Maxi-mini carpet anemone

Care at a glance

Overview

The maxi-mini carpet anemone keeps a small footprint, which makes it popular in nano and mixed reef tanks. It is best with a little experience.

Caring for the maxi-mini carpet anemone

Give the maxi-mini carpet anemone strong lighting and moderate to strong flow. Set it on a perch on the rockwork under strong light, where it can wedge its base into a crevice. It can move if it is unhappy with its spot, so keep it away from pump intakes.

Keep the water at 75 to 81°F (24 to 27°C) with a pH of 8.1 to 8.4. Acclimate it slowly into a tank of at least 20 gal (75 L) that has been running for at least a few months. It carries symbiotic zooxanthellae for most of its energy. Feed it small meaty foods such as mysis every day or two to keep its color vivid.

It is one of the more mild-mannered anemones day to day, but it still stings. Give corals a few inches of clearance, and do not handle it bare-handed. Unlike its larger Stichodactyla cousins, it is not a reliable clownfish host. It more commonly partners with sexy shrimp, anemone shrimp and porcelain anemone crabs.

Like other anemones, it can reproduce asexually by fission. A captive specimen splits far less often than a bubble tip anemone does.

Good to know

Stichodactyla tapetum is the smallest member of its genus, far smaller than the meter-plus spread of its carpet anemone relatives. Its short tentacles are densely packed in rows across the disc. That gives it the distinctive beaded, rainbow-colored look behind the maxi mini and rainbow anemone nicknames.

In the wild

The maxi-mini carpet anemone is found across the tropical Indo-Pacific, in shallow rock crevices, tide pools and reef flats with moderate flow. It is often tucked into a hole with just the small, densely tentacled oral disc showing.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Gigantea carpet anemone

  Stichodactyla gigantea

  19.7 in (50 cm) · 53 gal (200 L)

  19.7 in (50 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Haddon's carpet anemone

  Stichodactyla haddoni

  33.5 in (85 cm) · 53 gal (200 L)

  33.5 in (85 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Mertens' carpet anemone

  Stichodactyla mertensii

  35.4 in (90 cm) · 53 gal (200 L)

  35.4 in (90 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Malu anemone

  Heteractis malu

  7.9 in (20 cm) · 40 gal (150 L)

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

• 

  Aurora anemone

  Heteractis aurora

  11.8 in (30 cm) · 50 gal (190 L)

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

• 

  Sebae anemone

  Heteractis crispa

  15.7 in (40 cm) · 40 gal (150 L)

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