Is my anemone bleached?

[lilpew]

I recently bought an anemone from Petco. It wasn’t super colorful when I bought it. Is it bleached? How do I fix it if it is?

 

[shakacuz]

does seem bleached but it could be due to the white lighting(i do see some color)

how new or old is the tank? what are your water parameters?

 

[Uncle99]

Bleached somewhat but open.
Likely poor water conditions in supplier, so make sure your water is stable and in the bands, that’s all I would do, no additional stress.

 

[Spare time]

Its fine. Just feed it maybe once a week or so.

 

[ryanjohn1]

Petcos nems are always sketchy. Sometimes they look great. Other times they are basically dead at the store. I wish they would stop stocking them cause those tanks are a death sentence

 

[lilpew]

Thanks everybody! Just wanted to make sure it wasn’t about to die and nuke my tank lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

Set light to moderate and flow also to moderate- It looks happy as is right now. Its not any worrisome as to being bleached but too much light will cause them to expel zooxanthellae and lose color and even go into hiding.

 

[lilpew]

Set light to moderate and flow also to moderate- It looks happy as is right now. Its not any worrisome as to being bleached but too much light will cause them to expel zooxanthellae and lose color and even go into hiding.

How can I tell if it’s getting too much light? Just if it starts losing color?

 

[vetteguy53081]

How can I tell if it’s getting too much light? Just if it starts losing color?

Loss of color is an indicator but if it moves and hides- sure sign

 

[lilpew]

Loss of color is an indicator but if it moves and hides- sure sign

My lights only put out about 110 PAR at 12” but he has moved multiple times into the shade. Should I bring my whites down even more? I thought BTAs needed 150+ PAR? Also, sorry for all the questions. Just new to having nems lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

My lights only put out about 110 PAR at 12” but he has moved multiple times into the shade. Should I bring my whites down even more? I thought BTAs needed 150+ PAR? Also, sorry for all the questions. Just new to having nems lol

May not be light but water flow. As with light, too much water flow they will move and go to area if less flow
Too little light and they climb towards light or shrivel and too little flow and they climb towards power head at times ending up in the power head itself

 

[OrionN]

Your anemone is a BTA, E. quadricolor. It is light in color, but I would not consider it is completely bleached. It should recover without you're doing anything other than provide it with good clean water, good light, and with low water movement. These are what your anemone needs. Feeding it sparingly will help it recover quickly and grow. Do not over feed your anemone. Anemones are mostly water, so the biomass of your anemone is that of a small fish. They are not solid tissue like fish so keep that in mind when feeding them.