Tube anemones sting more potent than BTA?

[Heatherabel3]

Is this common? I have handled my RBTA a few times and it has never bothered me before. Never even felt anything. I got zapped by my tube anemone this morning though and it actually hurt.

 

[ThRoewer]

Tube anemones sting much more than BTAs and they are also much more sticky, likely even more than carpet anemones. Tube anemones are not photosynthetic and rely solely on the food they catch so being sticky and subduing their prey is vital to them. And fish is clearly on their menu.
I had a new clownfish eaten by one who mistook it for a host anemone and took a nose dive right into it. It happened so fast that even though I pulled him out immediately he was already gone.

 

[daveM100]

Found this - The Tube Anemone is semi-aggressive, yet as far as "anemone" type corals go, they do not have as powerful of a sting as true anemones.

Could be that your more sensitive to theirs then bta's.

 

[daveM100]

Ah didn't see ThRoewer post

 

[ThRoewer]

Found this - The Tube Anemone is semi-aggressive, yet as far as "anemone" type corals go, they do not have as powerful of a sting as true anemones.

Could be that your more sensitive to theirs then bta's.

This is complete bull in regards to host anemones. Non photosynthetic anemones like the Actinia species may have a more potent sting but just the length of the tentacles makes tube anemones more dangerous to fish because they get easily entangled in them. I would never keep these guys with fish again, especially not small ones.

 

[Postal]

First and foremost, "tube anemones" are actually ceruanthids, not anemones.
Here is an interesting article with some actual science behind it.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/6/inverts

 

[daveM100]

I think that article explains the sting and toxicity of it pretty well.

 

[Postal]

And yet the anecdotes of "killer tube anemones" have a far greater influence in the hobby than the actual science

 

[ThRoewer]

The article is very interesting and my conception of them a bit wrong - it's been a long time, over 30 years, since I had them.
Though nevertheless they can be a danger (like carpets) to new or disoriented fish - usually at night. I actually lost fish to them.
Larger fish are usually safe because they can easily free themselves. Same goes for fish that don't drift around in the tank at night.

 

[Heatherabel3]

I actually read that article before we got it and it was what helped me decide that it was safe to have in my tank. It was also the reason I was super surprised when it got me this morning.

 

[Postal]

I think a lot of corals and anemones have a lot more "zap" to them than we suspect. Sometimes they might release more nematocysts and sometimes it might just be that different people have different reactions to the toxins. I can touch my gigs with no issue but they leave welts on my wife's arm if she bumps one of them. I have also seen LFS employees with welts up their entire arm from a euphyllia, yet I have never felt even the slightest tingle from my torches, frogspawns, etc.