[TheOldSalt]

Yes, it's the topic that just won't die.

I've been a reefkeeper for longer than most of you have been breathing, so I hope what I'm about to say will carry a wee bit of weight:

Anemone keeping is not easy.
Oh, sure, every now and then you run across some peculiar species that does okay despite everything their keeper does wrong, but this is rare. If you really want an anemone, may I suggest that you keep a coldwater marine tank which uses those coldwater anemones of the type typically found along the coast of Oregon. Those beauties are extremely colorful and super-tough, not relying on lighting in any major way, although you would need a chiller.

Tropical anemones aren't so easy to keep, however. Some species are certainly much easier than the others, of course, and indeed some can even become pests, but by and large most hobbyists have no business attempting to keep one. They need good water flow, good water chemistry, good food, good light, good neighbors...you get the idea, and the funny thing is, it is pretty tricky to provide all of those things simultaneously in the confines of an aquarium. Yes, it's doable, but you're gonna have to really work at it. Your better bet is to instead use species which are more tolerant of poor conditions, although most folks don't seem to want to do that, more's the pity, and even worse, most folks don't seem to realize just how poor their aquarium conditions really are much of the time.

Sadly, many of the most unsuitable species for captivity are the very ones most commonly sold as "beginner" anemones. This of course is a recipie for failure, and frankly, it isn't doing our hobby any favors. There are many groups trying very hard to shut us all down completely, and this sort of thing only fuels their fire. Politicians love to feel all warm and fuzzy from doing things that make them think they've accomplished something, and "saving the reefs" by outlawing reefkeeping, even if only by one piece at a time, is just the sort of thing that IS BEING DONE right under our noses. This hobby gives itself a very big black eye every now and then, and the promotion of anemone keeping is one of the ways it does it.

Quit giving our opposition anything to work with against us.

Quit keeping anemones for no good reason.
( There are very few reasons which could possibly be considered "good", by the way, and almost none of them qualify for the hobbyist's tank. )

Quit trying to encourage others to keep anemones for no good reason. QUIT TELLING NOVICES THAT CERTAIN THINGS ARE EASY WHEN THEY ARE MOST CERTAINLY NOT just because you think they are because you've gotten lucky for a short time. Most of those so encouraged will only fail miserably, as is to be expected, and their tales of woe will do much more damage than the loss of their specimens ever could.

Anemones, nanos, parrotfish, cleaner wrasses... the list goes on & on. If we want the legal right to be able to maintain these species in the future when we are finally able to do so with ease, then we had bloody well quit lowering the chances of that by encouraging those who have no hope of keeping them to keep them. Many countries have already banned these and many more species. Heck, even tangs and angels are verboten in Germany and a few other euronations. GERMANY! Those guys have always been decades ahead of us americans in all things aquaristic, so if they can't do it, it quite likely can't be done. Now the one country most likely to figure out how to make keeping all these tricky species is out of the race, leaving it up to us, mainly, and I for one don't want to see us losing access to these and other species just because a few unscrupulous petshop owners and lucky noobs talked a few people too many into keeping anemones and the like.

KNOCK IT OFF!

Anemone keeping---> BAD!
Yeah, yeah, there are exceptions to this generality, but keeping them simply for the fun of it isn't good enough a reason, unless of course it's one of those species that has already been studied by experts and found acceptable for general use. Even clownfish farms don't much use them anymore. They simply aren't necessary.

By the way, what is the POINT of keeping an anemone, anyway?
It's a big, slimy, stinky, dangerous glob of oddly-shaped goo which causes nothing but problems in your tank. It fills your tank with filaments and nematocysts, it slimes up the place, it releases objectionable and noxious chemicals, it crawls around all over the place, getting into all sorts of stuff you really wish it wouldn't, and it eats and/or burns your other tank inhabitants. Oh goody.. I can't wait to get something like that into my system. Might as well get a few big urchins while I'm at it, eh?

/rant