The Breeder's Registry

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The Breeder's Registry is primarily dedicated to collecting and redistributing information about propagating marine organisms in aquariums, but from time to time, we must investigate husbandry practices that allow aquarists to keep certain organisms alive long enough to breed them. In that vein, and due to the notoriously poor survival rate of anemones in captivity, we participated in a survey during the month of September 2003 to attempt to identify, in a statistical manner, the factors associated with good survival rates. The results of the survey are contained in the article below: These are the results of the Anemone survey conducted September 2003, by Alastair Little. Contents 1. Aims of survey 2. Methodology 3. Results and conclusions 4. Species specific information 5. Final comments A number of survey respondents sent in some lovely photos of their anemones. The only pity is I could not include them all in this publication. This beautiful specimen is in the tank of Eugene Schwartz. In another tank Eugene has a Heteractis crispa that he described as a rescue mission. Bought bleached, Eugene restored it to its former glory and color by careful feeding and correct lighting and environment. 1. Aims of Survey The primary aim of the survey was to gather data on anemones that have lived a comparatively long time in captivity, and attempt to identify any common factors in their care, with enough consistency and quantity to give a statistically valid basis to believe that these factors have been important to their long rate of survival in captivity. In this way it was hoped to be able to provide accurate recommendations that would enhance the health and longevity of captive anemones. 2. Methodology A questionnaire was distributed via the internet for anybody having an anemone that had lived more than two years in captivity. The survey was confined to clownfish hosting species. I would like to thank all who took the time to complete this questionnaire and return it to me. Data was eventually collected on 137 anemones, and time spent in an aquarium ranged from two to fifteen years. Eighteen anemones had been in an aquarium for ten or more years, and the median time was six years. A spreadsheet was set up for each species, and data entered in such a way that any that data clusters could be easily seen, and widely dispersed data could be easily seen. The spreadsheets could also be cross referenced, so that data patterns across several or all species could be identified. The data was also weighted so that data from the shorter lived anemone had less importance than data from longer lived ones. In the end, the weighting had little effect, the results would have been very similar with no weighting. The responses have provided sufficient data to reach statistically valid conclusions in some areas, but insufficient data in other areas. Also, the complexity of relationships between various environmental factors in an aquarium made it difficult to get an accurate perspective on some factors individually.

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