Condy Anemone

Care at a glance

Overview

Needs moderate to strong lighting and moderate flow, plus regular meaty feedings of chopped shrimp, silverside, or fish two or three times a week, since it hunts more actively than most photosynthetic anemones. It moves around on its pedal disc and carries a strong sting, so keep it well away from corals and shield any powerheads it could wander into. Despite being sold cheaply as a starter anemone, it is not a reliable clownfish host; a clownfish introduced to one may be accepted, ignored, or stung and killed, and the outcome is genuinely unpredictable, so do not count on this species to pair with a clownfish. It is, however, a natural partner for Pederson and other cleaner shrimp, arrow crabs, and emerald crabs. Acclimate it slowly into an established, stable tank.

In the wild

Common on shallow reef flats, seagrass beds, and rubble zones throughout the Caribbean and western Atlantic, usually with its column wedged into a rock crevice and its long, tapering tentacles fully extended to catch passing prey. In the aquarium it does best on the lower rockwork under moderate to strong light, with open space around it since it both moves and stings anything that brushes its tentacles. Unlike the Pacific host anemones, it does not reliably pair with clownfish.

Good to know

Condylactis gigantea gets its energy from a mix of symbiotic zooxanthellae and active predation. Its long, tapering tentacles end in a slightly swollen tip and come in a wide range of natural colors, including pink, purple, and green. Because it evolved on the opposite side of the world from every wild clownfish population, it never developed the relationship that lets a true host anemone's mucus coat protect a resident clownfish from its own sting.

Did you know

Condy anemones are inexpensive and hardy enough that pet stores have marketed them as a clownfish starter anemone for decades, even though real world results with clownfish are a coin flip; its actual wild partners are cleaner shrimp and crabs, not anemonefish.

Related species

• 

  Bubble Tip Anemone

  Entacmaea quadricolor

  11.8 in (30 cm)30 gal (115 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Long Tentacle Anemone

  Macrodactyla doreensis

  15.7 in (40 cm)40 gal (150 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Aurora Anemone

  Heteractis aurora

  11.8 in (30 cm)50 gal (190 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Curlyque Anemone

  Bartholomea annulata

  5.9 in (15 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Sebae Anemone

  Heteractis crispa

  15.7 in (40 cm)40 gal (150 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Malu Anemone

  Heteractis malu

  7.9 in (20 cm)40 gal (150 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)