entot's mini reef

[entot78]

tank dimension: 48" x 18" x 18"
lighting: 0ne 40 watts Aqualight (standard color pink) & one 40 watts NO blue light
skimmer: Jebo Quadruplex Spraying Protein Skimmer
Powerhead: two Jebo 1200lph
refugium: 3 gal. plastic box with LR & LS; placed on top of the tank
sump: none
Live Rocks: > 30 kgs. (yata?)
Live Sand: 3" deep
inhabitants:
- 2 ocellaris clownfish
- 2 damsel fish (1 yellow tail & 1 unknown)
- 1 unknown sand goby
- porcelain crabs (more than 15 cgro lahat)
- 2 blue legged hermit crabs yata
- unknown assorted hermit crabs (for extermination na po kasi kumakain yata ng coralline algae e...hehehe)
- 2 pistol shrimps
- snails - bumble bee, nerite, and meron din unidentified pa na iba
- bubble tip anemone
- carpet anemone (bleached po to, sold to me as green po )

* two months old na po to, one month po ang cycling period...any comment/advice po...tnx!

[ReefboY]

keep up the good work =)

[lord_kaizzzer]

[jolt26]

since you have an anemone, its no longer a FOWLR. its already a reef tank. you're lighting is not enough to keep it alive for long. very nice color though

[randell]

looks like you have a carpet anemone.... that requires mega lighting to survive... suggest you upgrade to T5's or MH lighting.... or have someone adopt your anemone (someone who has strong lights)... just my 2 cents worth.

great tank by the way.

[paulimjada]

and anemones require very matured tanks to survive. at least 1 year old. the advice by randall to have it adopted is good. sayang ma-dead lang ganda pa naman color.

[randell]

nice cabinet, can you post pics (ala jackryan) of the cabinetry work? thanks.

[entot78]

[philaquarist]

Yes, a warning to all unsuspecting aquarists regarding dyed anemones and corals.

Apparently, some Filipino divers/collectors/middlemen have learned the techniques for using color dyes on sea anemones and corals, thus we now see specimens in "beautiful" bright yellow, shocking pink, bright red, pink-violet and even electric green colors.

This is a common practice among Indonesian coral collectors, now it seems the practice has reached our shores. If you got this in Davao, I would not be surprised, since some Davao and Sulawesi collectors come from the same groups.

While a few biologists have said that the use of color dyes are not harmful to anemones, experts such as Fenner say that most dyed sea anemones will survive for probably six to eight weeks only.

Be especially careful of yellow anemones (often it is bleached Heteractis Crispa that is dyed yellow, and this species is commonly misidentified in cartimar as Long Tentacled Anemone). Dull yellow anemones are often brown or tan specimens that have bleached. While they do exist in nature, true bright yellow anemones are very very rare. So 99.99% of bright yellow anemones will turn out to be dyed.

Two weeks ago, I saw a dyed anemone (and even 2 pieces of dyed corals) in Cartimar, offered at expensive prices. Luckily, I knew that those particular species did not occur in those colors. But I am not sure how many other innocent aquarists have been fooled.

Phil

Entot78 - BTW your anemone does not look like a carpet anemone (genus Stichodactyla). There are three carpet anemone species in the Philippines, and IMHO none of them look like that. Just guessing, but from the non-close-up picture, it looks like a short-tentacled Heteractis Malu. Again, just a guess.

[entot78]

[randell]

I stand corrected. Phil is the resident taxonomy expert here.

although it really looks like a Stichodactyla sp. to me....

nevertheless, it needs ultra strong lights like most anemone (except majano & aiptasia, hehe)

i wonder if this cropped pic will help ID

[philaquarist]

[entot78]

tank pix with stand...



closeup pix w/o flash...



closeup pix w/ flash...



pag namatay po to, this would be my last anemone for now po...FOWLR na lang muna ako due to budget constraints...hehehe...

tnx for the feedbacks and info guys...

[philaquarist]

Let's try to ID this thing logically:

Like I said, there are three carpet anemones found locally:

1) This is NOT Stichodactyla Haddoni (Haddon's Carpet Sea Anemone). The key identifying mark for Haddon's Carpet Anemone is the presence of a distinctly tentacle-free area surrounding the central mouth, which your photo clearly does not show.

2) This is NOT Stichodactyla Mertensi (Merten's Carpet Sea Anemone). The tentacles are too long. Merten's Carpet Anemone has short tentacles (less than 1cm long for a specimen of about 1 meter in diameter). Also, the tentacle areal density should be greater than the one in your picture (in layman's terms, there should be much more tentacles, closer to each other, so you cannot see any "bare skin".)

3) Logically, I cannot rule out Stichodactyla Gigantea (Giant Carpet Sea Anemone) with 100% certainty. The Giant Carpet Anemone normally has shorter tentacles too, but I have seen specimens with longer tentacles such as those in your picture. (BTW, the Giant Carpet Anemone is rarely collected, and is recognized by all authorities as the most difficult anemone to keep alive in an aquarium). The key identifying marks are: a) the anemone disk is normally deeply folded (the anemone in your photo is just slightly folded, but it may be because of the positioning in the rocks); and b) the presence of non-sticky brownish or bluish verrucae in the "underside" of the anemone (If you can get me a picture of the underside, we can confirm that this is not Stichodactyla Gigantea). Also, from a behavioral aspect, the Giant Carpet Anemone hates to stay in rocks, and will move into a sandbed. So while I cannot completely rule out Stichodactyla Gigantea, my instinct tells me that this specimen is not it.

Thus, I stick by my original assertion that this is not a carpet anemone (genus Stichodactyla). My best guess is still a Heteractis Malu, or possibly Heteractis Magnifica. But that's still a guess.

Phil

P.S. I Just wanted to share with you the thought processes which goes into making an ID (which is much more complex than just comparing photos).

Anyway, if you really want this anemone to live, please get HO-T5 or metal halide lights. Otherwise, this will soon DIE in your tank.

[philaquarist]