Anenome newb in need of feedback

[Staarbit]

Hello, fellow hobbyists! I am fairly new to the practice of saltwater aquarium keeping (new meaning REALLY new; i just got my first fish yesterday) and I was hoping someone might be able to tell me what type of anemone I have and if it's behavior is alright?

First off, before you start going off on me about how I shouldn't have an anemone in a tank that is less than 6 months old, etc. etc. Yes. Thank you. I have done tons of research and I am already aware of this. The only reason I have one at all was because I got it from a friend who is getting rid of his tank and who was also quite literally just going to throw the anemone away. I figured I would at least attempt to keep it alive by taking it in to my own recently established tank.

This is the one:

I just have a couple of concerns. First of all, I don't even know what type/species it is so if someone could help me out, that would be great! It looks very healthy (I know what sick/dying anemone's look like) I'm just a little concerned about it's behavior. It moved around the tank quite a bit and I was told it would find a spot in the tank with plenty of light and a water movement level that it found appropriate. However, after moving around all day and night, this little anemone finally settled in a rather bizarre location - and by bizarre I mean a location that is near completely devoid of light and water movement. I'm not sure if it's okay there or if I should move it? Is it even okay for it to be settled into sand? I was told they needed to be perched on rocks.

Also is there anything I can do to increase it's chances of survival in a freshly started tank? And by freshly started, I don't mean that I started it yesterday or anything. It had been cycling for six weeks before I put anything in it, but I know the maturity of the tank is an extremely important factor in the survival rate of anemones and obviously my tank is hardly mature. I was just hoping there were some extra precautions I could take to help it along at this stage of the game.

 

[Staarbit]

Oh god I spelled Anemone wrong in the title now you guys are really going to think I'm a newb haha

 

[nathanjohnson09]

it looks like a long tentacle and yes they prefer the sand bed. also do not move it or it will just keep wondering. i had one i sat in front of tank and a week later he was in the very back in a corner and completely unseeable. over time he wondered back up to the front

 

[m0nkie]

what type of lighting do you use? Lighting is very critical to your anemone.

keep your water parameters STABLE. Alk/Calc/Mag/Temp/Salinity. Do weekly measure or twice a week. Keep these 5 numbers in check and you will give your anemone the best chance at surviving.

 

[ThRoewer]

Looks like a Condylactis too me - they are fairly hardy. It looks like it still has enough Zooxanthellae to get some color. You may also want to feed it.

As for it's location: many anemones like corners or edges. If you want it to stay somewhere else you need to try to create a similar corner with rocks.

 

[raythepilot]

Also is there anything I can do to increase it's chances of survival in a freshly started tank? And by freshly started, I don't mean that I started it yesterday or anything. It had been cycling for six weeks before I put anything in it, but I know the maturity of the tank is an extremely important factor in the survival rate of anemones and obviously my tank is hardly mature. I was just hoping there were some extra precautions I could take to help it along at this stage of the game.

You didn't say how big your tank is.
I've been keeping anemones for many years and regularly give them away. How old your tank is has no relationship to anemone survival. What counts is "How clean it is".
I keep BTA and haddoni carpets in small tanks 10-20 gal and regularly move them into new tanks less than 1 month old. (In fact I treat them in tanks I just set up the day I move them). The requirement is that you have to do frequent water changes. I regularly do 50% water changes per week.
I never check any parameters except the salinity and temperature of the make up water.
So if you have a smallish tank, do high volume water changes and you will be ok. If your tank is 100gal doing 50% water changes is impractical.

 

[OrionN]

It is a Condylactis gigantea. It is a small hardy anemone from the Atlantic and does not host clownfish. You can get some shrimp that naturally hosted by this anemone. It can be normal for this anemone to be white, if you provide it with a lot of light where the zoox population is low. They often have white pigment, not white because they are translucent and lack of zoox

 

[blazend]

This is a Condy not a LTA. They do not host clown fish like the other anemones. They also move quite a bit compared to LTA and BTA. I would cover all your powerheads just in case.

I believe it will become an off brown or off white color over time. I dont believe they are white naturally.

 

[OrionN]

Above is a picture of a Condy I got off the internet. The base of the tentacles have white pigment. The tip of the tentacles are translucent. As we can see, when the zoox population is high the tip of the tentacles will be brown. However, the base bottom haft of the tentacles will stay white, maybe off white.
Often, Condy can have white pigment throughout the tentacles. These anemone will look white, but not bleached. The white color is from the pigment on the surface of the tentacles, not due to lack of zoox

 

[garygb]

Yeah, a condylactis. Generally considered a good beginner anemone because they are hardy. It will almost certainly move from the spot it is in the pic. They like to have their foot and column deep in a hole or crevice in the live rock. As someone else mentioned, do cover up any power heads with mesh as a wandering anemone can get sucked in and that very likely will kill it.