Anemone ID/Question -Heteractis aurora 01/21/09 Hi, and thank you in advance for your help. I recently purchased a Flower Anemone from my LFS. It looks very different than any other one I have ever seen. <Probably because it's not a flower anemone. It looks like an unhappy "Beaded Anemone" (Heteractis aurora).> I attached a picture (It's the one closest to the front). I'm not sure if you can see that it has purple tips in the pic. Is this a different kind of anemone? <Yes... with different care requirements. They need to be kept on a DSB, with a lot of space to spread out. Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/beadanemfaqs.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/anemones.htm> Also, unrelated, but I also have a Bulb Tip Anemone that is badly bleached (almost pure white). It hasn't moved in months. It eats and looks very well, I feed it 1/4" pieces of krill a few times per week which it chows down, for the most part the tentacles still have the bulb tips most of the time. It moved under an overhang without sufficient light months ago and has just stayed there. <It's obviously unhappy.> Would it be beneficial if I moved the rock around so it isn't so shaded? Will it eventually regain it's color if I do that, or will it be fine the way it is? Thanks again!! <Maybe... I need more info re your tank/system.> Brian <Best,
Sara M.>

Anemone Removal  11/20/2008 Hi guys can you help me with this please? This anemone came in on some live rock and has attached itself to the largest piece of live rock in the central display and I want it removed. Apart from taking the rock apart is there a way to safely remove it? If not what would its life span be and does it pose a threat to the other small marine fish? Thanks in advance. Jim <Mmm, can be chemically removed as per Aiptasia (see WWM re...) and caution (so as not to poison, pollute other life...), but... I would keep this animal were it in my care... Can indeed sting, consume unwary fishes, invertebrates... am pretty sure this is a "young" Heteractis aurora... a natural symbiont to some Clownfish species: http://wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/anemones.htm Bob Fenner>

Re: Anemone Removal 11/21/08
Thanks for your reply. Looks like its going to get a lot bigger so I think I'll make it feel at home and perhaps find a Clarkii Clownfish to move in later in life if my Percula pops its clogs.
<Welcome, and sounds/reads good! BobF>