unknown anemone   6/17/10
Hi Wet web media,
We have recently brought some live rock and have some stowaways of which three are unknown anemones. They are all similar in appearance and all have hold of the rock, not moving around and are all feeding on shrimp so we assume (hope) they are happy. We need help to identify as we cannot find anything that looks the same on the internet.
<Got me. A "dendritic" species of some sort>
We want to find out as much as possible about them before we put any fish in, such as size they grow to. They are very small, the biggest being about 2.5cm across, the foot is purple, tentacles are browny/purple a few have small green balls on the end and the mouth in the middle is bright green.
Thanks very much,
Steven
<Try Daphne Fautin's "Hexacorallians of the World" (.com). Bob Fenner>

who killed Toby the goby?  5/30/2010
Hi,
we use your site all the time for researching and identifying our tank inhabitants -thanks. This is the first time we have written so please let us know if more info required. We have recently lost some 'friends', and hoping you can help us not loose any more. Below are details of our setup, and also some changes we have made (that we hope haven nothing to do with the deaths).
Display Tank 4.5'wide x 2'deep x 1.5'back (circ with Seio 6000Lt/hr, 250WMH 15K, 4' T8 actinic, 5"+ sand bed, Liverock) ; drains into refugium 3'x1.5'x1.5' (3' double 20K T5, circ aqua One 2000Lt/hr power head, Liverock); drains into sump 3'x1.5'1.5' (Live Rock, return pump PJ MaxFlow 3500lt, protein skimmer reef octopus otp-2000).
Total live rock - aprox 80kg.
Livestock - 9 blue green Chromis, 1 yellow tang, 1 scribbled angel fish, 1 yellow tailed blue damsel, 1 ocellaris clown, 1 cinnamon clown, 2 large turbo snails, 2 + whelk type snails, 2 large hermits, approx 6 small hermits, heaps of bristle worms, a few spiny bristle star fish including large spiny black. Should have peppermint shrimp, but haven't seen them for months.
Several purple tipped bta's,
<Not Heteractis crispa...?>
Corals - devils finger, hammer, Corallimorphs, zoanthids,2 Acan frags, unidentified fluffy frag, brain, open brain. We have hitchhiker tunicates, and sponges.
Current tank parameters.
pH 8.2
temp 24-25 degree C
salt 1.024
ammonia 0 (never had an ammonia reading)
nitrate 0 (best we have ever had; usually have trouble getting under 20)
KH 10.9
Recent Changes:-
3 weeks ago added the refugium. PVC piped, joints allowed to set (couldn't get clear cement).
<Colored one/s should be fine once cured>
Started moving some bta's into refugium (difficult to shift).
2 weeks ago - added 5 Chromis, scribbled angel, brown barred goby.
<Processed how? Quarantined?>
3 or 4 days later - Bi-color Blenny (over 12 months in tank), out in tank with other fish, looked "happy", full color, looked 2 hours later, dead, sitting (as per habit, slightly bent) on rock at bottom of tank.
Checked, no outward signs of disease or injury (other than clean up crew chewing on tail).
Couple of days later, big hermit seen out of shell, being chewed on by cleanup crew.
<Mmm>
1 week ago added 30kg of well matured Live Rock, to sump and refugium.
2 days ago, Brown Barred Goby, found, sitting bottom of tank, slightly bent, low gill rate, good color, no outward signs of disease or injury, tried target feeding and water flow, but too far gone ,dead soon after.
Also found, same day, dead hitchhiker crab, in refugium.
We have done a couple of 60lt water changes over the last month - water from LFS. Top up every couple of days with RO water.
We have had no deaths in over 12 months, everything seems to be getting along with each other. Feeding spectrum sinking pellets, twice daily, some flakes, supplement with frozen shrimp and Nori.
Seems unlikely coincidence that the Gobioids died so close together, and the crabs?
<Agreed... but from what?>
Local LFS also stumped.
Do you have any suggestions as to possible causes? We are devastated to loose our fish, especially ones with personality.
Thanks for your advice. Adam
--
Adam buzza
<Well... could be a bizarre coincidence, but am leaning more toward "something" that came in with the new live rock... but what? Some food organism "that didn't agree" with the Gobioids? Bob Fenner>

re: who killed Toby the goby? & Anem. ID   5/30/2010
Thanks Bob for the quick response.
We also though it could be something that was common food to those animals (we though a toxin in the water would have taken out more livestock).
<Likely. Yes>
Is there any poisonous algae that we should watch out for?
<Mmm, not really... as in by the time you'd recognize it as such, it would have debilitated, killed your livestock... best to avoid such likelihoods by the usual methods of algal proliferation control... Avoiding nutrient accumulation, using competitive life forms... Covered on WWM: http://wetwebmedia.com/avoidingalgaeproblesm.htm
and the linked files where you lead yourself. BobF>
Unfortunately we can't blame the liverock, because the Blenny died a couple days before we put that in.
We had been moving anemones. [here is link of pictures of anemones for
your viewing only, would love your thoughts on ID.
<This is almost assuredly an Entacmaea quadricolor>
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/EmmaBuzza/Anoneme?authkey=Gv1sRgCOLS2ujP5f6jwQE&feat=directlink
] Ocellaris wont host,
<Happens>
Cinnamon will, they have multiplied in our tank readily, they only get to dinner plate size, then pup, and sometimes pup
when smaller. We only see the "bubble tip" once in a blue moon. We originally thought they may have been Ritteri based on others photo's and the magenta/pink foot, but local Aussie marine society forums thinks its just a bta. We had to move them out as they were shadowing and fighting with our corals - hence new refugium needed to shift anemones off LR.
We did not treat the new fish,
<I would not>
and we did not put the new fish in the refugium (as it was full of waving, angry anemones), maybe poor judgment call that they were better off in large tank. They were not purchased from LFS, they were from an established tank, where we had seen them
very happy, and feeding.
Adam
<Appear healthy to me. B>

Unknown Anemone 5/19/10
Hi! This is my first time to ask a question here (I've pored over your site, though), so apologies if I mess up on protocol. You guys have a great site.
<Thank you Daniel>
First off, I live on a tiny little island on the equator in the middle of the Pacific; hopefully that helps for the ID. Recently, I got a Pagurus sp. (pollicaris or some visually similar species). Hitchhiking on its shell were a group of three anemones (I think they're anemones).
<Polyp/oid animals of some sort...>
I've attached a pic, I hope it's clear enough and small enough. These anemones are on the underside of the shell, so does that mean they don't need much light?
<Likely so>
Could you help ID this for me?
<Mmm... perhaps a Calliactis species... maybe C. armatus>
Not sure how well you can see it in the pic, but they have distinct feet and pretty wide bases. Also, could you give me a brief description of their care needs, like if they can take small chunks of food, how much light, etc.?
<Are very likely opportunistic feeders on whatever the hermit is tearing, consuming itself... Not much reliant on photosynthesis as you speculate>
I've kind of grown attached to them, so even if they are Aiptasia (my best guess) or some nuisance anemone, I'd keep them in their own tank. They currently are in a quarantine tank, just in case.
The end destination for this group is a tank lit for fish/crabs, not coral, unless the anemones need bright light, in which case I'll get a new tank and upgrade to the necessary lighting. However, if these anemones can survive in fish lighting, they'll be sharing the tank with a red hermit crab. This guy is the other attached picture. The colors are not exactly true; the crab is lighter and reddish. Is this crab compatible with the anemones, or will the crab snack on them?
<Might consume them if very hungry... But likely to actually move them to new shells with growth, time... they provide protection against predation>
Thanks much for your lifesaving help,
Dan
<Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>

Anemone ID... dying 5/10/10
Hello all,
<Esteban>
This anemone was sold to me as a Sebae anemone. I am having doubts as to whether or not that's true. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Steve
<Mmm, whatever this is (and it might be Heteractis crispa), this specimen extremely stressed, badly bleached... Needs TLC... Stat! Read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/sebaedisfaqs.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Curious Pic/Anemone ID 5/6/10
In the center of photo, just above coraline algae..it has a transparent body with (as you can see) a slight mushroom appearing top of which many tentacle like protrusions can be seen. Do you (by my rough description:)) know what this is?
<Appears to be a Glass Anemone of some type, likely the dreaded Aiptasia.
See here.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/aiptasia/aiptasia.htm>
Thx
<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>
Mike

Anemone ID 4/26/10
Hey guys Ryan here,
<Hello Ryan, James with you today.>
This is a great site! It's very informative and the first place I go to when I've got questions about anything saltwater!
<Glad you use/enjoy and thank you.>
You guys helped me out a few times which is great! This is the first time I'm asking a question though, so I hope I get this right.
<Shouldn't be a problem. At times we are known as mind readers.:)>
I've been in the hobby for a year and some weeks now, and it's fantastic!
I've recently won the battle versus green hair algae and now feel ready to take on corals and all different kinds of species of inverts too, as I'm at the FOWLR stage still.
Anyway, I've picked up an anemone from a friend and he wasn't sure what species it was so I took it as he offered it. It has duplicated itself in my friends tank many many times. It's brown by color in daylight, with a cream colored foot. During the dawn, my daylight (HO T5) switch off and my actinics remain on. Under the blue spectrum, the anemones look a very metallic greenish color, and many times they bulb a little bit. Not like giant balls, but tiny thin bulbs like little footballs, or iPod headphone plugs (sorry for bad example..
<Good example and is one of the traits of a Bubble Tip Anemone.>
I had a pair in front of me and thought they looked similar). I've got an ocellaris clown in the tank and he hasn't gone near the anemone.
<May be tank bred and usually ignore anemones.>
It was about an inch in diameter when I <please cap "i's" in future correspondence.> brought it home, inflated to about 2 inches in size and now is about 2-3 inches in size when fully inflated while the lights are on. In my friends tank, I asked which one was the original that all the others were duplicated from, and it honestly was no bigger than my 2-3 inch size. My question is, could you please help me in identifying the species?
I've had a look around and visited your huge anemone ID sections, all of them basically. I've seen some pictures that looks similar to mine, but in different postings by different people they were identified differently. Some were identified as green bubble tips, and others as anemone majano.
I've been searching the web for pictures, and even saw a few videos on YouTube of anemone majano, and found that I could possibly have it. Although many did have thin bases, and very thin tentacles like the common
Aiptasia. I've attached two pictures; one with flow on, and one without just in case you need to see the mouth.
<Your anemone appears to be a Bubble Tip. May want to read/learn more here.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/bubbletipanemones.htm>
-Thanks a bunch guys keep up the great work!
<You're welcome, and we will certainly try. James (Salty Dog)>
Ryan