Anemones are a member of the family Actiniaria. Sea anemones are called terrestrial flowers due to their wavy nature and floating appendages. Anemones look like a flower but are marine animals. The anemones are predatory animals and related to jellyfish. Sea anemone mostly lives attached to the rock and prey with their string sting. These do not always remain attached to the rocks, but also move and swim on the ocean floor. The anemone has a polyp attached to the inner basal side, a body that is column shape at the start and orals at the end. The sea anemone has a symbiotic relation with clownfish.
Sea anemones are of different sizes! Some anemones are 1.5 and 3 cm, while others are very small as 4mm long. These creatures have a few dozen or a few hundred tentacles. Sea anemones use their oral disc to capture their prey and can also enter in a weak object like kelp. Sea anemones have a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae, but sea anemones are not photosynthetic. The sea anemones get benefits from algae by using oxygen and glucose prepared in photosynthesis.
Best Saltwater Anemone for Reef Tank
Sea anemones have a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae, but sea anemones are not photosynthetic. The sea anemones get benefits from algae by using oxygen and glucose prepared in photosynthesis. On this list, we will be going over the best anemones for a reef tank:
Mini Carpet Anemone
Mini Carpet Anemones are the mostly used anemones in the coral reefs’ home aquarium. They only get 3 inches area, but once they get their location, they move from the chosen location. Before obtaining the location, carpet anemones have a sting and sticky tentacle. The sting of the carpet is more powerful than other anemone species. The small fish and invertebrates, which are stuck in carpet anemones, are dead or paralyzed. The carpet anemones are very aggressive and also harm the other anemones.
Saddle Carpet Anemone
They are the largest anemone species and can get 2 feet height in an aquarium. Saddle carpet anemone has an aggressive sting and can also cause hurt to the owner. The tentacles are sticky and can easily harm the skin which comes to contact with them. Saddle Anemones are sand dwellers and should be given deep space to bury their column in it. They also appreciate the slight current.
Beaded Anemone
They have a bead-like appearance along the tentacles, therefore called beaded anemones. Bead line appearance can be in different colors like brown, red, and orange. This species, instead of burring in the sand, attach itself to the substrate. The beaded anemone cans are easily kept in a thick sand layer and proper lighting.
Bubble Tip Anemone
If we want to select anemones for a home aquarium, our first choice should be bubble tip anemones. They are more colorful and attractive than other anemones e. They are the only anemone that can host all types of clownfish like Ocellaris, Maroon, and tomato, etc. These are the only aquaculture anemone that can easily find. Bubble tips anemones move like other anemones, but there is a need to save with covering head from injured and killed.
Leathery Sea Anemone
The leathery sea anemone has a violet-brown appearance according to their concentration of symbiosis relationship. Its name is due to its leathery look. It has a sticky foot and thus can attach to any surface. The anemone finds the conditions are not a good move to another spot with this foot. It has an oral disk with 800 long tentacles. The tentacles are grey, brown, with beautiful colors. Leathery anemones are carnivores in nature. They use venom present in tentacles to catch the prey. Leathery sea anemone can live in the water with 3.5 alkalify. The polymer should be used to remove the toxin from the water like ammonia and nitrites.
Curlique Anemone
The curlique anemone can grow larger. Its tentacles can grow 12 cm in diameter, but it is still unknown how much they grow. The color of the anemone is brown due to algae zooxanthellae, which live in its tissues. The tentacles first brown and violet-brown and become transparent. Curlique anemone also has a sticky foot, which helps to move and attach itself to the rock’s surface. The mouth of the anemone is in the center and tentacles on the outer side of the oral disc. This anemone is a carnivore and feeds on the small shrimps and mussels, and fish. For aquarium setup, the aquarium should be four months old and stable. They need rocks for attachment because a rocky environment is the best living area for curlique anemones. They need lighting as reefs.
Rock Flower Anemone
Rock anemones can live alone or in the form of groups. They love to live under the shades of the rocks or by attaching within the substrate. They bury their oral body in the sand by keeping tentacles outside the sand. These anemones do not wander the aquarium. Rock anemones are carnivores and eat meat like mussels and fish meat for better survival. They can also survive on frozen foods. Their diet is brine, shrimps, and zooplankton.
True Carpet Anemone
True carpet anemones are wavy and do not live in groups or colonies. They live attached to the soft rocky substrate and increase 3 feet in size. These anemones live in light and water movement aquarium. It loves to burry feet in the sand and sometimes attaches to the bottom glass of the aquarium. These anemones can also cause a human skin reaction when the skin comes to contact. This anemone to keep requires experience light and water movements. The food of true carpet anemone is fresh fish, uncooked shrimps, and other marine foods. Food requires weekly or daily.
Condy Anemone
The condy anemone is a giant golden anemone. It is mostly found commonly in an anemone. Condy anemone has long tentacles that arise from the base and has different colors like purple, brown, white, and gold. It is never found in the cluster. Its oral disc size is 40cm, but 10cm is used for the aquarium. If you do not have an aquarium in light, then never buy condy anemone because it cannot survive without proper light. Condy can move in the aquarium, can cause damage to other living things living in the aquarium with a sting. Diet is fish, mussels, and shrimps.
Ritteri Anemone
The ritteri anemone is in the form of groups and colonies. It has a long tentacle and venom in their stings. It uses this venom to attach protection and catch prey. Rotter anemone has a sticky foot attached to the pedal column that attaches to different types of surfaces. Tentacles are spread around the oral disc and arrange in different colors like brown, grey, yellow, and white. If the anemone feels a threat or any danger around it, the anemone spreads the tentacles to take a shape of a ball for protection.
Tube Anemone
These creatures are also called tube-dwelling anemones. It should be placed in a soft and deep substrate. It creates a tube from nematocyst, which gives the anemone the name. Their color varies from pink to, purple even in fluorescent green. They feel comfortable in a deep sand bed in the aquarium. They are nonphotosynthetic and therefore requires no light. Because they do not need light, they are nocturnal. Their diet is zooplankton and shrimps.
White Spotted Anemone
It grows up to 10 cm in diameter and 15 cm in length. But still, it is unknown how long the creature grows. This anemone has red and orange cylinder shape pedal columns, long rows with white spots. They have long tubes that are nonadhesive but have a sticky foot attached to the pedal. The livestock are for adhesion on different surfaces. They move if the condition is unfavorable. The top has an oval opening, which is called the mouth. This anemone takes food and excretes waste through this opening. These anemones only open mouth when hungry otherwise, the mouth will remain close and tight. A gaping mouth is a sign that an anemone is not in good condition.
In Conclusion
Anemones are some of the coolest additions to any saltwater aquarium. People often confuse anemones as corals, but that is false! Anemones are considered their species of inverts and in a different family than corals.
