Are there white forms of Epicystis crucifer (flower anemone)

[small alien]

Hi. I picked up a couple. Both are eating hunks of krill. Both are pretty much white. One entirely so. Do that mean it's bleached? Starving? Or are there white forms? Thanks!

 

[elegance coral]

No. There are no healthy white ones. If they are white, they are bleached. These are some tough anemones so if they are fed well there's a good chance they will recover.

 

[rssjsb]

Actually, unlike other anemones, I think these guys can have significant amounts of white on them. However, they usually also have other colors like pink or green, which should be vibrant in a healthy specimen. If they're all white, I would agree with EC that they're probably not in good shape.

 

[garygb]

Yeah, some individuals do have sections that are pure white, right beside other tentacles that are green or brown.

 

[small alien]

Thanks for all of your replies. I have one with entirely curly tentacles and it's totally white/off-white. The other has a mix of curly and kind of pointy/inflated tentacles. The pointy/inflated ones and completely pure white and the curly ones have very light pink and green banding. They were in a tank at the LFS with no light at all. They've each eaten a tiny chunk of krill a couple times. Any other suggestions for food to get them back on their peduncles.

 

[garygb]

I feed mine silversides, squid, shrimp (from the seafood dept.), mysis, scallop, etc.

 

[small alien]

Thanks, garygb. How often? They do have symbiotic algae, no? -small

 

[elegance coral]

Yes. They have zooxanthellae. Maybe this will help. Here's a pic of mine after bleaching.

Here is the same anemone when healthy.

Some of these anemones do have white on them. I've seen white stripes on the oral dish and several tentacles grouped together that are white. They can't be all white and healthy though. The zooxanthellae are shades of brown. This will cause at least some areas to appear brownish.

They are very easy to feed. They will eat just about anything.

 

[small alien]

Very elegant answer, there, Elegance Coral! Thanks. And thanks a lot for going to the trouble of posting those pics. That's exactly what I needed to know. The two I have are bleached as I suspected. It will be interesting to see their actual colors once I've nursed them back to health. Thanks again!!!

 

[garygb]

I feed mine a few times a week. You could feed once a week and be fine, but they will grow faster if you feed more frequently. They are very hardy and grow quickly to 7 inches or so across the oral disk.

 

[small alien]

Do you fear for your small gobies and so forth? Have you ever lost a fish to one? Thanks!

 

[elegance coral]

I've never lost a fish to one, but I wouldn't trust it with some of the very small gobies. Mine have no problem capturing and eating fresh water minnows.

 

[garygb]

I've never lost a fish either, but I also don't have any small or bottom dwellers.

 

[small alien]

Oh, dear. That doesn't sound too good. I do have some small gobies. And I'll have a pair of dragon pipes in there in the next couple months when they're done with QT. Hmmm. Maybe I should rehome the nems. I'd be kinda mad if they ate my little trimma goby or, especially, my pipes. Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[frenchie]

i got red flower and a green flower anenome, really like the reds ones.

 

[small alien]

Cool. Thanks for sharing the picture.