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For days I
watched this anemone in the rock, waiting for one or the other to move out
of it. Daily consults with coworkers about how to dislodge it proved
to be useless. I spent over 1/2 hr one night holding this rock
upside down in the water, hoping that it would move, lifting it out of the
water, thinking that possibly the exposure to the air would help to coax
it back to the waters edge....nothing worked. At long last, tired of
waiting, I chose to take the one anemone in the rock by itself.
It
was an exciting day when I brought it home. My first anemone, reason
to celebrate, and worry. Was I going to be able to keep this thing
alive?
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Bringing my anemone
home was going to require the best of care, so I prepared for it
accordingly. I did a water test, made sure everything was as perfect
as I could get it, and then went to pick it up on my day off. I
remember taking it out of the bag after acclimating it....the feel of
it. I wanted to stand there and just hold it, I was fascinated by
it. It was so soft, so delicate.....slick, but in a good way.
It was what I imagined holding a cloud would be like. It had some
weight to it, which made it even more thrilling. The closest thing
I've found yet is the goop that the toy companies sell to our kids, to
purposely create messes for us parents. The slimy stuff that doesn't
really stick to skin all that well, but leaves a residue, especially on
walls and clothing. Knowing I didn't want to handle it too much at
once, I gently set my new anemone with it's small chunk of rock into my
tank, near the top, to be sure it got plenty of light. I expected it
to close itself up right away, the way they tend to do when disturbed, but
once in the water, it began to unfold the edges of it's disk slowly, until
it was a beautiful underwater flower in my tank.
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