Aneomne Help?

Question

i bought a baby aneomne 2 days ago. it had no purple spots on its tentacles in the store. it began to get them when i dropped him into the tank. its a 55 gallon tank, and the lighting for it goes off aroud 11:00 pm and turns back on at 10:00 am.

Answer 1

The purple spots may be normal, depending on the type of anemone you have. This is a photo of a nice Condylactis anemone: http://www.kacr.de/mexiko2003/bilder/chunzumbul225_400.jpg and one with even more extensive purple: http://www.saltcorner.com/sections/zoo/inverts/softcorals/anemones/Cgigantea%20.jpg

Your store may have been keeping them under poor lighting, and if you have more intense lighting, it may have regained some of its color. They should have compact fluorescent or T-5 lighting at a minimum, although they can appreciate metal halide lighting as well.

One thing I'd keep an eye on though is your photoperiod. Having the lights on for 11 hours may lead to algae problems if your tank nutrient levels rise.

You may have a different anemone species than the one I mentioned, so your fist step would be to identify what you have, then research if it should have the purple coloration (several do). Chances are, this isn't anything to worry about.

Answer 2

If the purple spots are on the tips of the tentacles, then it sounds like you could have a malu anemone. As said it could have been poor lighting in the tank it was in that didn't bring out the colour. I have one and they are easy to care for. I feed it once a week on lance fish, you can also use shrimps, muscles etc. They tend to move around until they find a spot they like and then stay there. I had one years ago that found it's spot and then never moved.

Answer 3

What kind of anemone is it, and what kind of lighting do you have over your tank? The anemone may have been bleached at the store, and is now starting to regain its color.

Answer 4

lol it sound strange to me