Flower anemones have been part of the saltwater aquarium hobby since before there even was a Reef aquarium hobby. They’ve always been around, at all the fishstores – in grey, brown, greenish and occasionally with a little bit of orange coloration or some striping but they never really got proper respect. We would occasionally spot a nice orange specimen of Epicystis crucifer that was good enough to take home and at $7 to $15 a pop, it was easy to casually pick one up once in a while.
But that old school flower anemone is gone, replaced by a stunningly bright new-age version with a price tag to boot. Following on the successes of the Mini maxi anemones in a dizzying array of colors themselves, and the pioneering art-ography of coral morphologic, and a whole new breed of coral farmers in South Florida – the flower anemone was primed to jump onto the center stage in a big way, and boy has it.
One particular vendor who happens to be sitting on a motherlode of the nicest, brightest flower anemones we’ve ever seen is VIP Reef. The Flower Anems may cost between $60 and 90 but these Epicystis are ridiculously colorful, picture perfect examples of fluorescent reef life that is incredibly suitable for aquarium life and LED lighting.
