The Florida Keys Aquarium Store

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Anemones: Bubble Tips, Rock Flowers, and Honest Warnings


An anemone is not a coral, and the difference is the whole care sheet: no skeleton, a foot that grips where it chooses, and a mind to move when it disagrees with your placement. The bubble tip anemone — Entacmaea quadricolor — is the one that hosts clownfish reliably and the one we recommend first. Rock flower anemones stay small, carry spectacular color, and mostly stay where you put them. Carpet anemones get large, sting hard, and belong to experienced keepers.

The non-negotiable is tank maturity. An anemone wants a system that has been stable for six months or more, strong light, and clean water — and then it wants you to accept that it will choose its own address. Netting over pump intakes is cheap insurance for the first wandering week.

Care at a glance

Light (PAR)150+
FlowModerate — enough to keep tentacles moving
PlacementIts choice — you offer a spot, it decides
FeedingBeneficial — meaty food weekly
AggressionHigh — it stings what it touches, and it moves
TankMature and stable, 6+ months

A settled bubble tip splits under good care, which is why aquacultured BTAs exist at all — every one is a division of a division. Rock flowers come to us from Florida waters alongside the rest of the Keys livestock. Corals and anemones can share a tank, but plan the map so tentacles never reach a neighbor — the species directory tells you who can take a graze and who cannot.

Anemones in stock now

One thing to know before you order: shipping and packing are charged by the box, not by the coral. A box holds several corals for the same $15 packing fee and the same overnight ride, Florida orders under 6 lb ship overnight for a flat $30, and orders over $399 ship free. If this page puts one coral on your list, it is worth seeing what else belongs in the box — start with corals under $100 or the newest WYSIWYG pieces.

Every stony coral we sell is aquacultured at the shop in Key West under Florida Aquaculture Certificate #AQ0254072, and the photo on a WYSIWYG listing is the exact animal that ships. Corals ship UPS Overnight every Tuesday and Wednesday. If you are ever in Key West, come see the raceways.

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