RBTA Color Question

[jermahin]

I purchased this guy about 8 months ago (now 3 guys as he has split twice). His coloration has never varied much. He has always had a grayish hue to his mid section and his tentacles have always had a healthy red color.

My question is that some days the gray tint extends into the tentacles more than others. Is there something that would cause the discoloration? (for lack of a better word).

I am in the process of acclimating the tank to new ATI lights, and I haven't seen a dramatic improvement in the short time since installing them two weeks ago. But the situation I am speaking of has been present throughout the past 8 months.

Thanks

 

[bradleym]

Here's the deal. The "gray" part is actually inside the anemone's body, all over. It is a type of algae, called zooanthellae, that they use to grow food for them to survive. It's their main food source. The places where you can see it are where the surface of the anemone is see-through. The red parts are where it is blocking the light to control algae growth because too much algae can hurt them.

So to answer your question, sometimes the anemone will stretch out the skin on the tentacles to make them see-through and allow more light in. When they do that, those "stretched thin parts" look gray.

 

[jermahin]

So is it safe to say that as I slowly increase the amount of light in the tank from 4 underpowered T5 lamps to 6 overpowered ATI Lamps in a new ATi Fixture. I COULD expect to see better coloration in the anemonies as they won't need to extend the gray portion of the tentacles to receive the light?

Thanks for the great explanation by the way.

 

[xtlosx]

I purchased this guy about 8 months ago (now 3 guys as he has split twice). His coloration has never varied much. He has always had a grayish hue to his mid section and his tentacles have always had a healthy red color.

My question is that some days the gray tint extends into the tentacles more than others. Is there something that would cause the discoloration? (for lack of a better word).

I am in the process of acclimating the tank to new ATI lights, and I haven't seen a dramatic improvement in the short time since installing them two weeks ago. But the situation I am speaking of has been present throughout the past 8 months.

Thanks

Great coloration!