Don’t be fooled by their stunning looks, these things are monsters! Anything they can catch, they will eat. Thankfully most of the things that live in the tank currently are smart enough to stay away from them, but anything that struggles to swim in the current is vulnerable.
Anemones don’t need a great deal of food but mine are very well fed. I use a turkey baster to individually feed them with mysis, crushed mussel, brine etc and sometimes I’ll even cut up pieces of squid or shellfish and individually feed them with that too.
It’s incredible how much they can swallow, although often I’ll find that they’ve had to spit it out during the night as they couldn’t digest it all. Once I saw one devouring an entire dead prawn, it was quite the sight. The next morning, however, there were bits of prawn scattered throughout the tank as it obviously couldn’t finish its meal.
Beadlet Anenomes are very easy to find as they’re so widespread. They are well suited to aquarium life and if you can find ones attached to smaller rocks that means you don’t have to remove them, which is much more beneficial to the anemone. If you do remove them from rocks, sliding a credit card underneath them is the best way to do it.
I’ve got green, red, brown and orange beadlets in the tank and they have all done very well. Occasionally I’ll even see them spewing out tiny baby anemones, which is fascinating to watch. I scoop out whatever ones I can and take them to the rock pools in New Brighton as otherwise they’d over run the tank.
Anemones are a vital part of the tank set up for me as they bring life and colour to the aquarium. Seaweed can be difficult to grow and also messes up the tank with all of the bits of detritus that fall off it. You need something with colour to bring the tank to life, and without plants that can be difficult. Some rocks covered with various colours and sizes of anemones really enhances the aesthetic of the aquarium, and they couldn’t be simpler to keep, which is an added bonus. Since I started the tank I haven’t lost a single Beadlet, they’ve all thrived.
