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? 

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.