeing a very active trade in clones of E. quadricolor.

Perhaps you can remember the day when all clownfish were caught in the wild, as well?

No one knows the lifespan of anemones in the wild. Field surveys have shown that it can actually be very short - especially if the anemone is in an unsuitable environment and/or lacks clownfish. Once settled in an appropriate environment with an active clownfish population, it can be long. However I could say the exact same things about anemones in closed environments (marine aquariums) - getting to right environment (tank) and getting settled is 99% of the battle. Once in the right tank and acclimated, anemones are very hardy.
 
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I was watching a documentary on Discovery HD and they claim that nems live hundreds of years in the wild.
 
mhosts said:
I was watching a documentary on Discovery HD and they claim that nems live hundreds of years in the wild.
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LOL! Prove it! :)

It is one of my favorite misused pieces of bad scientific opinion out there.

Show me a single individual in the wild that they have been tracking for "hundreds of years". LOL - too funny.

Unless there is other research out there that I am unaware of, I've tracked this SNOPES-ready myth back to a single piece of research involving cold water anemones and the piles of clam shells under each. The research was pretty tenuous - involving assumptions regarding mobility of each individual (that they didn't move for hundreds of years) and that all the clam shells were due to one particular anemone. Regardless, the research involved one particular species - and certainly was not meant to apply to all anemones. It would be like saying that ponderosa pines live for thousands of years... therefore ALL pines live for thousands of years (which we know to be false).

Additionally, just because a certain creature has the potential for long life, does NOT mean that all creatures encountered in the wild are old. Field studies have shown that unless located in an optimal environment (and unless protected by clownfish) anemone lifetimes can be relatively short. They have few natural defenses. They have low mobility. They are dependent on external forces to provide food. They are susceptible to physical damage - especially since they often live in water under 1m depth.

To take the anology further... how many ponderosa pines die for every one that makes it to 1000 years? How many ponderosa pines are there that are less than 5 years old for every one that is 1000 years old? What is the "average age" of a ponderosa pine randomly encountered in the wild?
 
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I guess it just seems to me that if anemones were really this hard to keep that many hobbyists would choose not too. I would think that the lfe span would depend on the conditions that the nems are kept in.
 
jsharp1 said:
I guess it just seems to me that if anemones were really this hard to keep that many hobbyists would choose not too. I would think that the lfe span would depend on the conditions that the nems are kept in.
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You are assuming that people actually do research before making a purchase.
 
Yea I guess I am, but the survival rate that was listed in that article seemed really low to me even though only 200 people were surveyed. I know there has to be many more that have success with their anemones.
 
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WDLV said:
I think I know what survey he's talking about. It's the one called "Choosing Your Next Anemone" I think that's the exact wording....

EDIT: Here it is. Choosing Your Next Anemone.
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Nope. I had to go back and read it again, but I didn't think I had written all those percentages and such. My article was based on 30 responses from some of the best reef keepers of their day. I never claimed it was scientific.

The percentages came from a response to my article by Rob Toonen who was quoting Joyce Wilkerson, who did a more complete survey shortly after I did.

The "living up to 100 years or more" can be traced back to a quote in the Fautin/Allen book. It seems most people writing about anemones since then have quoted this without really doing any additional research. Like Bonsainut and several other big name aquarists, I find the facts that this statement is based on to be invalid. I'm not saying that we don't kill way too many anemones, just that I don't see the evidence that they live for hundreds of years in the wild.

jsharp1 said:
http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen8.html

here's the exact article that I was referring to. I guess it is a little outdated and when you try to click on the link for the actual survey you get the "page cannot be found".
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I know my article was written in 1992. I am happy to say the most of the info is still valid.
 
Hey Phil, found your article pretty informative. I am referring to the "Letter to the Editor" that was submitted in response to your article.
 
Not sure about captivity, but due to splitting, anemones are all "immortal". Since none are ever "born" then we have had the same ones since the beginning of time. Am I understanding this correctly?
 
David Jr. said:
Not sure about captivity, but due to splitting, anemones are all "immortal". Since none are ever "born" then we have had the same ones since the beginning of time. Am I understanding this correctly?
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You are not understanding that correctly. Only BTAs (( E. quadricolor )) and Mags (( H. magnifica )) split (( there is a chance that I am forgetting one )) The other hosting anemones (( along with the ones mentioned above )) spawn, and will produce offspring that will be unique.
 
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