Reef tanks are becoming more and more popular amongst the aquarium keeping community with a steady number of people deciding to start their very first reef tank each month.
With the purple tipped bubble anemone being such an easy, beginner-friendly anemone to keep, we have seen a spike in the number of people reaching out and asking questions about caring for these beautiful anemones.
Now, to be clear, for this article we are specifically talking about the purple bubble tip anemone (entacmaea quadricolor) NOT the purple snakelock anemone (anemonia viridis) that some people do get confused with each other.
If you are in any double on the specific anemone you have then double check as the information below is specific to the purple bubble tip anemone (entacmaea quadricolor) and there are a number of differences between it and the purple snakelock anemone (anemonia viridis).
Due to seeing so many people reaching out and asking questions on how to care for a purple tipped anemone, we have decided to publish this article going over the most commonly asked questions that we see people from the community asking about.
We have added our table of contents below to make it as quick and easy to navigate our article as possible to ensure that you can quickly get to the information that you require too.
Are Purple Tipped Anemones Hard To Keep?
All of the bubble tip anemones are considered very easy to keep and they are beginner friendly in the sense that they are easy for people who already have experience in keeping aquariums to keep.
If you are brand new to keeping a reef tank then we would usually recommend that you start of with something like Star polyps, Trumpet coral, and Zoanthids and then add a anemone after a few month.
This is due to most anemone being more sensitive to their water parameters than some of the commonly kept corals meaning that there is a higher chance of you having problems with them, especially if you are just setting your tank up.
Once you have a few months of experience of working with aquariums and maintaining steady water parameters, purple tipped anemone or any of the other bubble tip anemone are a great addition to your tank.
When it comes to specifically keeping only anemone, we have to stay that the bubble tipped anemone family be it a purple tip or any other color tip have to be the easiest anemone to keep.
They are more forgiving than many of the other anemone that can give you issues with even a slight problem with their water parameters making them an excellent beginner anemone once you have built up a few months experience running a normal reef tank.
Purple Tip Anemone And Clownfish!
Purple tip bubble anemone and clownfish are a great mix with the clownfish having a natural immunity to the sting of the anemone.
The majority of people new to keeping clownfish will start with a bubble tip anemone for the clownfishes partner due to the two being so easy to keep together.
As we touched on earlier in the article, purple tip bubble anemone entacmaea quadricolor) are an excellent pairing with a clownfish due to the clownfish having been able to evolve a natural immunity to its sting.
The snakelock anemone (anemonia viridis) on the other hand that is often confused for a purple tip anemone is from the Atlantic Ocean so the clownfish have no immunity to its sting.
This means that if you have accidentally purchased a snakelock anemone then your clownfish will avoid it due to its sting.
This is one of the many reasons that it is very important to make sure that you get an actual purple bubble tip anemone, especially if you want it for a potential clownfish home.
What Do Purple Tip Anemones Eat?
The majority of aquarium keepers will feed their purple bubble tip anemone a mixture of chopped silversides, worms, krill, shrimp, mussels, and chopped fish.
Some people do also feed their anemones pellets that are specifically designed for anemones but these can be hit and miss so we usually recommend you stick to whole foods.
We would always recommend that you try to pick up a anemone feeder kit if possible for feeding your purple tip anemone as it really does make the job so much easier, especially if you have fish in your tank.
It will allow you to take the food that you have repaired for your anemone and give it directly to the anemone.
If you don’t use a feeder kit and just try to drop the food down to the anemone the fish will eat a large amount of it and it can be hard to get to the food within range of your anemone to eat too.
Other than the problem of actually getting the food to the anemone, purple tip anemones are generally very easy to feed and they have a very broad acceptable food range.
How Big Are Purple Tip Anemones?
There are a number of different variables that come into how large your purple tip anemone will be able to grow such as water parameters, available space, and food. The majority of purple tip anemones kept in ideal conditions will usually grow to a maximum of twelve inches.
Many purple tip bubble anemones will never grow to that size though, it is common for them to reach a minimum of six inches and then there will usually remain at between six and twelve inches depending on the variables covered above.
We have seen some people successfully manage the size of various types of anemone to make them fit in their aquascape but we would not recommend this for beginners.
If you are looking to start your very first reef tank then we would usually just recommend that you lt your purple tip anemone grow as it likes and not try to control it in anyway.
If you do try to trip it to control its growth then you may damage the anemone and cause it some serious problems.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over the most commonly asked questions that we see about the purple tipped anemone to an end. We hope that we have been able to help you better understand how you are able to care for your own anemone and ensure that it is fed well and left to grow to its full potential in your reef tank.
