Buying Anemones

[sixspeed]

Hey, i am interested in getting a BTA and was wondering where you guys prefer to purchase them. Would you recommend going to the LFS or buying one from an online vendor? Thanks.

[Eklikewhoa]

Usually buy from hobbyist which is probably the best way....but if you have a honest LFS then go with them.

[kar93]

I wouldnt recommend getting one online because you cant see it at all until it arrives to your door. i agree with eklike its probably best to get from a hobbyits whos just had a split or something.
Couple of things to look out for:

Good Color
Should be attached firmly to something
Ask for it to be fed so you know it eats
Should retract in someway when take out of the tank

[RBTA]

Phishybussiness.com has great BTAs
And Liveaquaria.com in the divers den has WYSISWG btas from time to tme.
((I haven't ordered any from them, I ordered my RBTA from reefermadness.us and it was great and still living. btw all three are sponsors here. There are many claims to getting healthy anemones from all three vendors. And I haven't mentioned all of the good vendors as well))

Yes, avoid transparent flourescent colored BTAs, and white ones as well, they are usually bleached which means they have lost their Zooxanthellae. Also try to avoid purchasing one with a gaping mouth, you want their mouth to be tightly closed.

Ordering them online and buying them at a LFS can both be risky. They can be super stressed from the shipping and can look like crud, but BTAs are fairly good at recovering from them if you acclimate them well ((I drip acclimate for several hours)). And at a LFS they can be kept in inadequate conditions which make them unhealthy as well.

So as long as you know what to look for in purchasing a healthy one, and how to care for one, they can be fairly hardy as anemones go.

[timrandlerv10]

picking up from a local hobbyist is best. barring that,

i like the lfs...he has it, you can watch it for a week, you can give a deposit for him to hold it for a week, you can see him feed a few times, you'll have a better belief that he isnt melting when you pick him up. if he starts to look bad, you can always say no.

good luck!