Is my ritteri bleaching?

[level65druid]

The tip of my ritteri is starting to turn from purple to milky white. The part of the anemone that is exposed to strong light is the part that is having white tips. Is this normal? or is the lighting too intense. I put the anemone towards the bottom of a 30" deep tank and over the period of a week or so he has slowly moved up towards the top of the rock formation about 6-8 inches from the top of the waterline where there is a lot of light - 400w halide. He has been there for about a month now, but i am worried he might be bleaching. Wouldn't he move or cover himself if he is bothered by the light? Please advise and i like the purple tips better then the white tips. Hard to tell from the pictures but the top part where the light is intense is where it is changing.

 

[garygb]

In the past when mine have gone from less light to suddenly more light, the tentacles shriveled and the anemone looked contracted. It's possible that the tips are bleaching from too much light. Some suggest placing several layers of plastic window screen between the bulb and the water and removing a layer every 4 or 5 days.

 

[level65druid]

he was right under a 250w halide in the lfs, when i brought him home i put him on the bottom. He moved himself up up and up right under the 400w halide and now he is bleaching? kind of doesn't make sense to me, why would he move up to a point where there is too much light for him to handle? I noticed its just the tip that is changing not the whole tenticle. Is there such thing as a white tipped ritteri?

 

[level65druid]

He is fully inflated everyday and not shriveled up. Does he look healthy in the pictures? I really need this anemone to survive as i planned my whole aquascape around it and is going to be the center piece. Mags are the most beautiful anemone when fully inflated, remind me of a massive hurricane.

 

[garygb]

It does indeed look healthy to me. And yes, I have seen pics of mags with white tips. Also, mags can definitely adapt to 400 watt MH. Since it's only the tip of the tentacle and otherwise the color isn't changing, I would conclude that it's not bleaching but coloring up to your lighting. I wouldn't do anything if the anemone isn't shinking down or shriveling after the lights have been on for a while.

 

[level65druid]

Ok thanks for the advice. I feel better knowing that there's such thing as a white tipped ritteri. Kinda bumbed as i like the purple tips that it had.

 

[garygb]

Hey Level, here's a pic of a mag (the first pic) with what appear to be whitish tips. Also an interesting read.

 

[garygb]

Opps, here's the thread link.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1603392