Continued from Page 3....In nature, all the Heteractis anemones mentioned can be of many colors, not only the ones you see in stores. The color is in most cases determined by the geographical origin of the anemone. For instance, H. crispa from the Red Sea is bleuish whereas the variety from the Maldives can be pink or purple. The color can be of the whole body or just parts of it and may or may not include the tentacles (although they often do). H. crispa can even be completely brown (not as appealing of course).
The key clue that every hobbyist wants to find is how to maintain the original coloration of the anemone he or she acquired. This articles gives suggestions on how to do so. Success is never guaranteed because many variables enter into the equation but, at least, if you follow the directions given, your chances of doing so will be far greater.
The photo below shows a close-up of Heteractis crispa with an Amphiprion clarkii
Recommendation: Keep the aquarium temperature around 79-80 degrees Fahrenheit during the day time, and the pH around 8.2 in the morning and 8.4 in the evening. That pH fluctuation should occur naturally because of the photosynthesis that occurs as a result of using real high intensity lighting.
If it does not, you may need to buffer the water to some extent, using a complete buffer that includes not only carbonates and bicarbonates, but also borates. Many such products are now available on the market and you should have no difficulty finding one (just read the label carefully to ensure that the one you intend to buy does contain the elements and chemicals mentioned). The suggested specific gravity that I have found to work best is 1.023 to 1.024
All anemones, including the Heteractis varieties, react very negatively to constant and rapid pH changes. You must avoid them at all costs. Rapid pH changes are the ones that affect these animals the most. You will need to control the pH in such a manner that such changes do not occur in your aquarium. Regular testing of the pH is required and buffering must be undertaken as needed. Always have enough spare buffering compound at hand. When you buffer, use small amounts only to ensure that the change is pH is gradual and not sudden. The same applies to specific gravity.
Recommendation: In terms of pollutants such as nitrates, phosphates and other sometimes so-called nutrients as opposed to pollutants, ppm levels, respectively concentrations, should be kept as low as possible, preferably near zero. Total nitrate in high dosages, in particular, is harmful and will affect the manner in which this species behaves, appears and looks and for how long it does well in your tank. Keep total nitrate concentrations below 15 ppm. The recommended levels for ortho-phosphate are 0.03 ppm and for silicate 0.5 ppm maximum.
The photo below shows H. magnifica in its closed, balled up form with only a few tentacles showing. The clown you see is A. perideraion.
Recommendation: Color changes in an anemone, whether in the body part or in the tentacles, are indicative of a loss of zooxanthellae, meaning that the lighting used is either not of the correct spectrum (Kelvin degrees), or not intense enough. This can easily be remedied by adding more lighting of course. The debate over how much blue (actinic) lighting anemones really need is far from conclusive. Most anemones, including this type, seem to benefit from it, hence the recommendation to use high Kelvin degree lighting that has a lot of blue in its spectral output. Alternatively, you can supplement the lighting you are now using with actinic bulbs, and run them for several hours in the morning and several hours in the evening.
One way to do so is to run your actinic lighting for 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the evening, using the following pattern:
- Start the actinic lighting 1 hour before the other lights come on, and
- run them for another hour while the other lights are on. This means that the actinic lighting is running an hour in conjunction with whatever other lighting you are providing.
- Let the actinics go off after this two hour period. This is the end of the morning two hours.
- 1 hour before the main lights go off, the actinics come Back on
- and run for another hour after the main lights have gone off. This represents the evening two hours of blue lighting that you are providing.
- This gives you a total of 4 hours of extra lighting of the actinic type, per day.
The anemone you see is H. malu.
How much actinic lighting should you use? The guideline I recommend is 1 to 1.5 watts per gallon of water in the aquarium. If you are using 10000 Kelvin degree bulbs you do not need to supplement the aquarium with additional actinic/blue lighting, since these very high Kelvin degree bulbs give off a lot of blue light as it is.
With 5500 K. and 6500 K. degree bulbs the above recommendations can be followed and are beneficial, as reported by many hobbyists who have done so, and my own experiences in experimenting with lighting of different Kelvin levels.
Which exact bulb should you use? There are many brands on the market and all are excellent. No particular brand is, in my opinion, better than any other one. Look at magazine advertisements for more information.
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