Rock Flower Anemone Lost Colour

[TEGOD]

I received a delivery of a rock flower anemone and upon arrival, it had completely lost it’s colour. Will it be able to regain it’s colour again?

I have put pictures of how it arrived and what it was supposed to look like

 

[homer1475]

Never seen one loose it's color. I have had plenty shipped and bought from the LFS, they always arrive the same color as the picture I bought it from. I did buy one that was severely bleached(I didn't know it at the time, and only bought it because I had never seen a white one before), in about 3 or 4 months it turned from white to a nice peach color.

As long as it's healthy, and it's foot is attached, it should color back up.

 

[TEGOD]

Never seen one loose it's color. I have had plenty shipped and bought from the LFS, they always arrive the same color as the picture I bought it from. I did buy one that was severely bleached(I didn't know it at the time, and only bought it because I had never seen a white one before), in about 3 or 4 months it turned from white to a nice peach color.

As long as it's healthy, and it's foot is attached, it should color back up.

Thanks for the quick reply. I’m new to keeping RFAs. Would you say this one is bleached?

 

[homer1475]

Hard to say really. They typically turn white when bleached. Have you tried viewing it under extreme blues like the original picture is shot?

@Ron Reefman knows more about them then me. Lets see if he'll respond to this thread.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Sorry for the slow reply, I was out at the beach bird watching most of the day yesterday!

@TEGOD , do you have led lighting? Or good actinic T5's? If so, it would be my guess that you'd see a lot more color under those blue lights. The RFA comes in a full range of colors and ability to fluoresce. This one looks like it's a typical mid depth, semi colorful RFA. And the sellers photo on the right was definitely taken under blue light. Notice the blue tint in the rocks?

So RFAs that do fluoresce look more ordinary under white light. And the full oral disk of yours is bluish in that photo. My guess is that the same oral disk will look off white to tan under white light. But the red tentacles looking so tan is a more puzzling issue.

So what did it look like under blue in your tank?

It's hard (impossible?) to say for sure why yours is so devoid of color. I think most of a RFA's color is either pigments it produces (that's my first choice), or color created by the zooxanthellae inside the anemone (fair less likely IMHO). If your RFA is healthy otherwise, I think it will develop colors over time.

I'd even be very interested to know how it does over time. It could take a couple of days, or weeks, or even months. This is a very unusual occurrence in my experience. There are a couple of us here in Florida doing some experiments and breeding with RFAs and your info about this anemone would be appreciated. I'll send you a PM and we can chat.

 

[Mark Bradley]

Ones I recently bought, online, didn't initially look like the photos - although weren't as pale as yours. However, once acclimatised and under LED lighting they looked great.

 

[TEGOD]

Sorry for the slow reply, I was out at the beach bird watching most of the day yesterday!

@TEGOD , do you have led lighting? Or good actinic T5's? If so, it would be my guess that you'd see a lot more color under those blue lights. The RFA comes in a full range of colors and ability to fluoresce. This one looks like it's a typical mid depth, semi colorful RFA. And the sellers photo on the right was definitely taken under blue light. Notice the blue tint in the rocks?

So RFAs that do fluoresce look more ordinary under white light. And the full oral disk of yours is bluish in that photo. My guess is that the same oral disk will look off white to tan under white light. But the red tentacles looking so tan is a more puzzling issue.

So what did it look like under blue in your tank?

It's hard (impossible?) to say for sure why yours is so devoid of color. I think most of a RFA's color is either pigments it produces (that's my first choice), or color created by the zooxanthellae inside the anemone (fair less likely IMHO). If your RFA is healthy otherwise, I think it will develop colors over time.

I'd even be very interested to know how it does over time. It could take a couple of days, or weeks, or even months. This is a very unusual occurrence in my experience. There are a couple of us here in Florida doing some experiments and breeding with RFAs and your info about this anemone would be appreciated. I'll send you a PM and we can chat.

Hey sorry for the late reply. The anemone has finally regained colour! My guess is that it didn’t take too well to shipping.

You are right, the colours pop out more under blue light. (I would post a picture but it’s the evening here in the UK the tank lights are off and don’t want to startle the fish).

Thanks for your help

 

[Just John]

Sorry for the slow reply, I was out at the beach bird watching most of the day yesterday!

@TEGOD , do you have led lighting? Or good actinic T5's? If so, it would be my guess that you'd see a lot more color under those blue lights. The RFA comes in a full range of colors and ability to fluoresce. This one looks like it's a typical mid depth, semi colorful RFA. And the sellers photo on the right was definitely taken under blue light. Notice the blue tint in the rocks?

So RFAs that do fluoresce look more ordinary under white light. And the full oral disk of yours is bluish in that photo. My guess is that the same oral disk will look off white to tan under white light. But the red tentacles looking so tan is a more puzzling issue.

So what did it look like under blue in your tank?

It's hard (impossible?) to say for sure why yours is so devoid of color. I think most of a RFA's color is either pigments it produces (that's my first choice), or color created by the zooxanthellae inside the anemone (fair less likely IMHO). If your RFA is healthy otherwise, I think it will develop colors over time.

I'd even be very interested to know how it does over time. It could take a couple of days, or weeks, or even months. This is a very unusual occurrence in my experience. There are a couple of us here in Florida doing some experiments and breeding with RFAs and your info about this anemone would be appreciated. I'll send you a PM and we can chat.

I am having a similar problem. I received a RFA in the mail yesterday morning. It was bright orange and bright yellow. It stayed open and looked great and 100% happy all day. This morning it was dull orange and a pale green. It had lost a ton of color. Other than the color, It has looked happy all day again and been completely open. I fed it something and it ate fine. It's evening now and the color has not improved. All of the softies and the few LPS are completely fine. Any idea what could be going on?

 

[Lavey29]

Hey sorry for the late reply. The anemone has finally regained colour! My guess is that it didn’t take too well to shipping.

You are right, the colours pop out more under blue light. (I would post a picture but it’s the evening here in the UK the tank lights are off and don’t want to startle the fish).

Thanks for your help

Glad to hear. I just got another one yesterday and was pale brown to but colored up over 24 hours. They are hardy little creatures.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Glad to hear. I just got another one yesterday and was pale brown to but colored up over 24 hours. They are hardy little creatures.

That's certainly true. FedEx delayed a shipment, including two RFAs, for over a day during the winter. Arrival water temperature for all livestock was less than 5C (or 40F), and the two 'nems were just about the only two pieces of livestock that survived (some softies also survived).