Ultra Florida Keys Carpet Anemone (Approx. 6–8″)

Description

You are buying the exact anemone in the photos. Both photos show the same animal. This Ultra Florida Keys Carpet Anemone is approximately 6 to 8 inches across when open, so it needs a larger tank. Under blue spectrum reef lighting the oral disc is purple, packed with short tentacles that have green bases and purple to lavender tips. Collected locally in the Florida Keys and quarantined in our Key West systems before sale.

About the Florida Carpet Anemone (Stichodactyla helianthus)

Stichodactyla helianthus, also called the sun anemone, is the carpet anemone native to Florida and the Caribbean. It lives in shallow, bright water, which is why it does best under strong light. The disc is covered edge to edge in short, sticky tentacles, and it uses them to catch food that drifts across it. A carpet this size with this much color on the tentacles is an uncommon find.

Care Guide

Advanced care. A carpet anemone this size needs a mature, stable tank with room to spread out, and it should go in before any delicate corals are placed near it.

• Lighting: High, PAR 250–400. Acclimate it to new lighting over a week or two.
• Flow: Moderate to high. Enough to keep the disc clean, but not so direct that it folds the disc over.
• Placement: Sandbed or low rockwork, with plenty of open space around it. Cover pump intakes, since anemones can wander.
• Feeding: High. Feed pieces of shrimp, silverside or mysis once or twice a week, on top of strong light.
• Aggression: High. Carpet anemones sting hard and can catch and eat small fish. Keep it well away from corals and other anemones.
• Water Parameters: Temp 76–78°F, salinity 1.025–1.026, Alk 8–9 dKH, Ca 420–440, Mg 1300–1400. Stability matters more than exact numbers.

Shipping & Live Arrival Guarantee

Livestock ships Tuesday or Wednesday by UPS Next Day Air from Key West, Florida. Packed in an insulated box with a heat or cold pack matched to current conditions, and secured so the specimen cannot move in transit.

• Fill your box: up to 4 spots ship for one shipping charge. A frag, zoa, small WYSIWYG, cleanup-crew pack or small dry good takes 1 spot. A colony takes 2. A rare big colony takes all 4 and ships alone.
• Qualifying Florida livestock: $30 per box.
• All other eligible lower-48 livestock: $50 per box.
• Box & Handling Fee: $20 per box, for the insulated box plus ice or heat packs, in addition to the shipping charge above.
• Spots 2 through 4 in a box add no extra shipping. A fifth spot starts a second box, which pays its own shipping and Box & Handling Fee.
• Free livestock transportation begins at $299 in qualifying livestock subtotal and covers shipping on the first box. Each extra box pays its shipping rate. WYSIWYG livestock counts toward that subtotal; dry goods do not.
• The $20 Box & Handling Fee applies to every box, including on free-transportation orders.
• We do not ship orders of any kind to Alaska or Hawaii.

Live arrival is guaranteed. If your animal arrives DOA, photograph it inside the unopened bag within four (4) hours of delivery confirmation and contact us right away with those photos. We will work with you on a resolution.

Placement: On the sandbed or low rockwork in a large tank, well away from corals.