Condylactis gigantea

[Zontar]

Does anyone else have a Condy in their tank? I just got one from a friend because it was too aggressive in his tank. What colour are they supposed to be? I think this guy might be a little bleached out. It's fairly white though the tips are still nicely coloured. How much lighting do they need and if it is bleached out, what's the best way to help it regain its colour? If anyone knows of a good source of information (or is a good source of information) on this topic please let me know. Thanks.

[tinyreef]

condys and anemones are 'aggressive' because they're looking for the optimal spot for lighting, feeding, and respiration. unfortunately, that may be occupied by your prized coral. they will also move depending on the current and acclimation to the system. they really should be the first animal of the system and then you'll have less likely acts of 'aggression'.

 

they can be snow white and still be healthy. they can be translucent, pink, brown, golden, etc. there are many types and even more color morphs. typically, they'll stay lighter and should develop a light pattern of golden brown (symbiont algae). the tips should be fluorescent (under actinics), pinkish purple.

 

time is the best healer for bleaching. you can feed it but try to make it small pieces. digestion takes significant effort/energy and if the condy is recovering may not take the food even tho it needs it. don't worry if it goes thru cycles of inflation and deflation, worry when it doesn't stay attached or you have uncovered intakes.

 

saltaquarium.about.com has some good info and links but some of them may be old now. there's a couple of other threads currently and old here on this subject too.

 

i've had two condys host and three not so on that front it'll be hit or miss (also depending upon the type of clown or damsel). i would balance your lights daylight (around 6000K) with actinics. ime i see less color when running 10000K's and actinics. hth

[Zontar]

Well it is attached well and it's base is quite darkly coloured, sort of orangy pink, and the tips are well coloured, it's actually starting to bud so I do think it's pretty healthy and it accepts food readily, it's already eaten half a shrimp. It's actually roaming around quite a bit killing aiptasia (one of my rocks has a bunch of aiptasia on it because my Dardanus megistos doesn't seem to be able to climb onto it). It's sort of entertaining to watch the condy go after the aiptasia. It has one spot that seems to be its favorite that it spends most its time at, then it zips over to an aiptasia reaches all its tentacles towards it, stings it into hiding and then moves back to its original spot.