Flat anemones ...

[Ice]

I went to my LFS this afternoon and happened to see a tank with 3 small flat anemones (a white one, white with pink(?) tips and a brown one) each about 3-4 inches in diameter. Yes - that what he labeled them on tank glass. What are their care difficulties, lighting requirements, etc ...? I don't know if he meant they are carpet anemones (didn't ask cuz he was busy with another customer). I have never heard of them. Any enlightenment on this is appreciated.

[TheOldSalt]

In general, brown anemones are much easier to keep than white ones, which are very difficult. Flat anemone is kinda descriptive, but not very, and not enough to really identify these enough to tell you much more. Were they covered all over with little short tentacles, or did they only have a concentration of tentacles around the edges? Tiny little mouth or a great big one? Any body stripes, or just solid uniform color except for the tentacle-tips? Uniformly flattish, or with undulating high and low spots?
In any case, I'd avoid the white ones on general principle. They're either bleached-out brown ones not long for this world, or high-maintenance wonders you'll have to feed and feed and feed.

[Ice]

They had short tentacles but from where they were sitting and the level of tank display was I don't think it was on the edges but more all over. I didn't really notice the mouths (but didn't think to look). Definitely no stripes but uniformly flat. I know one of them was on the side of one tank glass. Hope this help narrow down to what it may be.

I was gonna say Carpet Anemones but not sure.

[Bear]

did it look like this?

(what im guessing would be a white flat anem)

or this?

(Caribbean carpet)



and this is what is usually called a carpet anemone

[TheOldSalt]

Sounds about right to me, I guess. Get a brown one if you want, ( if you have the light for it ) but not a white one. The brown ones are brown because they are full of zooxanthellae algae, which makes them need lots of light like corals do. It also makes them about as easy to keep as a coral.
The white ones, though, do not have this algae, which means they don't need that kind of lighting. Instead, you'll have to feed them all the time and then keep their water pristinely clean despite that.
As anemones go, carpets are among the easier ones to keep. That's not to say that they're easy, though; anemones are anything but easy, and corals are literally easier in most cases. Strange, eh?

[Ice]

It looks similar to the first one Bear has posted. I was just curious of the anemones I saw at my LFS. Just never heard of them. While I do agree with TOS with brown anemones being easier to keep, I also heard a secret in keeping Gonorporia corals being brown also being easy to keep providing they are brown as well. Why is it that they're easier to keep when they are brown in color as opposed to whites or flourescent colors ?

[GoodMike]

if its that first pic, take it from me when i say you dont want that. looks to me like a rock anemone, and you will end up with LOTS of them. A maintance tank i take care of put in a couple..and soon had hundreds and that became a problem . hers are pretty..bright red..but a pain :P

[TheOldSalt]

Gonios are not easy to keep, no matter how brown they are, because they need something that most reef tanks do not provide. They'll be fine under actual sunlight, but not under aquarium lights. They don't come from reef areas, you see, but from grassy & muddy lagoons. They like their water dirtier with more food to eat, and they like some infrared light. You can keep them if you plan for this, but your other tank inhabitants won't like it one bit, unless you again plan for that and pick just the right ones. So, the "secret" you heard is actually just a big fat lie. Don't mess with Gonios. Just don't.

To put it simply, the brown algae that makes it all possible does it by providing oxygen and food and vitamins on a cellular level, while also getting rid of the waste and CO2. The algae serve very much like a built-in filter for the coral's very cells, thusly doing half the work for us.

Corals and anemones without these symbiotic algae don't have this advantage, which means that we have to do all the work ourselves, and it's not easy work.

[Ice]

Thanks for the insight, TOS. Whew ! Now I understand it much better.

[Ice]

I think this is the scientific name for the flat anemones : Heteractis aurora.
They did look more like them.

[Reefneck]

I learned some new things with that info. Thanks TOS! I love learning things I don't know.