AnemIDFAQ3

FAQs on Anemone Identification 3

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Anemone Success
Doing what it takes to keep Anemones healthy long-term

by Robert (Bob) Fenner

Anemone ID: Anemonia cf. Majano 4/30/05 Can you please help me identify this pest. <it is Anemonia cf. Majano... and only becomes a pest/prolific in flawed system (in need of better flow, better skimming, more careful feeding, bigger water changes, etc). In tight systems, they simply do not proliferate. No worries> It appeared on a new rock and has taken over my tank. <do examine what the cause may be... not draining the thawed pack juice away from frozen foods, light on water flow (much under 20X turnover), skimmer not giving near daily dark skimmate? etc> How do I rid my tank of this pest? <type the name of this anemone or any other topic of interest to you into the Google search tool on our home/index page at www.wetwebmedia.com and you will fin many discussions of how's and whys to pest anemones> Attached is a picture of them. Thanks Rob Lovejoy <best of luck! Anthony>

Tube or Condy Anemone Hi <Hello> I bought an anemone 3 weeks ago without making sure I knew what type it was. (very stupid I know but the LFS knows my tank well and have been excellent in the past). I am now starting to think it may have been a bad purchase if it was a Condy anemone. <Oh?> My tank is a 55 gallon (approx 2ft cube with sump) with live rock and corals. I have a clown fish but am not too bothered about getting a host anemone as he was tank reared anyway and seems fine (having been in the tank for months.) Since getting the anemone I have 'lost' 2 shrimp (fire and cleaner) one was almost certainly stung by the anemone - I saw it twitching on the tank floor near the anemone before it died. <Oh oh...> I've looked at loads of pics and it looks like it could be either a tube or Condy anemone. How can I know for sure? <Condylactis have a basal disc... by which they attach to the substrate... Tube Anemones/Cerianthus produce a mucus et al. cocoon... and have a tapering rear body... with no disc... this one trait will serve to differentiate the two> It has long tentacles (about 3-4 inches) is purply-blue in colour, with a small foot of about 1 inch diameter. Sometimes it extends right out about 3 inches from the base to where the tentacles start, but most of time it is tucked right down. <Mmm, does sound like a tube anemone... very problematical with other livestock... release stinging matter into surrounding water...> I bought an anemone crab which hasn't gone near it and neither has the clown fish. <... there are many kinds of corals, crabs... and much to consider in mixing, trying to find compatible matches amongst them> If it is a Condy do I keep it? <Please see www.WetWebMedia.com and use the Google search tool with the term "Condylactis" or "Condy"... I know nothing called a Condy> Finally my final question - I am setting up a 100 gallon FOWLR (trigger fish, moray eel, porcupine fish) - if it is a cordy would it be OK/better in there? I've heard they are the few you can keep with aggressive fish. thanks, Meirion <Study my friend. Bob Fenner>
Re: Tube or Condy Anemone Hi <Hello again> Really daft of me - I meant Condy (Condylactis). It definitely doesn't have a tube - no mucous - it just sticks straight on to the rock. The tentacles are very long in comparison to the 'head' - some even as long as 5" - but it is only 2" across. <Does sound like a Condylactis... definitely not a Tube Anemone> I have looked at a number of Condylactis on the net and that is what it looks like - although it seems there are so many species of anemone. <There are> I could be wrong - it may be a tube anemone that has just taken a long time to 'burrow' into the sand. It hasn't ever moved from where I have put it although it does seem to be thriving. I'll try to send a pic. <Okay> If it is a Condylactis is it suitable for a reef aquarium with inverts like shrimp? <Depends on the kind of shrimp... I encourage study of animals from a given geography, habitat... to aid in planning mixes as these. Bob Fenner> thanks, Meirion

Anemone Hi is this a long tentacle anemone? Also Will my Amphiprion Percula have a symbiotic relationship with this anemone? <Yes and he should. Cody>

Need help with id of live rock hitchhikers Good Evening Crew, <Drew> Hope things are well with you I am attaching two pictures, sorry if one is not clear enough but I am wondering if this is a ritters or Sebae anemone, it is thick at the base and the tentacles are short and thick although I have seen them stretch out. <Only one image came through... an Aiptasia or Glass Anemone> One other thing I need an id on and cant get a good picture of I can only give a description of it. it is small, and has small orange tentacles, they appear to be stubby, it also has long sweeping tentacle that are orange with black stripes I have seen them stretch out to 4 inches and grab stuff off the bottom and surrounding rock, any idea what it is and if so will it harm my fish? <... nothing comes to mind... but would likely leave be, enjoy> this all crawled out of a small piece of rock I bought, I bought it for its shape and color nothing really more appeared to be on it. sorry for the many questions but it is hard to search when you do not have any idea what it is LOL. Thanks, Drew
<A wondrous world indeed. Be chatting, Bob Fenner>

Aiptasia Pics? I hope I resized and compressed these pictures correctly. Thanks again for all your help. Deb <These do appear to be Aiptasia... though very hard to make out the pix... files can be sent a few hundred kilobytes in size. Bob Fenner> Hi Crew, Thanks for the great site loaded with information! These Anemones pictured came with some live rock we purchased from Florida. Can you please tell me if they are the dreaded Aiptasia?? They have multiplied rapidly (maybe 30 total in 185 gal tank), but they don't have the glassy, see through appearance I've seen in so many other Aiptasia photos. And if they are not Aiptasia, do you have any idea what they could be?? Thanks again, Deb Re: Aiptasia Pics Revised Sorry about the size. I resized a little bigger and compressed, I'm new to sending pics over the internet. Hopefully they are clearer this time. Thanks Again, Deb. <No worries... but best to check the "properties" (right click) of your image files for size... and send as jpegs or bmps over the Net. Bob Fenner>

Anemone Identification 4/11/04 I bought this anemone (see attachment) from Petco last a month ago and they had no information on it's specific genus and species. They had it for sale as a "zebra mat anemone". I couldn't find any information on any species or find any pictures of this individual. Do you have any idea what it might be? Thank you. <I want to help you here my friend... but I don't want to enable you either with easy answers, particularly as a reward for an irresponsible decision: buying any living creature that you do not know the name of, what it needs/eats or how to care for... is just plain wrong. It disappoints me, but I have hope/faith that you will not repeat the mistake (which at best will cost you more than a few dollars to buy the lighting this anemone needs, or the loss of its value when you return it because you cannot afford or do not want to buy said lights, etc). I'm grateful that you are at least asking its name at this point. I see by the file name of the image you have sent that somebody thinks it is a Phymanthus species. Interesting. Let me guide you to investigate further by delving into the extraordinary (there are lots of pages!) archives we have on anemones at wetwebmedia.com. There is also some very good coverage of these cnidarians in popular works by Sprung and Wilkerson for example. Statistically, the overwhelming majority of anemones collected die within months. Worse still... they have a dismal rate of recovery from said collections in the wild. Conscientious aquarists will resist the desire to keep the majority of these creatures due to dubious "sustainable collection". If you must have an anemone if/when this one dies... do look at getting a tank-raised rose bubble-tip (E. quadricolor). Gorgeous and (self-)sustainable! Anthony>

Anemonia anemone 4/6/04 Hi, I attached a picture and have been going around and around with a few people about what exactly these little guys are called I have been calling them Tulip Anemone's and some people have been calling them Aiptasia Anemone's......lol Now I know the difference and would never give away the dreaded ones on purpose, but have I been doing that by mistake? <this is a handsome Anemonia (so called Majano cf. species). They can be a plague just as easily as Aiptasia. For those with good water quality though (good nutrient export, control of particulates at large, etc) they present no problem and may be enjoyed. I find them to be very attractive> These guys in the picture split pretty easy when fed directly and are rather beautiful especially when you have a small cluster of them growing in the same area they do not seem to get much larger than a quarter. What do you think they are? Thank You for your time, <best regards, Anthony>

Making Friends With His Anemones Hello Bob, <Actually, Scott F. in tonight> I need a little help with a couple of questions. I have a 65g reef aquarium, about 60lb live rock, no corals. The tank is 16" deep (height) Following are the lighting provisions for the tank 10,000k daylight, 48" Power Glo(40w), 48" Marine Glo(40w), 48" Moon Light (20w), 24" From what I have read here, the lighting may not be enough. Please take a look at 2 of my 3 anemones. I have had these anemones for about 5 months now. I think one of them (in the photo anemone02.jpg) is a Condy? (I have 2 of them, are they of any use in an aquarium, besides visual)? <I'd say almost without hesitation that this is a Condylactis species. They are among the hardiest of anemones, IMO- but being an Atlantic species, the chances are very remote that they will host clownfish. Once settled in, they do very well in captivity, and are, in my opinion, quite attractive. I don't like the idea of multiple anemone species in the same tank, though- particularly those that come from different geographical locales. The incidence of allelopathy ("chemical warfare"), which can cause harm to all of the specimens, is quite high, particularly in a small tank> Could you please help me identify the second one? (anemone01.jpg). <It looks to me to be a Macrodactyla doreensis, a fairly hardy Indo-Pacific species> Anemone 1 has a clown fish that shares its life. Daytime with all lights on, the anemone 1 gets to a diameter of about 12 to 14". Especially if I turn on the extra (external) 250w halogen work light right in front of the glass facing anemone01. Can you tell from the photo if anemone1 looks healthy enough? <Looks healthy to me from the picture> I am saving for power compacts, it will be 2 months before I can afford them. In the mean time I supplement them (anemones and other inverts) with phytoplankton, coral gold? (some kind of liquid food I found at PetCo), frozen blood warms and other mixed frozen stuff, which the fish in the tank also eat. <Well, you do want to provide them with a variety of meaty foods of marine origin. Anemones do need lots of food; the real problem is that many of the foods we se are "unrecognizable" to the anemones, and they may or may not evoke a feeding response. Additionally, be sure to provide intense lighting. I would recommend metal halides for long-term success> Everything seems to be perfect, only high's I get are Nitrates and am working on that by water changes and about to make a denitrator. Any advice for better life of the anemones? <As above. Do take into account their need for intense lighting, and high-quality water and food. Adequate water movement is also important. Once you find a regimen that seems to be working for your anemones, stick to it. With a little extra effort, and a bit of luck, your anemones may survive for many, many years. Good luck!>Thanks in advance for your time Sincerely Samir aka Kulmansam <You're quite welcome, Samir! I hope the anemones continue to do well for you! Regards, Scott F>

Anemone ID 3/18/04 First off, love the site, very helpful and informative. Do you have an idea of what type of anemone this could be? Found along the Galveston, Texas coast, very common in tide pools. Sorry for the poor picture quality. Thanks guys, Eric <looks clearly like Bunudosoma to me. Very aggressive (eats small fishes) and is a temperate/subtropical species. Often mistaken for Actinia species. Anthony>

Bunudosoma anemones 3/18/04 Thanks Anthony, and no kidding on the aggressiveness, I found 2 of them battling over a small blue crab yesterday, are they hardy in aquariums? <yes... very hardy if the tank is cool (under 75 F)> Obviously something devoted to them and other animals they cannot harm or maybe with larger fish. The colors are very variable from blue-green to purple and red to blue and red. Thanks again for your help. Eric <very welcome my friend. Anthony>

Anemone ID Hi there, Is this a Heteractis magnifica? Thanks. Wid <Don't think so... looks like a died "Sebae", Heteractis crispa to me. Take a read re dyed anemones, these species on www.WetWebMedia.com Bob Fenner>

Re: Anemone ID Hi Bob, Thanks for your prompt reply :) Not to doubt your professionalism, I think the picture's colour does not reflect the actual colour of it (I apologize). It looked kinda yellow in the picture but in fact is light tan in colour when it isn't in quite a good mood, otherwise it is translucent off white. To me it isn't a bright colour, and in fact rather "colourless" to me. Or do you think it is a dyed but it has faded off over time? And by the way, it's base is white and its tips are light yellow green. Thanks so much, you guys are a blessing to us. Wid <Can you make out the distinctive verrucae on the animals pedicle? These are indicative on H. magnifica... Bob Fenner>

Identification of anemone and sponge? 2/27/04 These pictures were taken in St. Croix last weekend, <Mmm... sounds nice> I think that one is a sun anemone, but it was NOT blue green in color as is advised in my Reef Creatures book. <no matter... variable color, and it really looks like Stichodactyla helianthus to me too. The other is obviously an orange sponge of some kind... but what kind exactly is it? <the possibilities are staggering. No way of telling here my friend from a photo> I have non dumbed down pictures if you want them. thanks Melissa Dickens
<best regards, Anthony>

Hitchhiker ID/Refugium/Snail reproduction - 2/26/04 Hey Crew! Thank you all for such a great site. I wouldn't have made it this far without all of you. <We wouldn't have made it this far without your questions. So, thank you> I have attached an image file (not the best picture in the world) of a hitchhiker that has shown up in my tank. If anyone has an idea of what this is I'd greatly appreciate the knowledge. <Definitely an anemone from the family Actinodendronidae See here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/anempt2.htm> My second question, is it okay to keep hermit crabs (blue legged variety) in a refugium? <I don't like the idea of putting hermits in a refugium as they are so omnivorous that they might eat anything and everything> My crabs, although great at keeping the sand on the bottom of the tank clean, are becoming pests to my soft corals and I would like to move them into my above tank refugium. <Really? I haven't heard of Blue Legged hermits bugging soft corals> The refugium is about 10 gallons and has a 4 inch sand bed and contains Chaetomorpha, grape and feather Caulerpa, and probably some other plant life. I got the grab bag of stuff from the LFS. <Sounds good. Do you keep lit 24 hours a day?> Thirdly, is snail reproduction normal in a healthy tank? <Yes. Pass them around to friends and reef club members.> Thank you kindly,
Tony Hambley
Milford, MI

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