Pink Tip Anemone Care

Pink tip anemones go by many names, including Haitian reef anemones, pink tip condies and condy anemones. No matter what you want to call them, their natural habitat is the Atlantic ocean between Brazil and the Caribbean. They're suitable for life in a home aquarium, providing you know how to properly care for them.

  1. Aquarium Setup

    • Your pink tip anemone should live in a reef-style aquarium with a capacity of at least 50 gallons. The temperature should be between 72 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit, although temperatures on the cooler end of that spectrum are preferable. Keep the pH levels between 8.1 and 8.4, and aim for a specific gravity of 1.023 to 1.025. You'll need a sandy substrate for the bottom of the tank and will need to provide live rock for your anemones to anchor their feet to.

    Tank Mates

    • Pink tip anemones can get aggressive and will sting any fish, coral or other anemone that gets in their way. They're best kept in a tank with a range of nonaggressive crustaceans. In the wild, they have symbiotic relationship with both the arrow crab and the Atlantic cleaner shrimp, so either of these would make ideal tank mates. Ensure you don't house them with any of their natural predators, such as red-legged hermit crabs.

    Feeding

    • Pink tip anemones are carnivores who will accept a variety of meaty foods. Some foods you can offer include mussels, shrimp, krill, chopped fresh fish and frozen carnivore preparations. Since they live in slightly cooler water than many other sea anemones, they have slower metabolism. As such, you'll feed them only once a week or less to avoid overfeeding.

    Other Conderations

    • These anemones like plenty of light, so ensure you have a strong lighting setup. If you're not providing bright enough light, you may find your anemone moving himself toward the top of the tank. They like good quality water, so you should change around 10 percent of the water in the tank every two weeks. It's a good idea to add Purigen to the water to remove impurities such as ammonia and nitrates. The addition of trace elements and iodine is also beneficial.