Is my nem really a 'rare catch' or is it bleached and dying?

[memorisa]

Hello all,

I've only had anemone experience when I was a rookie 3 years back and couldn't take care of it. But now, having a fairly mature tank I wanted to try again. So I was very excited when my LFS told me they got a really rare nem which comes maybe once a year. Not knowing much about nems, I made a mistake and rushed into purchase. But now, I'm not so sure.

Here are some pics. Do you think it's bleached? If so, what should I do? And could you ID it for me please?

 

[elegance coral]

It looks like malu or crispa to me. If the foot is wide with thick leather tissue I'd say crispa. If the foot is skinny with delicate tissue, I'd say malu.

An anemone like that isn't all that rare.

It is bleached. We don't all agree on how to care for such an anemone. Me personally, I try to get them eating as soon as possible. The anemone is gaining virtually no nutrition for zooxanthellae, so it's only source of nutrition becomes food or dissolved nutrients in the water. I try to start them out with small foods like mysis or krill. You can also soak the food in one of the enhancement products like Selcon. You can also try dosing the tank with vitamins and amino acids if you like. Iodine supplements will help the zooxanthellae, but they do pose a risk. Iodine can cause other critters to become more sensitive to changes in light, and it can cause nuisance algae to flourish.

 

[memorisa]

Thank you for your response elegance coral.
I think its more of a thick leather base, although I lack experience to be 100% sure.
I already dose iodine to help with my zoas. I dosed some kent micro-vert today (hope it hasn't gone bad, had opened it 8 months ago but haven't used it since)
I have some SF dried mysis, do you think it will eat them? I can't find frozen mysis or krill in Turkey

And how long do you all think till it can gather its zoohanthelle and get back its color?

Thanks again

 

[What The?]

If it is bleached, it had some time to recover, looking at the pic the oral disk has a brown or tan tint, he will do fine. and also there is allot of purple on him to bleached also.
yes i know pictures can change the way things look.

 

[memorisa]

If it is bleached, it had some time to recover, looking at the pic the oral disk has a brown or tan tint, he will do fine. and also there is allot of purple on him to bleached also.
yes i know pictures can change the way things look.

Thank you What The? One question regarding your post tho, do you mean he has too much purple to be bleached? So this can be its natural color? At first that was what i was told, but looking through all the nem enthusiast's pics, I'm sure if there was such a color, I would see one somewhere.

I can't see the oral disk anymore, it is in mid rock work, but I do believe its the photo showing the tan tint. It hasn't moved much since I've placed it. Given its a sebae, I guess it liked the high light/flow area I put it on the rock work.

Are there signs to look for to see if the situation is getting better/worse? Like the color of the oral disk? Starting to move around? etc.

 

[What The?]

Thank you What The? One question regarding your post tho, do you mean he has too much purple to be bleached? So this can be its natural color? At first that was what i was told, but looking through all the nem enthusiast's pics, I'm sure if there was such a color, I would see one somewhere.

I can't see the oral disk anymore, it is in mid rock work, but I do believe its the photo showing the tan tint. It hasn't moved much since I've placed it. Given its a sebae, I guess it liked the high light/flow area I put it on the rock work.

Are there signs to look for to see if the situation is getting better/worse? Like the color of the oral disk? Starting to move around? etc.

There are only 2 colors for a sebae that i know of. one is brown/tan and the other is purple, but the purple one will still have a brown to tan oral disk.

 

[Amphiprion]

It looks like malu or crispa to me. If the foot is wide with thick leather tissue I'd say crispa. If the foot is skinny with delicate tissue, I'd say malu.

An anemone like that isn't all that rare.

It is bleached. We don't all agree on how to care for such an anemone. Me personally, I try to get them eating as soon as possible. The anemone is gaining virtually no nutrition for zooxanthellae, so it's only source of nutrition becomes food or dissolved nutrients in the water. I try to start them out with small foods like mysis or krill. You can also soak the food in one of the enhancement products like Selcon. You can also try dosing the tank with vitamins and amino acids if you like. Iodine supplements will help the zooxanthellae, but they do pose a risk. Iodine can cause other critters to become more sensitive to changes in light, and it can cause nuisance algae to flourish.

For this species, especially, prompt feeding is highly recommended. Also try complete, chopped silversides--they work well. For now, I also recommend feeding every other day. It is important to skip a day to make sure food is being fully digested. It remains to be seen whether the vitamin additions help. I personally don't see iodine helping much in this situation, nor do I usually recommend its addition.