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
Difficulty
Medium
Breeding
No record
Rarity
Common
Reef safe
Reef safe with caution
Family
Stichodactylidae
Origin
Indo-Pacific, including Hawaii

Overview

Needs strong reef lighting and moderate flow; some keepers find it a little more forgiving of slightly less intense light than a magnificent or sebae anemone, but that is relative within a genuinely demanding group of anemones, not an invitation to run it under soft coral lighting. Feed it small pieces of fish, shrimp, or clam about once a week. It can relocate across the sand like any true anemone and carries a real sting, so 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, and even then, mature wild clownfish often pass it over for a different anemone when one is available, so treat any hosting pair as a bonus rather than a guarantee. Once established in a mature tank it is considered one of the hardier members of its genus; acclimate it slowly to get there.

In the wild

Scattered across the Indo-Pacific from Japan to Australia and east to Hawaii and Sumatra, where it stays buried in sand or rubble up to the edge of its oral disc in areas with good light and flow. In the tank it wants a sandy patch on the lower rockwork where its foot can dig in, with strong light reaching all the way down to the substrate. It occasionally hosts clark's clownfish.

Good to know

Currently accepted by the World Register of Marine Species as Radianthus malu, though Heteractis malu is still the name most commonly used in the trade. Its stout, sparse tentacles rarely exceed 4 cm long, usually with magenta tips, and the oral disc tops out around 20 cm across in brown or purplish tones, occasionally with white radial lines. It draws most of its energy from symbiotic zooxanthellae, supplemented by whatever small prey its tentacles catch.

Did you know

Malu anemones are so often sold and shipped as a small, pale colored sebae anemone that many hobbyists do not realize they are a separate species until they compare notes on which clownfish will actually host in one.

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). It spends most of its time in the bottom.

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.

How big does a Malu anemone get?

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

Related species