Caring for Rose Anemones the right way

Bristle worms,Pods,Spaghetti worms,Snails,Cucumbers,Cleaner Shrimp and most Brittlestars can live peacefully with Rose and green Anemones.
They are more interested in eating the food that is uneaten and cleaning up after your fish and Anemones then they are killing them.
The only time I have found a Bristle worm or any of the above attacking a Rose is if the Rose is sick or dying .

Note: Bristle worms do NOT attack Anemones. They may crawl around the base of their foot but do not bother them.

The only time you will see a Bristle worm on a Rose is if there is a problem with your rose and the Bristleworm is going to start to devour it.

I have NEVER seen a Bristleworm bothering a rose in my tank so they are very safe.

Note: Bristle worms can and do reach up into the foot lengths. So watch for any larger ones in your tank. If I see one larger then 4 inches it is removed from the tank, ( if I can catch it) and sell it. Its only because I find them creepy and this size makes me not sleep well.

Note: Bristleworms can cause serious health hazards to you . Never EVER move rocks around in your tank without gloves on if you know you have them in your tank. I have a picture that I took of what they can do to your hands and arms. 

They will itch like crazy, ooze with puss for days or even up to a week and leave a nasty scar if scratched. ( I can attest to that).

So if you have them in your tank  be careful and wear gloves.

Here is what they can do when touched.

They are very beneficial to your tank because they clean up all of the non eaten food in your tank, also they eat poop, yup, you read that right.

Another view of the mess. It says Anemone sting, because at first, I thought that is where

I got this from.

They always become infected when the bubble up as seen in the pictures and a good

antibiotic cream takes care of them once they are open.

Try not to scratch them, however bad the urge is.

Here is one I pulled out of another tank

He was 8 inches long and was sold on Ebay.

In the tank doing their jobs.

Also be aware, many people do NOT want them in their tanks so if you are selling an item out of a tank with them

in it, be sure to state such when selling any items.

As they can tag along in very small spaces.

Also a note on these. They start out very small, like 1/8 inches long and grow and multiply fast in a well fed tank.

So keep in mind that the more your tank is fed, the more of these you will have.

I have hundreds in my Seahorse tank and always use gloves when handling anything in this tank.

I never ever move something from this tank to another of my tanks because of this, I do NOT want them in any of my other tanks.

Also, they seem to know when an Anemone is dying and  accelerate the process of the animals death by eating it.
If you see a bristle worm on your Rose,  there is a problem. Remove the Anemone from the tank and place it in a small hospital tank.
Be sure to remove the Bristle worms and anything else that is eating on it before doing the relocation  to make sure that it is not being eaten. Be sure to wear gloves when doing this as Bristle worms will leave nasty welts on your skin when gloves are not worn.
Below are pictures of some the animals I am referring to including Brittlestars and Sea cucumbers.
All which are in my Rose tank and I have never had a problem with. The first is a Brittlestar.

As you can see, they are usually on and stay hidden in the rocks during the day, but you can coax them out with any foods that smell like meat. 
I won't include pictures of Snails as you have all seen them before. I have hundreds of Bristleworms , two Brittlestarsn and hundreds of Spaghetti worms and Snails in with my Roses and they all live peacefully together.

Some Bristleworms can reach upwards of 12 inches or more but the biggest I have ever had is a 6 inch long one that was removed and sold. I feel that having the variation of life in my tank is what keeps my tank running so well without refugium and sumps.

They all clean up what is not eaten and also the feces of the fish and Anemones. A balanced Ecosystem is a must to keep a salt water tank running smoothly and the addition of these creapy crawlys are such an enormous help.

ARed Brittlestar.

Below is a pod which I have thousands of in the Rose tank, this one is an adult that has

been able to elude the Mandarin up until now.

They are great food for everything in the tank , the Roses will grab them up if they venture onto

the tentacles, all of my fish love them and the ones that hide in the rock and Caulerpa breed very well and

keep the populations up.

Brittlestars are terrific for my Rose tanks.

If I have a Rose that doesn't want to eat

or is full and drops it silverside, the Brittlestar  darts out  immediately to pick it up for a snack.

I find them essential in my tank for quick clean up. They very seldom come out to be seen other

then to eat. But you can usually see where they are by an arm or two waving outside the rock

seeing if there is a chance for a snack nearby .

These are my brittle stars.(green)

When I bought them they where only 5 inches total across. Now they are a whopping 12 inches each. I have 2.

Close up of the tentacles.

They are really cool to feed, when touched on any tentacle leg, they immediately grab the food, curl up

around it and start eating, usually retreating into the rock at the same time.

They are awesome to have and I recommend them for any mixed tank.

Blue leg Hermit Crabs are great foragers and will clean up Mysis or food that the

fish don't eat.

But be aware that many Wrasse will

eat these critters right out of the shells.

The Queen Conch is a perfect addition to any tank.

They burrow through the sand eating whatever they can find. I  have 2

in the Rose tank.

The  first picture is of the one in my 15 tall tank, the white specks are baby pods,

the second picture is the Queen Conch in the Rose tank.

And a new picture of one of my huge Conch snails in the 125.

He is about 1 1/2 inches across and I have

added several new larger shells over time for him to transfer to

as he grows.

You must do this to keep them growing and alive or they will die

in to small of a shell.

You must have algae on your glass for them to eat.

So make sure you leave some for a few days to keep them happy.

This one was sleeping under a few shrooms.

The wonderful Sea Cucumber

This little fellow is a real neat freak, he can squeeze in between a quarter inch  hole

and will also burrow in the sand. It is a Sea Cucumber and I have had him for almost 2 years .

Here he is on the glass.

Be aware however that if they die in the tank, they will release poisons

so you need to watch for them and make sure they are happy.

When food is added to the tank, their food antenna come out from around their

mouths to catch food.

They are way cool to watch and are slow movers.

Stomatella. Looks like a Snail with no shell, I have lots of them in the rose tank

and in the seahorse tank.

But many won't survive Wrasse.

The Emerald crab. I don't like them.

They steal food from the

Roses, they just walk right up to their  mouths and pull the food out.

They are  not for MY Rose tank. I do however keep them in my other tanks as part of the cleanup crew.

Spaghetti Worms, a cool critter.

They live in the sand and send out feelers to catch any food that passes

by, they must have undisturbed sand to survive.

Cleaner Shrimp
I love these little guys, they have fun personality but can be
a pain when feeding your Anemones.
What I do is feed them a sliver of Silverside first before
feeding the Anemones, otherwise they are all over the Anemone trying
to yank the fish right out of there tentacles or mouth.
So always feed them first.
The picture below was taken not 5 minutes after I added 2 cleaners
to my 125 gallon tank.
3 of the fish lined up for a good cleaning.

(they will clean off any Ick or parasites

that you fish might have)

Another great thing about Cleaner Shrimp is they love
Mysis shrimp, actually they love most anything you  feed
your fish and inverts.
So they are great for cleaning up any left over food that has fallen
to the bottom of the tank.
I find them to be essential to my tanks.

They do molt from time to time and you will sometimes find

an identical body left someplace in the tank, and thinking

that your cleaner shrimp has died you pull it out, only to find it hollow.

Now how cool is that!