Name that Anemone

[MThomas]

I've had this one for years now and I still am not sure what it is. Please ignore the sorry state of my tank as I am recovering from a heater that threw up in my sump. Yes, I know that electicity introduced into the system is not good. Neither was the 15 degree drop in temp.
What am I? (http://home.adelphia.net/~marct/images/Tank/Slow%20Recovery/P1010051.JPG) Again (http://home.adelphia.net/~marct/images/Tank/Slow%20Recovery/PC250092.JPG) Once More (http://home.adelphia.net/~marct/images/Tank/Slow%20Recovery/PC250084.JPG) Old Pic (http://home.adelphia.net/~marct/images/Tank/Once%20Upon%20a%20Time/IMAGE015.jpg) First Pic (http://home.adelphia.net/~marct/images/Tank/In%20The%20Beginning/Arrow%20Crab.jpg)
Note: Clown in pictures decided after a year of being in the same tank to form a relationship.

Following are pictures of "The Day of Death"
Disaster Strikes (http://home.adelphia.net/~marct/images/Tank/Disaster%20Strikes/)

[eco-tropic]

At first glance I would guess that your anemone is a Macrodactyla doreensis but I have seen ailing Entacmaea quadricolor take on this shape. I would guess that you have an Entacmaea quadricolor as it seems to be attached to a rock and not footed in to the sand? ?? Was the heater in question a VisiTherm?

[MThomas]

Originally posted by eco-tropic
it seems to be attached to a rock and not footed in to the sand? ?? Was the heater in question a VisiTherm?
eco-tropic,

For the past couple of years it has been footed in the sand, but a few weeks after the disaster, it decided to move into the rocks. For a few days it just looked as if it was not footed at all. It is kind of hard to explain.

And yes, this was a VisiTherm heater. I had two 150 watt units in my sump. They were both around 13 months old. The other unit malfunctioned also. It had water inside of it and would light but not work. I replaced them with the same brand, you would think I would learn, but stepped them up to 300's instead of the 150's. After this happened, I looked at the heaters in the other tanks and all of them have some sort of condensation in them. Most were the VisiTherms, but a few were not.

[eco-tropic]

I guess it would be anyone's guess on the anemone. I had much the same experiences with VisiTherm. I found them to be junk. I've switch to Ebo_Jager and "fire plugs" and have never had a problem with rusted heaters poisoning my tanks!

[delphinus]

Sorry to jump in late like this ...

My guess is Macrodactyla doreensis, LTA. LTA's very frequently come in that colour of purple. Heteractis crispa can also be that colour of purple but the tentacles are usually far more numerous (supposedly). The tentacles also seem to be corkscrewing and this is supposedly a common trait of LTA's (aren't they sometimes called "corkscrew anemone" instead of LTA?).

However the base sure look reminiscent of a H. crispa (sebae). But personally I've never seen both at the same time so I kind of have a hard time telling the difference sometimes. But anytime I've seen a picture of H. crispa, the tentacles are absolutely packed in together tight, whereas in the pictures shown here, there is a fair bit of spacing between individual tentacles. So I still think, probably, looking at a LTA.

FWIW/IMHO/HTH/etc. ....

[MThomas]

Originally posted by delphinus
Sorry to jump in late like this ...

(aren't they sometimes called "corkscrew anemone" instead of LTA?).


Yes, I do believe LTA's are also referred to as the Corkscrew Anemone. I've always just guessed and called mine a purple LTA. I figured that it couldn't hurt to get a confirmation of my thoughts or a correction. I read these forums quite frequently, but have never posted anything. I would like to thank both of you for replying to my post. I've included a link to pictures taken today as the anemone decided to move around a little. It is amazing how much enjoyment I can get just by watching what the anemone is doing. I guess I'm just goofy like that.

Today (http://home.adelphia.net/~marct/images/Tank/12_28_2001/)