TankBud

Malu anemone

Heteractis malu

Also known as Hawaiian Anemone, White Sand Anemone, Malu Sebae Anemone

SaltwaterAnemone

Malu anemone (Heteractis malu)
Haplochromis · CC BY-SA 3.0

Care at a glance

Temperature
75–81°F
24–27°C
pH
8.1–8.4
Adult size
7.9 in
20 cm
Minimum tank
40 gal
150 L
Temperament
Peaceful
Social behavior
Solitary
Swim level
Bottom
Diet
Photosynthetic
Difficulty
Medium
Breeding
No record
Rarity
Common
Reef safe
Reef safe with caution
Family
Stichodactylidae
Origin
Indo-Pacific, including Hawaii

Overview

The Malu anemone is a small host anemone for the sand bed of a mature reef tank. It is best kept by someone with a little experience.

Did you know

Malu anemones are so often sold and shipped as small, pale-colored Sebae anemones that many hobbyists do not realize they are a separate species. They often learn it only by comparing notes on which clownfish will actually host in one.

Caring for the Malu anemone

Give the Malu anemone strong reef lighting and moderate flow. Place it on a sandy patch on the lower rockwork where its foot can dig in. Make sure strong light reaches all the way down to the substrate there.

Some keepers find it a little more forgiving of less intense light than a magnificent or Sebae anemone. That is relative within a demanding group of anemones, so do not run it under soft coral lighting. It draws most of its energy from symbiotic zooxanthellae, supplemented by whatever small prey its tentacles catch.

Keep the water at 75 to 81°F (24 to 27°C) with a pH of 8.1 to 8.4. Feed it small pieces of fish, shrimp or clam about once a week. Acclimate it slowly into a tank of at least 40 gal (150 L). Once established in a mature tank, it is considered one of the hardier members of its genus.

Like any true anemone, it can relocate across the sand, and it carries a real sting. Give it distance from corals and keep any nearby pump intakes guarded.

Clark's clownfish is the only anemonefish regularly recorded hosting in this species. Even then, mature wild clownfish often pass it over for a different anemone when one is available. Treat any hosting pair as a bonus rather than a guarantee.

Good to know

The Malu anemone is listed by the World Register of Marine Species as Radianthus malu, though the trade mostly still calls it Heteractis malu. Its stout, sparse tentacles rarely exceed 4 cm long and usually have magenta tips. The oral disc comes in brown or purplish tones, occasionally with white radial lines.

In the wild

The Malu anemone is scattered across the Indo-Pacific, from Japan and Sumatra to Australia and east to Hawaii. It stays buried in sand or rubble up to the edge of its oral disc, in areas with good light and flow.

Symbiotic relationships

Clownfish and their host anemones

A clownfish lives inside an anemone that stings and eats other fish its size. Its mucus coat keeps the anemone's stinging cells from firing, and a new fish builds that protection up over hours of brief touches. The fish gets a refuge no predator will follow it into and a nest site at the anemone's base. The anemone gets a guard that drives off the butterflyfish that would graze its tentacles, a steady supply of nitrogen from the fish's waste, and water movement at night, when the fish fans its fins among the tentacles and the anemone takes up more oxygen. Only ten anemone species host clownfish in the wild, and each clownfish species uses its own short list of them.

Captive-bred clownfish have never seen an anemone and do not need one; they settle for a coral, a powerhead or a corner of the tank. If you want the pairing, the anemone is the harder animal by far and goes in first, into a mature tank with strong light and stable water, at the tank size its own profile lists. The bubble tip anemone is the hardy host, and the one most clownfish accept in captivity even when it is not a natural host, so a clownfish profile lists it as the usual tank host where that is the case. The sebae, magnificent and carpet anemones are marked difficult, and the carpets eat fish. Expect a paired clownfish to defend its anemone against everything else in the tank.

Every symbiotic relationship in the catalog

Common questions

What size tank does a Malu anemone need?

A Malu anemone needs at least 40 gal (150 L).

What temperature and pH does a Malu anemone need?

A Malu anemone is comfortable at 75–81°F (24–27°C) with a pH of 8.1–8.4.

What does a Malu anemone eat?

A Malu anemone gets most of its energy from symbiotic zooxanthellae, plus small prey its tentacles catch. Feed it small pieces of fish, shrimp or clam about once a week.

How big does a Malu anemone get?

An adult Malu anemone reaches about 7.9 in (20 cm).

Related species