Thanks Slickcg. I'll keep the thread posted on how it does.
The one in my photo that you refer to as bleached really seems to be healthy. It has been in the tank over 2 months and looks good. It tends to wash out in the photos because it is much brighter than everything else in the tank so the exposure washes it out. But it is still yellow for sure.
Are you really sure there are no "natural" species of this color, especially from Thailand and the Andaman where this is from? Just wondering..
This article about diving in Thailand refers to "bright yellow" anemones here that would seem to be similar to what I have:
Phuket diving: andaman's amazing anemones
I am not sure to the point where I would bet my life on it, I’m sure there are exceptions to the rules, although I’ve never seen a picture of a true yellow healthy specimen. 2 months in anemone time is not long at all. You have a healthy established anemone at around 6 months(im not saying yours isnt healthy or under the right conditons. It appears to be a bit bleached from your pic in avatar but its hard to tell that small.). I’ve had anemones that I knew were going to die taking as long as 1-2 months just to kick the bucket. An example would be, LTA with holes in their foot, taking that long to perish.
I’ve skimmed through your article and they do state that they collect bright yellow anemones for cooking. I would venture to say its not one of the known hosting species of anemones since they don’t state a species name. Also they don’t show any pictures of a yellow anemone.
Earlier in the article:
“They do not live deeper than this because they contain' Zooxanthellae'. These are microscopic organisms similar to algae. They photosynthesize and provide the anemone with most of its nutritional requirements.
Zooxanthellae also produce much of the color that anemones show. If an anemone is kept in very low light conditions, the Zooxanthellae die or evacuate in search of a better home, just as happens with corals when the water temperature rises to high. The result is a white anemone (or coral) that will slowly starve to death even if fed. Small of fishes or prawns will be accepted by the tentacles and be slowly moved towards the central mouth, where they are ingested and after a couple of days excreted though the same opening.””
I would like to add to the part where it says the result is a white anemone. That is the very end result. An anemone just starting to lose Zoa will go through a variety of color changes usually looking like florescent versions of their original color, and often translucent.
The yellow that I’ve seen that are natural colors, are a deeper yellow usually highlights mixed with other colors. For example there is a BTA called a lemon drop BTA. It is a green BTA with a dark, not florescent, Yellow in the tentacles. I’ve also seen yellowish, MAGS and GIGS however they aren’t a traditional yellow, it’s usually mixed with a TAN color or more towards the green scale.