Anemone ID + Some Care questions...

[XtremeFromHell]

Well, to make a long story short, my cousin had an anemone in his tank which split. One of them was not doing so well so I took it to my tank. I also recently took in the second Anemone from the tank. I now have 2 Anemones in my tank that were once 1 Anemone.

Now, I own a 28 JBJ nanocube thats been running for 6 years now so I consider it to be pretty well established.
Im running 150w HQI
Stock return pumps
In the media basket I have carbon in a bag and some filter floss.
Cal is at 400
Alk is at 8kh
Temp with HQI running tops out at 81F

Now on to the Anemone Photo for an ID.


My care questions come because they both have chosen to be up at the top of the tank near the surface, and right in front of the return outlets. One on each side of the tank. The smaller one has started to lose color and turn white. Ive read on zooxanthellae and I believe I may not be feeding them correctly. When I feed the tank I use frozen Mysis and let them defrost in a cup of tank water and then use a turkey baster to feed and I throw some towards the anemone as well. They usually close right up and open a few minutes later. I do this every few days.

Since I have a 150w HQI why would they be up at the top of the tank? Should I feed them something better?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[XtremeFromHell]

Heres another Image of when I first put it in

 

[D-Nak]

It's Stichodactyla helianthus, sometimes called a sun anemone. It's not a host anemone and will eat any fish, including your clown (it's from the Caribbean where there are no clowns). Sorry for the bad news.

 

[D-Nak]

Well, to make a long story short, my cousin had an anemone in his tank which split. One of them was not doing so well so I took it to my tank. I also recently took in the second Anemone from the tank. I now have 2 Anemones in my tank that were once 1 Anemone.

I just re-read this. So you're saying the anemone in the photo is a clone of the other anemone? Do you have photos of both anemones, or is that both in the photo above, one at the top and one near the bottom?

 

[XtremeFromHell]

I just re-read this. So you're saying the anemone in the photo is a clone of the other anemone? Do you have photos of both anemones, or is that both in the photo above, one at the top and one near the bottom?

Correct, They both used to be one Anemone that split in my cousins tank and I now have both in my tank.

The first photo in the first post has the picture that shows one near the top and the other on the bottom. But currently they are both at the top of the water.

 

[XtremeFromHell]

It's Stichodactyla helianthus, sometimes called a sun anemone. It's not a host anemone and will eat any fish, including your clown (it's from the Caribbean where there are no clowns). Sorry for the bad news.

Thanks for the ID, I've been breaking my head trying to find out.

I would like to better care for them, or bring them back up to good health and transfer them back to the original tank they were in since they wont host.

 

[D-Nak]

I'm not sure if the ID is correct, anymore. I didn't think that S. helianthus split. I'll let others chime in. Physically -- the orange verrucase, evenly spaced tentacles, and shape/size of tentacles -- it appears to be a S. helianthus.

Has your clown gone near it?

 

[XtremeFromHell]

I'm not sure if the ID is correct, anymore. I didn't think that S. helianthus split. I'll let others chime in. Physically -- the orange verrucase, evenly spaced tentacles, and shape/size of tentacles -- it appears to be a S. helianthus.

Has your clown gone near it?

My clown doesnt go anywhere near it. I google searched your ID and it seems to like just like it... When they were in my cousins tank he had a tomato clown that was always near them.

 

[ThRoewer]

Looks like a Stichodactyla helianthus to me.
And I found pictures of large clone colonies of it so I'm fairly certain it can split like E. quadricolor (BTA). See here: http://reefguide.org/sunanemone.html

Clowns can go into pretty much every anemone - not tube anemones though as they are not true anemones.
I had a A. chrysogaster from Mauritius in an Actinia equina from the Mediterranean.

The ability of clownfish to live in an anemone without getting stung is not something specific to certain anemones. They can adapt to pretty much every anemone by covering themselves into the anemone's slime by carefully rubbing against the anemones foot. Through this they can adopt the anemone's own defense mechanism against stinging itself with its own stingers.

Also some clowns are less picky than others when it comes to their hosts. A. Clarkii and the like are more likely to adopt non host anemones than the skunks, clowns (ocellaris & percula) and Premnas.
Especially A. clarkii seems to adopt nearly every anemone if no host is available. A. clarkii is also the only species that can be found in every (known) host anemone.

 

[XtremeFromHell]

Looks like a Stichodactyla helianthus to me.

Thank you so much for the ID.

Any recommendations as to what i should be feeding them? and why they would be at the very top of my tank?

 

[D-Nak]

Looks like a Stichodactyla helianthus to me.
And I found pictures of large clone colonies of it so I'm fairly certain it can split like E. quadricolor (BTA). See here: http://reefguide.org/sunanemone.html

Clowns can go into pretty much every anemone - not tube anemones though as they are not true anemones.
I had a A. chrysogaster from Mauritius in an Actinia equina from the Mediterranean.

The ability of clownfish to live in an anemone without getting stung is not something specific to certain anemones. They can adapt to pretty much every anemone by covering themselves into the anemone's slime by carefully rubbing against the anemones foot. Through this they can adopt the anemone's own defense mechanism against stinging itself with its own stingers.

Also some clowns are less picky than others when it comes to their hosts. A. Clarkii and the like are more likely to adopt non host anemones than the skunks, clowns (ocellaris & percula) and Premnas.
Especially A. clarkii seems to adopt nearly every anemone if no host is available. A. clarkii is also the only species that can be found in every (known) host anemone.

I agree. After doing come casual research on sun anemones, I'll stand by my original ID (those photos pop up when searching "sun anemone").

While this anemone may become a host anemone, I've read many stories of clowns being eaten by a helianthus. This also occurs with Condy nems but they've also been known to host.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Looks like a Helianthus. I had a similar ID thread not too long ago but didn't actually buy it.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2493669

 

[XtremeFromHell]

What do you guys suggest I feed, i try pieces of frozen mysis when i feed the tank, but ive noticed slight bleaching on one of the nems..

 

[CoralsAddiction]

While this anemone may become a host anemone, I've read many stories of clowns being eaten by a helianthus..

I didn't get one just for that reason.
OP, be careful.

 

[ThRoewer]

They seem to be closely related to the Indo-Pacific Stichodactyla species so I would assume Anemone fish could take them as hosts.

Though it is known to excrete a toxin, the stichodactyla toxin.

What do you guys suggest I feed, i try pieces of frozen mysis when i feed the tank, but ive noticed slight bleaching on one of the nems..

Try small amounts to see what it likes.
A little bleaching can happen with new anemones but if it goes so far that the anemone becomes white I would be concerned.

 

[Rippinfrags]

Helianthus do split naturally. I do not believe clownfish can adapt to helianthus anemones.

 

[macdaddynick1]

You said they're bleaching. How's your light on this tank?

 

[XtremeFromHell]

You said they're bleaching. How's your light on this tank?

I don't believe lighting is my issue however, I have a 150w metal halide Inside the stock cover.

 

[gdwats1]

I had a Clarkie clown. It was hosting a green carpet anemone. I saw it come out of the end of many and try to grab and ocellaris and feed it

 

[gdwats1]

Sorry was dictating to my phone. It left the anemone to grab a little clown fish and bring it back