Anemone ID

[madducks42]

We picked up this anemone a little over a month ago from the LFS. It was labeled as a "purple tipped sebae", although there is some disagreement between my boyfriend and I on this. He thinks the label was "purple tipped" for something else in the tank and directly below that it just said "Sebae Anemone". But we both have crappy memories and their labeling at the LFS isn't the best. I'm not entirely sure what type of anemone this actually is; it's definitely not a bubble tip. I'm pretty sure it's not a condy. I'm not sure if it's a long tentacle or a sebae though. When we put it in the tank I put it in sand next to a rock for it to jam it's foot under. It moved onto the live rock in about a week. It's moved around a little since then but has stayed in the same general area, always on the rock. I thought sebae anemones stated on the sand but then I read that one type, can't remember if it was h. crispa or h. malu, that could go in the sand or rock. Any thoughts on what this one is?

 

[madducks42]

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[madducks42]

This is it when we first got it. It was considerably lighter then and more of lavender color. It's more of a darker purple now. It does have bright reddish purple dots on the end of its tentacles.

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[OrionN]

It is a Condy anemone, Condylactis gigantea, which an Atlantic species and not a clownfish hosting anemone in nature.

 

[madducks42]

Well crap. I didn't realize they came in purple. When I searched for pictures of them they were all white with purple tips. But now seeing the purple ones that definitely looks like our nem. A bummer about them not hosting clownfish but I really like it and it seems to be doing well in the tank so we'll probably keep it.

 

[davocean]

Agree on condy and not considered a host nem, but that does not mean clowns will not make due and accept it, it does happen fairly often, especially w/ maroons or clarkis that are so fast to seek any host, but others may too, just don't force it, the condy does have a slightly stronger sting, it can harm some fish, even clowns, make sure there is some open area swim space so fish are not forced to come to close, and don't spot feed squirt anything towards it at first hit feeding fish, hungry ones may rush towards it.

 

[madducks42]

It's at a pretty good spot right now. It's about midway up on the rocks and there is plenty of space around it. I did have to move the green/orange polyps back a bit because the tentacles were almost touching them. We don't have any other corals on that rock though and so far it's mostly stayed in that area. It's been in this spot for a few days now.

Usually when I feed, I broadcast some food for the fish and then I target feed the corals and the anemone. Usually I give the anemone brine or mysis, pretty small pieces though. Do they prefer bigger chunks? It's definitely growing so I'm guessing it's okay with how it's been fed. Also the shrimp regularly try to steal food from it and it hasn't stung them. At least not enough for them to care. I usually chase them off the anemone and coral during feeding time. The fish completely ignore it.

I don't really like the bubble tips, the sebaes are nice but I'm not sure if I want to worry about two anemones possibly moving around the tank and stinging coral. It seems like there are plenty of coral that clownfish will potentially host coral so we'll likely stay a one anemone tank unless we see a really nice healthy looking sebae at the LFS. I'll definitely be more careful then to make sure what type of anemone it is before I bring it home, lol.

 

[davocean]

If you want a small host anemone and don't mind it being in sand bed, and have a decent sand bed, I'd look at Malu, bright colors usually, 8-10" max, normally don't wander if conditions are met, a good mixed reef option that many clowns seem to adapt to whether a natural match or not.

Small foods are best IMO, mysis is perfect, and light is really their main source of energy, I just let mine pick up when a broad feed.

Many shrimps do that daring dance, usually they get away w/ it, usually...

 

[madducks42]

I like the idea of a Malu, in my initial research I saw that they usually stayed smaller and preferred the sand bed, and would host clownfish which makes them ideal. I'm not sure where to find one though. LiveAquaria has been out of them for a while and I'd prefer not to buy from them anyway. A lot of the places I see online either only have Crispa or they just say "Sebae Anemone" without specifics. I might see if the LFS can order one for us.

 

[madducks42]

Well I called the LFS today and they didn't even know what a H. Malu was....I told them it was a type of sebae anemone and they were like, "oh, we have those". I explained that "sebae" was a general term and I was specifically looking for the H. Malu type but apparently where they order stuff from it just says "sebae" with no other info. I'm guessing that H. Crispa's are more common and that's what they tend to get in stock.

I'll look around more online and see if I can order one anywhere. If anyone has any suggestions on where to look that would be great!

 

[pfan151]

Well I called the LFS today and they didn't even know what a H. Malu was....I told them it was a type of sebae anemone and they were like, "oh, we have those". I explained that "sebae" was a general term and I was specifically looking for the H. Malu type but apparently where they order stuff from it just says "sebae" with no other info. I'm guessing that H. Crispa's are more common and that's what they tend to get in stock.

I'll look around more online and see if I can order one anywhere. If anyone has any suggestions on where to look that would be great!

Might be worth going to the LFS a lot of times they will have them and not know it.

 

[davocean]

Might be worth going to the LFS a lot of times they will have them and not know it.

Yep, sometimes I see mislabeled or sometimes even petco gets them, and if you have another LFS I'd look around

 

[madducks42]

I'm not sure if I could tell the difference between them. There is one other LFS but they're super small and don't carry much besides clownfish and a few other common fish.


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[OrionN]

A few days ago Live Aquaria have H malu in stock. They are out again I think.