ID please? Unhealthy Anemone
- Thread starter bradleym
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bradleym
Premium Member
Bleached, really? I had no idea I thought this was a normal color variation for them. Well he's eating readily every other day so it shouldn't be long before things turn around. I just got him a few days ago. What might he look like when he's not bleached? Are you just talking about the tips or will the brown change too?
BonsaiNut
Premium Member
Well, H. magnifica has a ton of color morphs. In fact, it may have more color variation than any other clown anemone. Sometimes the morph may be regional (like red base, brown tentacles, white tips in French Polynesia - or purple base, yellow tentacles, in the Philippines), and sometimes several morphs may exist in the same location. I have seen blue, red, purple, orange, yellow and brown columns, and blue, purple, brown, and yellow tentacles, sometimes with colored or white tips. Regardless of the color, they are almost always vibrant and bright, and the tentacles (when healthy) are a dark color. When stressed or in an inadequate environment, they lose color to the point of almost becoming translucent. Here are a few photos to give you a sense of the range of colors you can expect:
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bradleym
Premium Member
Whoa!! Now that's a dramatic and unexpected outcome. I was prepared for it to stay this way forever, but that's even better. Although unlikely, I'm rooting for some blue as that's my favorite color in corals, but ANY of those vibrant color would definitely be a welcome improvement to my tank. Thanks for the info!
BonsaiNut
Premium Member
Bleaching does not just occur in captive environments. There was recently a survey done off the coast of Singapore to study coral bleaching after a recent heat wave. Here are a couple of photos from that survey...
First, a completely bleached H. magnifica with no visible zooxanthellae:
From the same location, a colony showing what they would normally look like:
For the record, this is not proof that the elevated water temps caused bleaching in the H. magnifica. H. magnifica reproduces rapidly in the wild via asexual division (cloning). Often when this happens clone or parent may lose its zooxanthellae for a time. In a healthy environment, it grows back rapidly.
First, a completely bleached H. magnifica with no visible zooxanthellae:
From the same location, a colony showing what they would normally look like:
For the record, this is not proof that the elevated water temps caused bleaching in the H. magnifica. H. magnifica reproduces rapidly in the wild via asexual division (cloning). Often when this happens clone or parent may lose its zooxanthellae for a time. In a healthy environment, it grows back rapidly.
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BonsaiNut
Premium Member
I don't think they can CHANGE color - but whatever color they are will come back much darker and more vibrant than before. What is the current color of the column? I have often seen H. magnificas with tentacles like that having a red or purple column.
OrionN
Moved on
Your anemone is most likely a Magnifica. It may be a BTA but unlikely.
There is no visible base or column in your picture, but it likely tan in color.
It seems OK except for not eating for a long time. I would start slow and feed it every other day about 1 cm3 worth of shrimp, fish or clam. I feed my as many different food as I can. He should turn around and do very well if your water condition and light is right.
Of concern is the amount of algae grows on the side of the tank on the first picture. This can be due to lack of snails or due to excessive nutrient. If nutrient is a problem, make sure you change water and bring phosphate and nitrate down. Watch for him to wander if you don't provide him with enough light and current.
Good luck
BonsaiNut is too kind, I do have some experience but do not deserve to be a "resident expert"
There is no visible base or column in your picture, but it likely tan in color.
It seems OK except for not eating for a long time. I would start slow and feed it every other day about 1 cm3 worth of shrimp, fish or clam. I feed my as many different food as I can. He should turn around and do very well if your water condition and light is right.
Of concern is the amount of algae grows on the side of the tank on the first picture. This can be due to lack of snails or due to excessive nutrient. If nutrient is a problem, make sure you change water and bring phosphate and nitrate down. Watch for him to wander if you don't provide him with enough light and current.
Good luck
BonsaiNut is too kind, I do have some experience but do not deserve to be a "resident expert"
bradleym
Premium Member
The algae you see is due to a lack of snails. The tank has been established for 19 months and is very stable with large patches of caulerpa and a protein skimmer for excess nutrients. The back wall has never been cleaned, not even after cycling during setup. However the rocks do not grow any nuisance algae and only rarely grow cyano.
The anemone does not seem to be a BTA (I have those as well), so I will go with Magnifica.
The anemone does not seem to be a BTA (I have those as well), so I will go with Magnifica.
Yeah, I got the anemone in November, 2001. It did split about 4 years ago. Before the split it had grown to about 18 inches from 7 inches when I got it. Now, the larger part is about 12 inches across fully expanded and the smaller part is maybe 7 inches. Before the split I fed the anemone almost daily, relatively large amounts. For a long time now I've only fed one to 3 times per week and smaller amounts. I cut back on feeding for the sake of better water quality.
Mags have the ability to grow pretty fast with frequent feedings. Your anemone should be fine if you provide good quality water and plenty of light. They don't ship well, but once established, they are fairly hardy. The key is getting a healthy specimen to begin with, which though yours is a little bleached, my guess is it's otherwise healthy.
You want to display them on a large, flat piece of liverock. They like to be up in the open water with good water flow and bright light. This species makes a good specimen animal because their favorite location is front and center. Mine are very sticky. Small fish, or fish that don't know how dangerous a mag can be, are at risk.
Mags are one of my favorites, so if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. I've done my homework on this species ;-)
Mags have the ability to grow pretty fast with frequent feedings. Your anemone should be fine if you provide good quality water and plenty of light. They don't ship well, but once established, they are fairly hardy. The key is getting a healthy specimen to begin with, which though yours is a little bleached, my guess is it's otherwise healthy.
You want to display them on a large, flat piece of liverock. They like to be up in the open water with good water flow and bright light. This species makes a good specimen animal because their favorite location is front and center. Mine are very sticky. Small fish, or fish that don't know how dangerous a mag can be, are at risk.
Mags are one of my favorites, so if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. I've done my homework on this species ;-)
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