Condylactis?

So I was thinking about adding this guy to my 55 gallon tank, but I have a couple of questions. I read almost all the forums I could find on these but hoped someone would be able to help me on more specific questions.

1) Do I have enough lighting: Nova Extreme HO 2xT5 54watt lights on 460nm & the other daylight 10K.
2) Do I worry about it stinging me when I handle it? the LFS lady said I don't have to worry they don't sting, but I don't take anyone's word for it when they are in the retail business trying to sell me stuff.
3) At the LFS one was bleached really white and one had some purple to it. Any corelation between color and health?
4) Also, when she was showing them to me. One really clasped to her hand when she touched it. Like sticky glue and the other didn't stick to her hand at all. Does this have anything to do with health?
5) How can I tell if it's dead or dying?

if I think of anymore i'll ask. sorry so many questions. i like to get as much info about something I am going to buy before i buy it.

 

I'm no expert on anemones, but I did some research as I started my tank since I think they're the coolest, so lemme have a go at it.

Usually if they're white it's not a good sign, but I've never seen a condy that wasn't at least white-ish with colored tips, so someone with more experience should answer that one. Ditto on the lighting.

The clasping is a good sign, if it doesn't grab onto either a piece of food or a finger don't buy it, it will end up being very hard to feed. Make sure it's firmly attached to something in the tank, like a rock or the side wall, otherwise it's not going to attach in your tank either. Check to see that there's no tear in the bottom of its foot (can happen easily if someone tries to pull it off of a rock), that's usually a dead anemone for a beginner from what I read. Along those lines, alot of people recommend buying the rock its on.

If it's dead, it'll dissolve quickly (hours). If it's dying, you might not know until months later.

 

I wouldnt with just the 2 t5s, you would need at least 4. But thats just MO.

 

They do sting, but most people do not feel the sting. A lot of the condys are dyed, unfortunately. As long as the food is a strong red color you should be fine with buying a healthy nem.

 

i have a condy... so heres my two cents.

- when you first purchase it and place it where you feel you want it - it will move
- it will move when it feels the water is not right or its light source is inadequate (if its under a rock or a hidden area)
- mine, when lighting is good, will sting my hand - this is due to the xooanthexide (sp?) buildup from photosynthesis. if its not getting good light it wont be able to build up that and it wont be very potent from a stinging perspective. i can say from having it in my hospital tank for a bit with no light that it does become more 'white' (the foot stays orange) and its stinging potency goes to practically nothing. so the LFS probably has inadequate lighting or its just not a very potent nem.
- The fact that it 'stuck' to the LFS employees hand is a good thing. Mine would damn near take the friggin pinchers out of my hand when i target feed because of how sticky it is.

One thing to note with a condy is it will eat anything that gets in its way. Mine has killed/eaten various crabs/snails and even a fish. My clown stays the heck away from it. It hit it once and I dont think its slime coat was built up enough because it got zapped and had black spots on its side for a copule days. now he doesnt go near the thing (tank bred clown, never knew to use one as a form of protection i guess)

My tank parameters as far as water chemistry goes has been spot on the last two months now yet with the ballasts on my T5 blowing out and the week I went with no light, the Condy was retracted to the size of a golf ball and turning very white on top and its potency for stinging is gone. I threw some temporary 6500K CFL's over the top of the tank and the Condy started to respond to it. Moved itself to the best plaec to get the light and is starting to brown back up again.

A good healthy condy is slightly darker in the tentacles than "WHITE".

This again, just from experience. I am no anemone expert nor do I claim to know what I am talking about lol

 

oh, and i always handle my anemone or anything in my tank for that matter with gloves on. i do occassionally touch the nem bare handed to get an idea if it has been getting proper light. (only doing that because I have had numerous problems with bulbs/ballasts blowing up, etc)

 

Thanks, I didnt know if the sticking was a good thing. i thought it might be like that because it is starving for food and therefore not doing well.

what does it mean if it is not sticking to your hand?

it's a good thing that i do not have to worry about it stinging me.
I guess I wont buy the one that is all bleached white, probably buy the one with some purple color to it.

I do only have the 2xT5's so i guess i will have to get another set of those.

 

The Condylactis Anemone is often recommended to beginners because Condi's Anemones are usually less demanding than many of the other anemones and because they are inexpensive They are an Atlantic Anemone, which means they live in somewhat cooler waters (70 to 78) than we normally keep our reef tanks at. I used to keep them in a 20g with 48 watts of Standard Fluorescent lighting on it. They did so well that they split so many times that I ended up with a tank full.

"when you first purchase it and place it where you feel you want it - it will move"

Can I get an AMEN! yes it will move and most of the time to somewhere that you do not want it to. My suggestion is leave it there, it is there because its happy! If you must move it I recommend using the flow from a good powerful power head pointed directly at it. But if it shows no signs of moving you had better get used to where its at. Another tried an true way of getting them or any Anemone to move it to move its light source, IE: turn off the tank light and put a spot light above the tanks off to one side, every day move it some and in no time it will be where you want it. this is a slow way but works no the less and after the light are back on do not be surprised when you wake up one day and find it right back where it started! Another downside to this movement is the type of power head you are using, open blade PH's like Karollia are a NO, NO, for obvious reasons. Nothing worse that looking at you tanks and seeing little bits an pieces of an anemone floating around and your fish laying on the bottom or floating on the top.

"Make sure it's firmly attached to something in the tank, like a rock or the side wall, otherwise it's not going to attach in your tank either."

This is not true, many LFS intentionally keep their Condi's and other a from attaching because they are so hard to unattached and tend to get hurt when removed. If one gets attached its kind of hard to sell it right and me personally i would not but one thats attached. So if it free-floating or sitting in the sand it does not mean its not healthy or will not attach in your tank. But I agree, look closely at it and make sure you do not see any damages to the foot.


"A lot of the condys are dyed, unfortunately"

Yes I have heard about this being done but in the wild and in the stores Condi's come in many colors including white, pink, purple, green and beige. most but not all have a contrasting color on their tips such as pink, purple and green. So seeing one that is white is not necessarily an indication of bad health, its just a white condi thats all.

"when lighting is good, will sting my hand - this is due to the xooanthexide (sp?) buildup from photosynthesis."

Never heard that light has anything to do with the stinging potential of an Anemones before and its got nothing to do with the xooanthexide, Anemones arms have Cnidocytes on them which contain nematocysts which is what stings. If its not healthy yes the sting will be lessened beccasue I would assume they concentrate on living instead of nematocys production. All xooanthexide do create food for them in the form of sugars which are a byproduct of photosynthesis.

"My clown stays the heck away from it."

That is because these are not hosting type Anemones and their nematocyst are different than the hosting types Anemones of although I have see several clowns that after many months in a tank with one have acclimated them selves to the sting and are hosting one. And being a tank bred clown has nothing to do with that either, tank bred clowns will host anemones they just sometimes need a little help like putting a photo of a clown on the side of the tank, don't laugh it works!

Don't know if this is going to help of confuse matters but IMO ALL Anemones should be kept out of reef tanks, if you want one then set up a Species tank specifically set up for them.

 

So i ended up buying it. looks like white/purple.

it was one that really clung to my hand and the first time i fed it there was no problems.

as for my clown, it freaking LOVES the thing. it immediately took to the condy and hasn't moved away from it in over 24hrs.
I went to feed it after it was acclimated. figured i would just place some thawed mysis on its tenticles it worked, but to my suprise the darn clown either bit my hand or tail whipped me protecting the condy! it happened so fast i couldnt tell which one.

so supposedly I now have two things in my tank that arent supposed to go together.

the clown and the condy

also, a Huma Huma and a cleaner shimp (which i thought were not supposed to go together?), the huma actually lets the shimp climb on him. it also sleeps beside the shrimp's little cave and wont let another fish go near it to be "cleaned" by the shrimp. weird pair.

 

"This is not true, many LFS intentionally keep their Condi's and other a from attaching because they are so hard to unattached and tend to get hurt when removed. If one gets attached its kind of hard to sell it right and me personally i would not but one thats attached. So if it free-floating or sitting in the sand it does not mean its not healthy or will not attach in your tank. But I agree, look closely at it and make sure you do not see any damages to the foot."

Well, you can get an anemone off of glass, easily. Rock is a bit harder, but not anywhere near impossible. It's time consuming, but not hard to do properly. You just massage their foot, getting it back a little bit at a time. You just have to make sure the tank doesn't have rocks it can get between, so it can't be attached to 2 rocks. Then it'd be nearly impossible.