Mini maxi carpet anemones from Vietnam

Indo-Pacific - Islands of the Indopacific including Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands, and the Great Barrier Reef.

Medium to high lighting would serve this species well. Stichodactyla can be kept under high output fluorescent bulbs, but may benefit from more intense lighting. It will likely change its coloration depending on the lighting provided. Stichodactyla may require a longer acclimation period to intense lighting such as metal halides.

Moderate water movement is recommended.

Like most coral, Stichodactyla rely to a large extent on the products of their zooxanthellae, however, in our experience, they also benefit from direct feeding. There are a variety of frozen fish foods available that make outstanding meals for Stichodactyla. We like to feed a mixture of meaty foods such as shrimp, fish, and squid with vitamin additives and highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA). The size of the food must be small enough that the polyp can fully ingest it.

In terms of propagation, this genus has been successfully fragmented however asexual reproduction in this way is a slow process. While efforts to aquaculture Stichodactyla are to be praised, it has yet to be shown that they can be propagated cost effectively. Perhaps in time new methods of propagation or even sexual reproduction will be available. For now however, it is unlikely that they are a sustainable harvest in captivity.