Yellow Sebae Anemone

[bms]

Hello All,
I recently bought a sebae anemone and am concerned that it may have been dyed. The dealer at the LFS specifically said that it was not dyed before i even asked. I have been doing a lot of research on the internet the past few days and i have found many conflicting ideas on these anemones. Some websites say that yellow is not a natural color and that it is most certainly dyed and will probably die with in one year. Other websites say that yellow can be a naturally occurring color. One http://www.aquacon.com/anemone.html even sold a sebae anemone listed as a Yellow Sebae Anemone and appears to look the same color yellow with purple tips as mine. Anyone out there have or had/seen yellow sebae anemones? Do you guys think mine is dyed? Thanks for any responses.

p.s. i have attached a couple photos so you can see the colors.

[Gilbert]

i dont know much about anemones, but what i do know is that they nuke the tank when they die so if i was you i would have carbon in the tank and on hand

[Gseclipse02]

what store?

[SoLiD]

AquaCon is one of the worst Fish/Coral Shops on the internet. Do some research.

http://www.maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=42299

[Dee]

I just recently read a long information thingy on anemone's that someone on Reef Central mentioned. They said that if the anemone is yellow, and showed an example that wasn't eve close to as yellow as yours, then it was most definitely dyed and would eventually end up dying.

I was checking into them because I have a opaque one that I've had over a year that is thriving and I wanted to get a purple one. I can't remember what they said about purple one, but I recall purple being one of the natural colors. I do remember the information on the yellow one clearly because I was shocked that they could actually dye an anemone.

Dena

[bms]

the store is called tropical fish of the world. I didn't buy it online I just came across that website when I was searching for yellow sebaes.

[blindside]

wow it looks neat! too bad its bad for the nem, if it is dyed...

[bms]

yah it really is quite a beautiful anemone! it had an accident last night :-( i bought a new canister filter and got it all setup and it was running beautifully..until..he got sucked in. apparently there was too much waterflow in the area he had settled down in and wandered too close to the outtake for the pumps. he got half of his body sucked into one of them. i immediately cut the power to both pumps and disassembled the pump he was lodged in. i tried gently helping it out as much as i could and was worried i would inflict more damage if i pulled too hard so i let him crawl out of it himself. it took about 45 mins for him to get completely out and then remained closed in a ball for about 30 minutes. i kept that pump off and left only the canister filter running overnight (with a few pieces of rock blocking the intake) until i had the chance to run to the store and get some sponge to cover it. today he's looking a lot better. he doesnt seem to have any damage really..guess he got really lucky. i think he learned his lesson because now he has attached himself to a corner of the glass on the opposite side of the tank. i will continue keeping an eye on him and make sure he eats and will post his results as soon as i know that he's ok.

[Noober]

i've had lfs people tell me, no thoed anenome's arnt dyed, the people online are full of ****, i was like and your the one trying to sell me this pet. lol, any way i bought one of thoes along with a pink tipped anenome, just to compare the two in my tank.
The yellow one shrivled up and never extended its polyps, it moved around a bit and then just shrunk up into the sand and wouldnt sting or eat. The white one quickly adapted and showed its tenticles and eats like a horse. It has since grown benifical algae inside its tenticles and is getting bigger. It wasnt my tank it was the yellow dye that made that poor anenome die. just my thoughts on it, i may be wrong the sabre might just be harder to keep. Or is the white pink tipped and the yellow sabre in the same family? I'm pretty ineducated on the subject. good luck man

[reeferRob]

AquaCon is one of the worst Fish/Coral Shops on the internet. Do some research.

http://www.maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=42299


I second that! (if not THE worst)

[Bill S]

I had an anemone just like that one. 35 YEARS ago. I know it wasn't dyed, because it was LONG before they talked about dying them, and long before anyone would think of dying them. No, it didn't last long - NOTHING did back then.

So, no there's no assurance that it was dyed. There IS an assurance that this will be a very difficult specimen to keep alive.

[OrionN]

I disagree with you Bill. Sebae is an relatively easy anemone to keep in compare to H. magnifica or S. gigantea. The anemone pictured in this thread is an obvious dyed anemone.
Maybe you got one of the very first dyed anemone.

[ErikH]

Keep your eye on it. Anemones are not particularly difficult, but most people buy first, and ask questions later. If your parameters are stable, and consistent with that of a reef tank, your other hurdle would be with lighting. My sebae was in a 31" deep tank lit by a 250wHQI MH. It was at the bottom and flourished, but a newbie mistake cost me that tank (a sea apple).

Anemones are hard to judge when they are dead as well. Sometimes under extreme stress they will invert exposing their mouths which would be gaping. If it gets to that point, try and house it in a QT tank. A 5g bucket could work, and swapping water with properly heated, aerated, fresh SW daily (about 1g or so) should help if it is a WQ issue. Keep the flow minimal, since it is a bucket. Make sure you have sufficient lighting, and keep an eye on the temp. It's good to have a few small backups like this just in case. If after a few days the nem becomes responsive to food, and is extended, reintroduction to the tank should be ok. Just triple check the water over a few days before, keep a log, and run carbon prior to re introduction....

[Bill S]

I disagree with you Bill. Sebae is an relatively easy anemone to keep in compare to H. magnifica or S. gigantea. The anemone pictured in this thread is an obvious dyed anemone.
Maybe you got one of the very first dyed anemone.

35 years ago? I doubt it. Seriously, it was a beautiful bright yellow. ANY pacific anemones were so rare then, it didn't matter - they sold quickly. Heck, even condis were unusual. We would very occasionally got a green carpet. And they didn't do well at all...

I've never seen a Sebae of that color do well - it seems the more exotic the color, the more difficult. That being said, I've had a whole lot of luck with my RBTAs over the years. I was down to 2 a week ago. One decided to crawl through a piece of eggcrate. Now I have 4... One of the 3 pieces is doing great, one OK, and one hanging on...

[aggman]

how does one go about dying and anemone anyway? does the dying process actually harm the organism?

i see these as simply designer livestock, not much different from things like snowflake clowns.

~alex

[Jonthefishguy]

The answer to your question:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-09/ac/feature/index.php

[OrionN]

Bill,
Just because no one wrote about them does not mean that it was not done. In 1980 when I first got into keeping marine animals, the very first animal I bought were an dyed sebae and a pair of tank raised clown fish (Ocellaris).
29 years ago, there were dyed anemone.
There are plenty of documentation of some of these anemones loose these yellow color live and turn into the usual Sebae color.

[aggman]

The answer to your question:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-09/ac/feature/index.php

wow, that is crazy what some people will do in this trade. i personally have never seen something like that, and i am glad, i hope i never do.

~alex

[bms]

Scorpino:

This is the second anemone i have kept so i am not totally new to them. I had a bubble tip anemone in my other 65 gallon that lived 3 years til an earthquake landed a small rock on him and never could recover from a few months ago. whoda thunk it?

Status Update:

he appears to be doing well tonight. i offered him some mysis and brine shrimp today and it took a few tries but he ate it. doesnt seem to be too affected by the accident and no visible damage. i must have gotten lucky and caught it soon after it happened.

[Bill S]

Thanks for the article, John. Minh, I guess I stand corrected. I'm trying to remember the time frame - I'd guess it was probably around 1973? Plus or minus a year? With the hobby in such a beginning stage, it's hard to understand why they would dye them.