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I was given this at christmas, I believe it is a heteractis malu but from looking at the web I am not so sure!! Can anyone confirm and does anyone have one and advise on feeding please? It settled in the front corner of the tank for around 24 hours after it was placed in the tank, but started to wander so (and I know it is probably wrong) I placed back where I wanted it and it stayed there since. Not sure if this should be in ID section, but here is a few pictures
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/S60003541.JPG
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/S60003501.JPG
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/S60003491.JPG
angelfishman
27-12-06, 11:12
it could be a malu but not hundred percent sure.who gave you this anemone,you should always make sure what it is and what conditions it requires.if its a malu you will metal halide lights and some like a deep sandbed to bury its self in.if its not provided with the conditions its likes it will wander all over your tank and will sting any corals it touches.you could try feeding it with some small pieces of lancefish or some mysis.derek
This is an anemone that actually does have an outward appearance of Heteractis Malu, but i don't think it is.
This is a dyed Heteractis Crispa in my humble. There are natural variants of yellow, but they are not coloured to this extent. Tentacles can sometimes be yellow, but they rise from a cream column. Could be a one off natural variant though, which would be exciting indeed.
Give it a month or so (they usual die before this time in 90 odd % of dyes cases), and if it is dyed it will start to shed colour - i think you can make it out on the tentacles already when you compare it to the column colour.
On top of it, to get this colour, it would be heavily bleached too.
Strong lighting, and little bits of food, little and often are what is required for a road to recovery.
I hope I'm wrong on this one, time will tell - do keep us posted.
Thanx for the replies, this anemone was a christmas gift off the parents, who went to the lfs and told the guy there what I had in my tank, he recomended this to them, however they cannot remember what he called it, something along the lines of "golden" something or other. Like an idiot they said shall I ring him and ask, I said no, because I know it is a malu. Mikey, what do you mean by "dyed", surely not what I am thinking!! It appears to be ok, I have been feeding every 2 to 3 days on a small amount of brine shrimp which I have observed it eating. I have had it for 8 days now and I have not seen any change in colour but I will observe this. Also from the last picture it has now put it's foot right down to the bottom of the substrate. Will get a new photo. Once again thanx for any help!!
top advice mikey, bleached nems can be brought back, but like mikey says food and light. IME the best food for nems is squid cubes, as they produce very little waste for the nem to regurgitate, half a cube a week ish (depends on when it's "hungry"). good to hear it's settled at least. could the LFS have called it a "gelam" (sp) (pronounced jeelam (which it's not))?
angelfishman
07-01-07, 15:21
i have a heteractis crispa and this anemone looks nothing like one,crispa has long thin tentacles over 4in long and the tips usually have a blue or pink tip on them and they have quite a long thick base on them.it would be nice to think that this was its natural colour i would love to have one that colour.derek
adam.crouch
07-01-07, 18:01
Looks like some sort of beadlet anemone???
they are sold as Carnation Malu's.
i have a heteractis crispa and this anemone looks nothing like one,crispa has long thin tentacles over 4in long and the tips usually have a blue or pink tip on them and they have quite a long thick base on them
It's a bit frustrating when someone makes a statement like this. I'm not even going into it again past saying, unhealthy crispas look like this (colour aside).
And:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1007562
(PS: Until settled and more pictures I don't think a 100% ID can be given)
nice one that sums it up nicely ;)
I've had one of these in my tank for a couple of months.
Seems quite happy as do the 2 sexy shrimp that have taken it as a home.
I feed it bits of shrimp every couple of months.
Just put in new bulbs (T5s) and its decided to move, so I'm keeping an eye on it.
Mine looks the same as the photo.
The nem has moved yesterday and attatched onto a rock as oppose to being in the sand, which I guess is a bad sign as it has not settled permanently? Sadly, it does not look that great, I will try to get a picture up tomorrow, thanx for all the help!
Nem wasn't settling in a good position so I tried putting a rock under the sand and putting the nem on top and surrounding it with sand.
It didn't like that.
One of my clowns is now paying it attention so thats a bonus and I wedged it in a gap in the rocks, (seems really happy there).
Mine is quite hardy by the way, hasn't lost any colour, doesn't seem bothered if it is in a well lit position, likes it if its sides are protected.
It doesn't sting but the base of the foot is slightly sticky, almost like a post it note.
I think it moved because it felt vunerable where it was before, only protected by rock on 3 three sides but I put it there because it was well lit.
Mine really doesn't like being in the sand at all.
I'll try and post a pic so you can see.
Sorry about the quality, I have a terrible digital camera!
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/DSCF0729.JPG
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/DSCF0731.JPG
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q4/DSCF0732.JPG
Hmmmm looking at mine more closely, yours seems to be different.
Yours has much longer tentacles with purple tips, whereas mine's are stubly, almost like a hairy mushroom and no absolutely no purple.
Also the mouth area looks different.
Intersting to know aht others think anyway.
Ruth
it looks like a very sick nem whatever it is.. you have noticable tentacle regression between the first and last pics...
what are your water parameters like...
if you touch the nem does it feel like it is sticky??
It is definately bleached, if it has shed its nematocysts too then i am afraid to say that this is likely to end up a dead nem...
Has it fed since you have had it ??
That's quite some tentacle consumption in the photo's above.
Update, the nem (still dont have a posotive id), looks in a bad way, it moved again today, was stuck on the glass sideways on, then was laying on it's side on the sand. So I have put it on a rock, half way up the tank, half an hour later it was moving around again so who knows where it will end up. the inner tentacles seem to have dissappeared, the foot appears swollen and it seems as though what I would call a mucus (almost hairy) has appeared on one side. I also saw my cleaner shrimp tear a piece of this 'mucus' off the nem, this doesnt sound good does it.Also I tried to target feed as I have done before but I dont think it ate anything. I can appreciate that I need a photo, will do it tomorrow, any advice more than welcome, thanx.
My advice is take it out of your tank before it pegs it (which it will) and crashes your system.
just for the record how old is your tank ??
If you are hell bent on keeping a nem then i would suggest you read up on what may be suited you your system (if indeed your system is suitable)
once you know what is right for you then research what constitutes a healthy specimen of that species... track one down ...ask the right questions..how long has he had it in...is it feeding...ask to see it feed...
Then put a deposit on it and leave it for a week or 2...if it is a good specimen then it will look just as good when you go back ... then i would buy it...
Bad news, ickypimp, your advice came too late, the nem is nowhere to be seen. After moving several rocks and an hour of looking I cannot find it, a sure sign it has died??? I do a 40 litre water change every week on a 180 litre system, every saturday, so I will dissassemble rock work and find it. As stated at the start of thread it was a gift from parents who asked the guy at lfs, he recommended it after they told him what I had in the tank. I have had the tank for about three months, but it was bought from someone who had it setup from new for about a year. I have never had a proper ID, the guy sold it as a "golden" something, which is my fault because the parents could not remember and I said that I knew what it was. I also have a bubble tip anemone, (or at least that was I was told it was) that is doing very well and is host to a pair of common clowns. I have had this from the person I bought the tank from. I will see what I can find on saturday, thanx for help.
Sorry the news appears to be bad ...
Heteractis.sp are notorious for being bad shippers... they are very delicate even by nem standards.. hope you find it soon and that you dont go through the whole crash thing
the other thing i should mention is IMHO your tankis too small to keep a bta and a malu... if you have a healthy nem already then iwould stick with it
I have just come across a nem that I believe is the same as the one I have, it is called a sebae anemone, any confirmation would be great, even though it would seem it has died, thanx everyone.
the latin name for the sebae is Heteractis crispa there is often problems with distinguishing between species withing the genus, especially when they are in poor condition... for future reference a healthy nem of this genus tends to have long thin tentacles, will feel sticky to the touch and wont be white/cream or yellow in colour, they range from beige to brown/greeny
whiterabbit93307
13-01-07, 08:35
Disapearence does not always mean death. If it was being worried by clowns they will go off and find a place to hide usually in the most annoying place available.
If you want to stop them wandering you must keep it well fed. But a ripped foot is usually fatal: & the more you try to put them somewhere the more stressed they get.
This is an interesting dedicated site with some good advice on keeping nems.
http://www.karensroseanemones.com/index.htm
I managed to phone the shop and he remembered my parents buying it, the anemone was definitely sold as a yellow malu. However, it was only about 2 to 3 inches across so maybe a juvenile??? I did a water change today and did my tests which were OK, but I lost my regal tang last night, got up this morning and found it dead at the pump inlet, everything else in the tank appears to be fine, hope this is not the start of a "system crash" as mentioned earlier in the thread, I only test for nitrates, nitrites, ph, sg and phosphates, which are all fine. Any input would be welcomed. Thanx.
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