High School Biology Class looking for Sea Anemone

[lbell]

Hi all!

I work at a high school in Bellville, TX and we have a saltwater aquarium in our classroom. We have a clownfish (amongst other things) and we are looking for a sea anemone for it to show the kids.

If anyone can point me in the right direction of finding one for a good price, I am told the school with give us funds, but the better the price the better chances for funding!

Thanks for your help -- I was pointed here by armthehomeless.

Please contact me at lbell@bellvilleisd.org.

[karlo]

email sent

[nitty]

PM sent

[armthehomeless]

Thanks for your help -- I was pointed here by armthehomeless.

Howdy!

[screename]

man, these high school classes are getting cool!!!! We never had this kind of stuff when I was in HS. Had a nice girl I met at city pets the other day buying fish for a class in Fort Bend.

[lbell]

PM sent

Thanks! But when I looked in my profile it said I had no messages? Try sending again..or maybe through email? lbell@bellvilleisd.org. Thanks for responding!

[lbell]

Howdy back at ya! Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, I've already received a number of responses. People are so helpful here!

[FishRancher]

Come to my store at the Fish Ranch located at 6734 Larkwood Houston, Tx 77571 and I will give you a free sea anemone. Ask for Tran please. If you are planning to buy anything else for the school I will give you a 20 % discount.

[lbell]

Thank you!

Wow! Thank you so much! I will check with the other classroom teacher in there and see if she wanted anything else. I will let you know after I speak to her today. When would be the best time to come pick it up? And, when are you open for the school week is difficult to travel during the week but I'm sure we can arrange something for such an awesome offer.

Thank you again and I will be in touch soon!

Lindsay Bell

[Sea-agg09]

Sounds like a good excuse for a field trip to Galveston. The Jetties are riddled with pockets of water filled with anemones.

[soymilk]

Those are rock anemones and the clowns won't host those. Also they could possibly kill and eat the fish in the tank.

It would be awesome to show the class the symbiotic relationship between a clownfish and the anemone. I'm all up for having an anemone in the class room, but I do have to express my concern if the anemone is going to get proper care. You mentioned it was a saltwater tank, but is it a reef tank or a fish only tank? Anemones often require an extreme amounts of care to properly take care of. Usually they are labeled "moderate to expert care only". Fish are hardy and can withstand a certain amount of abuse. but anemones are extremely sensitive and will start to die if the water conditions are less like ideal. They require high intensity lighting, better water filtration, supplemental feeding and good flow. I was naive when I just started out and bought an anemone as well. In the end I had to spend several hundred dollars in upgrades to make sure it was happy. (bigger tank, better powerheads, skimmer, more frequent water changes)

Anemones also have a habit of moving around sometimes. Some stay put, but others will try to find a perfect spot. This will lead to trouble as it either tramples corals or get sucked up in a power head. It worries me because if this happens over the coarse of a weekend and the anemone dies, it will release toxins trapped in its body that could ultimately kill everything else in the tank. An anemone is not the type of animal that you can just "set it and forget it".

Unless the tank at school has all these requirements and the teacher/class knows whats required for taking care of anemones, such as maintaining proper water parameters, consistent maintenance of water salinity, and general care.... then I can not say its a good idea. Even if you can get it for free, unless you have the right equipment to care of it, it will be just another senseless death in an aquarium.

If anything, I hope the kids will learn to respect the life in the sea. Also not to make impulse buys that will endanger their pets. Its like getting a puppy but not walking it, feeding it, and having it drink toxic water. That would just be irresponsible. That draws a direct correlation with the anemone. If you don't have the proper flow, proper diet ( light, and actual food ), and perfect water parameters ( correct ph, sg, no ammonia/nitrite, correct tempeture etc etc ) they that would just be as irresponsible.

Sorry if i spoke out of line, I just wanted to make sure the anemone will get proper care. Most the time it would just be able to find a substitute for the clowns to host.