Anemone Difficulty Ranking

[BonsaiNut]

I keep hearing people asking for advice on what anemone they should keep for clowns. I thought I would add a post that lists anemones by relative level of difficulty or care. Note that ALL clown anemones are shallow water tropical inverts. They ALL need strong lighting to thrive (though some will get by with lower levels) and they should be considered intermediate to advanced level invertebrates. If you can't keep zooanthids and mushrooms alive in your tank, you probably shouldn't try these :)

DIFFICULT
E. quadricolor (bulb-tentacle anemone or BTA)
S. haddoni (haddon's sea anemone or saddleback)

MORE DIFFICULT
M. doreensis (corkscrew tentacle sea anemone)
C. adhaesivum (adhesive sea anemone)
H. aurora (beaded sea anemone)
H. crispa (leathery sea anemone)
H. malu (delicate sea anemone)

MOST DIFFICULT
H. magnifica (magnificent sea anemone or ritteri)
S. gigantea (gigantic sea anemone or carpet)
S. mertensii (merten's sea anemone)

Note that common names are always problematic since I have seen anemones named just about anything in local stores. I have seen both H. doreensis and H. crispa called "Long Tentacle Sea Anemones" and both S. gigantea and S. haddoni "Carpet Anemones". Make sure you know what anemones they are selling.

The most difficult anemones should not be tried (in my opinion) unless you are completely comfortable and have demonstrated success with easier anemones. These anemones are VERY RARELY kept successfully in home aquariums, and have limited/no examples of them successfully reproducing in captivity. In many cases you can have a reef tank with living corals, etc, and one of these "difficult" anemones will NOT live in it - and people do not yet know why. They are VERY sensitive.

Do other anemone keepers agree to this list?

[MJI]

Would agree with your list as a general rule, yes and would agree that they are for the more advanced/confident aquarist.

Another thing to point out is the ecological impact on keeping anemones.

As you say, they are extremely delicate creatures and people have trouble keeping them even in SPS coral tanks. By taking an anemone and ill treating it you are doing two things.

* killing an animal that will live for hundreds of years in the sea, and that takes sometimes years to grow to maturity.

* Denying a host for generations of clownfish, therefore affecting theor population.

I will always try and put people off keeping anemones, until they know everything they can do, to care for them.

[BlAcK_PeRcUlA]

this is a very informative thread for people asking these types of questions and should be made a sticky IMO

[Gary Majchrzak]

From my personal experience, I believe that S. mertensii and M. doreensis should each respectively be placed one category 'easier' than you have them listed.
S. gigantea would be listed as the most difficult, closely followed by H. magnifica- these two 'great' anemone species are much more demanding than Merten's carpet anemone, IMO.

[BonsaiNut]

Gah - I can't edit my post. I will talk to John about making changes and updating the list.

[Gary Majchrzak]

BonsaiNut- maybe you should wait before editing the rankings. I am interested in hearing the opinions of other experienced reefkeepers regarding the difficulty of maintaining 'clownfish anemones'.

[ClownFishTycoon]

Personally I think they are all easy exept for mertens which I have never owned so I have no experience with them. Providing you get a healthy specimen and have the right setup (lighting, substrate and or LR depending on species, and water flow) usually every thing goes smoothly if they are healthy when they get to you. I think most anemones' are doomed the second they get collected or when they are placed in the bag. The only anemones that I ever had die on me are ones that where ones that where basically screwed with infection when they got to me. I currently have a S. gigantea which I got healthy and has been a pleasure to own never had 1 problem. Probally because I have the right setup though, I think if you have the right setup they are not hard at all just expensive to take care of their care requirements mabye that's why they get labeled as hard.

Bonsai nut- is that a A. buergerianum in your avatar?

[BonsaiNut]

On one hand, I would agree that ALL anemones thrive when placed in the proper environment. However it is my personal opinion that the "breadth" of the proper environment is greater in some species than others.

As an example, look at E. quadricolor. People have been very successful keeping this anemone in lower light conditions, and there are numerous examples of this anemone reproducing in peoples' tanks. In contrast, S. gigantea is notoriously fickle in terms of its environment, and there has never been (that I am aware of) a single example of an S. gigantea reproducing in captivity. The final example I would offer is the situation where one "easier" anemone will be thriving in a tank while other more "difficult" anemones do not survive. While this could be due to healthy versus non-healthy individuals, I hypothesize that there is more at play.

This list is not intended to tell people they can't keep harder anemones, but rather they should know what they are getting into. If people have never owned an anemone before, I certainly wouldn't recommend H. magnifica for their first experience.

P.S. Yes that IS an A. buergerianum in my avatar :) It is not mine however. I was looking for an avatar and saw a nice photo online and snagged it. Living in Southern California I don't have the same range of bonsai that I can keep -- I have to opt out of some of my favorite cold-weather species :( No more white pines for me :(

P.P.S. I also have never kept a mertensii. I tossed it in at the back of the list because I guessed that it might be more like S. gigantea, but I have no personal experience. Anyone out there ever had a mertensii?

[Gary Majchrzak]

Two local reefkeepers that I know of have S. mertensii. Both are in VHO lit reef aquaria.;)
This is the largest of anemone species.

[ClownFishTycoon]

I see your point, I guess they would be difficult for most newbies to anemones.
I aslo think Closed Loop is the way to go for water flow no power heads to suck them up. I do think your list is a good one. On a side note I have read in a few bonsai books that cold weather species such as maples can be wintered in the fridge, I have never tried it since during winter I just winter them in the garage.
Have you ever heard of this?

[BonsaiNut]

Hehe :) Not to turn this into a bonsai thread but...

There are some people in the L.A. area that winter their cold-weather bonsai at an unheated greenhouse up near Big Bear (in the mountains about two hours out of L.A.). It was a little too much work for me, plus the knowledge that 4+ months of the year some of my trees would be out of town, so what's the point :) I am happy with simpler junipers, and warm weather pines like black pines, etc. I don't have nearly as many trees as I used to, and won't be adding any more for a while. Right now they look kinda nice out back by the koi pond, but they take a lot of maintenance to keep them looking sharp.

[Dragonlady]

Most any clownfish anemone that has been recently stressed through the shipping and handling process could be rated as very difficult. Unfortunatley, many anemones do not survive shipping, but could give an illusion of life by being in almost suspended animation. If possible, it is best to put a recenltly shipped anemone on hold at your LFS for at least 14 days with a deposit.

If possible, find out:
1 Where was the anemone was collected from?
2 How long it has been in the wholesalers tank?
3 Does the animal accept food or show a feeding response?
4 Is the anemone is attached?
5 Is the anemone's mouth tight, or is it gaping?
6 Be sure your reef tank has been established for at least 1 year and has sufficient lighting before adding any clownfish hosting anemone.

Since anemone tentacles are always arranged in multiples of 6, those are 6 factors to consider. The geographical origin of the anemone can help with ID, which can help you better care for the animal. If an anemone won't eat in the wholesalers tank, it is very likely that it will not eat in your tank, or may not be a hardy specimen, unless it was recently shipped. Recently shipped anemones sometimes take a few weeks to get over the stress of shipping and resume eating. A gaping mouth on an anemone that has not recently ate can indicate stress, bacterial infection, or rapid respiration. Of course your experience with reef tanks will affect your chances of success with an anemone. Many specimens of the same species of anemone seem to vary greatly in their hardiness, and this could be directly related to the amount of time the animal is in shipping , how the anemone is detached from a surface, and your ability to see the anemone's energy field to choose the hardy one. I won't even look at anemones in LFS anymore because most of them are misidentified, unhealthy, stressed, dying, bleached or partially inflated. It really makes me feel bad to think about how many anemones may have died in shipping just so I could choose the healthy one, but my clownfish seem very grateful to have a home.

[OscarBeast]

Hmmm...

At Marine Depot why does the Stichodactyla gigantea not have a warning on it and Stichodactyla haddoni says: "Restricted Species. This species is very difficult to keep and should only be attempted by expert aquarists, or is a 'delicate shipper.' Our Stay Alive guarantee is not available on this item."

[BlAcK_PeRcUlA]

I think that for a person who doesn't know the needs of anemones, all host anemones are difficult and that's why marine depot has that so they dont have to pay for all the newbies that buy anemones then they die.

[OscarBeast]

I don't think you are understanding me correctly...
This warning is on Stichodactyla haddoni, but NOT on Stichodactyla gigantea which is a more difficult anemone. That is what I find odd.

[RustySnail]

Unless everyone thinks this is common knowledge; I would suggest that the Sebae Anemone be added to the list of 'Most Difficult'. These anemones have been known to be extremely difficult to keep; generally they don't survive long after purchase. Shippng may be the biggest cause to the Sebae mortality; it tends to completely bleach from handling stress (hence the white color).

Unfortunately these are the "Yellow Tangs" of the anemone trade; and most unknowing beginners buy them; which lessens the chance of survival further.

-Russ

[Gary Majchrzak]

Oscarbeast and RustySnail - I agree with your posts. I think Sebae anemones are not as challenging as Gigantea and Ritteri anemones are, though. Marine Depot is a sponsor of Reef Central. Maybe they can provide an explanation for their Haddon's vs. Gigantea anemone husbandry tips.

[RustySnail]

Gary-

I think there is a difference between the mechanism that makes them difficult to keep. The Sebae anemone (Hetaractis Sp.) is delicate in transport; and generally they are impossible to keep alive because they expell their zooxantellae and will not accept food. The point I am trying to make is that they are a species that generally should not be collected and yet they are in very large quantities (compare to goniopora).

The Carpet Anemones (and Ritteri) are difficult to keep (for what I think) may be a different reason. Carpets in general are big eaters. They require lots of food to keep them healthy; something that aquarists are not used to (or willing to) providing for them (as are all large anemones). The giant carpets require even more food and thus are even more difficult to keep. When you buy one of these anemones; it is difficult to judge it's size and feeding requirements because they may not be the size they were when collected (lost bio-mass). The difficulty with carpets is compounded when the purchased anemone will not accept food.

I definitely don't claim to be an expert on anemones; I've kept a tank propagated BTA for 2.5 years and despite efforts to acquire an already captive carpet; I broke down and purchased a blue Haddoni carpet yesterday. It has already accepted food this evening!

My comments on the carpet anemone are based on the talks that Dr. Ron (an expert on anemones) has given our reef club. He has said that he feeds whole large anchovies to his large anemones on a daily basis to maintain their size and growth. Unfortunately the feeding reccomendations that are on the MarineDepot page are quite incorrect (for all Carpet species and the Ritteri); they recommend microplankton and brine shrimp a few times per week. Just think of how many people buy carpets and follow those recommendations -sigh-. I did not even bother to look at what is recommnded for the other types of anemones they sell.

JMHO...

Russ

[OrionN]

I have sucess with H. magnifica and E. quadricolor and a unknow anemone. I fail with one H. crispa. I have not keep any other anemone. I think BTA is one of the easiest host anemone to keep because it can tolerate low light level, while Magnificent anemone is one of the hardest becuae of the light and current requirement. All cna be keep sucessfully in aquarium if the reefer research well in setting up the tank for them and if we can get healthy speciment to start with.
Minh Nguyen
BTW, I am looking for a S. gigantea, green or purple in color.
Minh Nguyen

[Gary Majchrzak]

RustySnail- I agree with your opinions on why Sebae anemones have a poor survival rate vs. the reasons Gigantea and Ritteri anemones are more difficult to maintain.
Congratulations on the purchase of your blue Haddon's anemone.
It sounds as though you've researched your new anemone thoroughly.

[BonsaiNut]

Bump to the top. A lot of people keep asking about anemone difficulty.

[Laura D]

I have to disagree with M. doreensis (corkscrew tentacle sea anemone) being under the more difficult heading. I have one that has been in captivity for 5 years and it has never seen a metal halide bulb. It even went on a two day road trip in a tub with a box filter to come to my house (was my moms anemone) I dug a hole, plopped it in, it opened right up, and it has been happy as can be for over a year since the big move to my house!

I think the key with this anemone (and other probabaly) is food. It eats ALOT and is very sticky. It scarfs down chopped fish very fast and it is huge!!

[jacobdol]

As an example, look at E. quadricolor. People have been very successful keeping this anemone in lower light conditions, and there are numerous examples of this anemone reproducing in peoples' tanks. In contrast, S. gigantea is notoriously fickle in terms of its environment, and there has never been (that I am aware of) a single example of an S. gigantea reproducing in captivity.
SOme anemones are able to reproduce by cloning (bta's), some can only reproduce sexualy (carpets) and some can do it both ways (not sure which :mixed: ).
I have had haddonis and btas and would definitely put them in the Difficult category.

[BonsaiNut]

As far as I know, only two of the anemones on this list have split in captivity (produced clones). Those are E. quadricolor (BTA) and H. magnifica (ritteri). I am not aware of any others splitting in captivity. If anyone can add to this list, please post about your experience here :) I am also not aware of any anemones sexually reproducing in captivity.

[BonsaiNut]

Bump - since people keeping asking about this subject :)

[Premnas]

I agree with the difficulty list in general except that in my experience, the "sebae" anemones are virtually impossible to keep for any length of time. I will not even consider getting one of these. The carpets do require regular feeding. Years ago I had a huge haddoni that spawned in my 50 gallon tank. First thousands of eggs were expelled followed by sperm which clouded the whole tank for hours. The clowns gorged themselves on the anemone eggs and spawned a few days later. This anemone was in my tank for only a week when it spawned. It never spawned again and live for several years. Has anyone had a similar experience?

[JasonD]

I have a Ritteri Anemone that I've kept for a couple of years. The key I believe is metal halide lighting and good water movement plus regular feedings.

If you combine all of those factors they are 'easy' to keep. I think a tank should be setup for their specific needs. I've tried to keep a sebae anemone and it just withered away wouldn't eat ect ect.

My ritteri accepts whole shrimps now and is 15" accross really cool animal.

I've heard of several of my friends keeping bubble tips with no problems along with long tentacle with no problems.

Jason

[Erik2003]

I thank you all for your input. I have learned alot, except a question of great importance...

Regardless of your difficulty ratings, customers will still buy the amenomes.

So I have a question. What is the proper equipment to have to keep these alive?!?!?!

Most of you all differ on difficulty ratings, but you have all failed to tell any new "reefers" how to keep them alive. JW's Clownfish book even states that those anemones that are kept in tanks made from tapwater mixes live longer than purified water systems.

Therefore, I would like to "bend" this conversation on WHAT is the right equipment to have, since reefers are going to get them, why not go in knowing the right way to keep them.

Thanks for soap box, next...

[bookfish]

My ritteri gets natural sunlight through the window, direct, all day long.
I think this would be a good way for people to keep them (if they can control the water temp).-Jim

[Aaron1100us]

With the proper setup and taking the time to care for one properly, it shouldn't be too hard. Of course, some are harder than others. I failed at my first attempt with a sebae anemone. I had insufficient lighting, too new of a tank, bleached anemone and I didn't know much. That one lasted a month. Then I waited untill my tank was older, had more than adequate lighting, good water quality. I did get this one bleached also, no one around here has any healthy sebae anemones. This was back in May of this year. It was about 5-8 inches across and pure white. Now, its brown and taking over my tank at about 16-18 inches across. I still have a long ways to go though. Check out my gallery:)

[trueblackpercula]

this is buy far the best post i have read on anemones. i only hope that most of the people that are in rc would read this before there next purchase

[Gary Majchrzak]

This thread's main purpose was for ranking anemone husbandry difficulty. Almost every species of anemone listed has unique husbandry requirements. I would highly recommend doing a search on the husbandry of a particular anemone species before purchasing it. A dying anemone can quickly foul an aquarium and kill other creatures living in it.

[OrionN]

ttt

[Phisher]

Wow this is interesting reading. No doubt any species of anemone is "difficult" to keep if you do not have the proper set-up. I think it is somewhat biased though because so many people get into this hobby, er lifestyle, and the first thing they want is an anemone and a clownfish. Most of these people don't have a proper set-up to house coral thus can not keep anemones alive either. Most people with reef tanks don't want anemones because they can be wandersome and can blunder in to other inverts.

Basically those who can keep them, don't; and those who want them, can't keep them.

I have had this sebae in my reef for 14 months. He shrunk and developed a hole through his middle like a doughnut shortly after I got him. He refused to eat and everyone told me to toss him. I let him be, he finally started to eat and has done wonderful.

http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/34605/p/624208_3040262258175807184_vl.jpg
If placed in an environment not designed to keep these types of animals I'm sure he would have died.

Just my 2 cents

[Eryl Flynn]

I have researched anemones alot, and this whole difficult list just baffles me.

Needed to keep an anemone:

Enough light
Stable water params
Right amount of flow for the species.
Right amount of food over time. (I.E. times to feed, what and how much each time)

After that it is all about did you get a healthy anemone. If you can follow basic instructions you can keep alot of fish and inverts just fine. If you can't put the time, or give it what it needs I don't care what skill or experience you have at reef keeping it dies.

[acrohead]

I think the easiest SUBSTITUTE for a clownfish anenome is the coral anthelia, it tolerates poor lighting, and poor water quality, and my occe clowns love it....

I have had a ritt (Her. mag.) for about a year now, and it eats whole large table shrimp tails about every other day, and I do mix in silversides, scallops, and sometimes a seafood market fresh fish or squid treat. It sits on a rock that is about 5 inches below water level, but anen is fully expanded up to water level, blasted by two powerheads that are dedicated to the anen, one on wavemaker. It sits directly below 400w halide. and has moved 1 inch to the left and 1 inch to the right, and now sits directly where it was initially placed. It hosts two breeding occes. It started as a sad looking 6 inch around blob in store that looked like it needed some help with this guy. I got a steal of a deal... Now from edge to edge of oral disc it measures about 14-16 inches....
The reason I suggested anthelia is that the female will slide right out of the Ritt and roll in the anthelia with the security of the host anen only 3 inches away. I also have a fuge with anthelia in it and it houses black and white occe's and they love their anthelia too. Its very dimly lit compared to what a BTA would need, and they are happy, and the anthelia grows and spreads under poor illumination.

THE post earlier stating that the people who can keep an anen dont want to, and the ones who want cant..... SO VERY TRUE>>

I think water quality, health of anen when purchased, intense lighting (mh), extreme water flow, and quality and quanity of food are the keys. If one of the keys is not right, then we are going to have a problem, sooner or later.

Retailers would loose money by not ordering anens in to their store, but if an experienced hobbiest wanted to special order one we could conserve these animals and keep a majority of them in nature, and not dead in a shipping bag, holding tank, or retailers tank, or hobbiest tank. I understand retailers wanting to make money, and that they are not concerned with conservation of these animals, but a majority of anen buying customers will not be in the hobby for more than a year after the purchase of anen. Theory is that they buy some pretty coral, a sea apple, an urchin or two, a sea pen, a lionfish, two small percula clowns
that will turn into feeder fish for the lion, and a few other cool items to put into their tank with the anen. Once one thing dies, then it all hits the fan and the customer comes home after a week in Cozumel, and their house reeks of dead saltwater aquarium, next day there is an add in the paper for a saltwater aquarium. They paid the guy at the fishstore 1200 dollars for a 55 gallon peice of the sea, and now they are selling the set up (stand tank and strip light ) for 250 or best offer.
There is never any emphasis of responsability put onto the buyer. They are never told to research the hobby, the seller wants to turn a buck and doesnt care about the future business of a happy customer. Make the buck, and send them home to figure it out themself. Then if it all goes to hell, the customer blames the shop keeper, and chalks it up to a bad experience from a rip off artist at the fish store!!!
This is only my view!

[BonsaiNut]

Originally posted by Eryl Flynn
I have researched anemones alot, and this whole difficult list just baffles me.


Even with perfect conditions some anemones are trickier to keep than others. The whole point of the list is to give newcomers some idea of which anemones are hardier and/or more forgiving than others. For example, I just had a large BTA go over an overflow, through a sump, and get spit out into my tank (via an Ampmaster 3000) in pieces. I now have four BTA's from healed pieces of the original. Try that with a S. gigantea and you will have a very dead anemone and a polluted tank.

[Aquarius Lady]

As a "newbie" I have found this thread very valuable and have been reading it with intrest. I had bought a Sebae before I even HEARD of RC, now after all this I'm going through and learning, no more for me. If my Sebae pulls through he will go to a good home to someone in my club who has better experience for these guys.
See my thread under "Sad Sebae"...
But thank you for posting this (thread) it is a real eye opener for those new into Reef tanks and anenomes...Now if only Sebaes and other anenomes would be as hardy as APTASIA's!!!!!! Argh!
That's gotta be the worlds MOST hardy anenome! <g> ;)

[Eryl Flynn]

Even with perfect conditions some anemones are trickier to keep than others. The whole point of the list is to give newcomers some idea of which anemones are hardier and/or more forgiving than others. For example, I just had a large BTA go over an overflow, through a sump, and get spit out into my tank (via an Ampmaster 3000) in pieces. I now have four BTA's from healed pieces of the original. Try that with a S. gigantea and you will have a very dead anemone and a polluted tank.

That is not about difficulty, A BTA could still die from that trip as well. Difficulty to keep is about what you as a caretaker need to do to keep this creature alive. Maybe I am nitpicking, but I see this list not for relative level of hardiness in anemones, but in difficulty to keep them in your tank. Taking your example, a tank that an anemone can take a ride through the sump isn't set up very well for an anemone.

I am not saying any one and every one should get and keep one. I would suggest most shouldn't. It takes a level of dedication most don't have.

[OrionN]

Originally posted by Eryl Flynn
.... A BTA could still die from that trip as well. Difficulty to keep is about what you as a caretaker need to do to keep this creature alive. ......
I think you miss the entire point. BTA will live under a variety of condition. If you chop a BTA in half, most of the time you end up with two anemone.
H. magnifica and S. gigantea will not even torlerate a wound on their foot most of the time. Moving these anemones, even thriving and healthy one, will result in their death if we are not careful and cause a would to their foot.
Most if not al anemones are dificult to keep, but some are more dificult then others. This is obvious. No one said that they are not. If we provide the optimal enviroment for the anemones, then they all will do well. However, certain anemones have a wider optimal range than others, which make them easier to keep.

[RustySnail]

IMHO-

BTA+AMP3K ==> DOA

You got lucky man...

-Russ

[Eryl Flynn]

I see the point entirely, the fact you can cut it in half and it survive does not make it easy or difficult. It is some thing that is used to measure how hardy it is. Should I consider all fish to be very difficult because they die when cut in half?

Difficulty will be based on what you the caretaker have to do to feed, and provide an environment suitable for the creature. How hardy a creature is determines how well it will do in an environment that is not up to it's standards.

This thread has been mixing hardiness and difficulty to keep alot.

[trueblackpercula]

look there are some that are less forgiven than others its not like that you cant keep them alive its that some hobbyist think they can keep haddoni gigantea mertinsii alive with pc lights when in realty in time they will die. what BonsiaNut did was give some type of guide line so that the average hobbyist just getting into this see’s some of us keeping great looking anemones and go out and buy them .then 1 week later they start posting my anemone looks like it loosing its color what should I do .well if they were made aware of what they should have done before time the anemone would still be alive. Look there are some guide lines we all have to follow and with anemones it must be taken to the max. This is my own opinion on how to be successful with any anemone check this out.
1) Intense lighting 250w minimum
2) Water motion from alternate currents
3) Clownfish of the right species to host the proper anemone.
4) Water temp 77 to 82 degrees
5) Feeding the anemone at least 2 to 3 times per week
6) Water quality must be up to par.
7) Protein skimming
8)ro/di water if you live were I do New York hehehe
9) Love for the anemone itself
10) of course a healthy anemone...............
if you cannot come close to this conditions then forget about keeping anemones and keep something that’s is less demanding.
sure there some anemones that are a lot easy than the ones listed above but if you keep them under the conditions I just stated they would look a lot better than they do lets see buy a show of post who is keeping anemones with intense lighting verse those that are using pc lighting im willing to bet that there are more people using pc lighting than people using metal halide or HQI bulbs. Here is my setup in a nut shell and im sure they will be someone here that will say that my setup is no good but here it goes.
30 gallon oceanic cube
250w HQI 10,000k bulb 8 inches from the water.
Xp3 canister filter filled with ESV carbon and phosban buy 2littlefishies
Wave maker and an 802 power head on for 2.5minutes off for 6 minutes.
REMORAC protein skimmer with overflow box and maxi jet 1200 pump
3 inches of live sand
15 pounds of live rock
True perculas are S.GIGANTEA natural host (this is not necessary but it sure is the way god intended it to be) why mess with perfection.
What are everybody’s thoughts about that setup? Bye the way my S.GIGANTEA HAS DOUBLED IN SIZE.CHECK HER OUT.
http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/Jan/2004125011071607221442.jpg

[acrohead]

I have two things to add.......
Make it three........
1. Good info from most posts
2. Has anyone kept anything other than a BTA under pc's for more than a year??
3. Eryl, how long has your LTA been alive. And what are you lighting it with. Pc's VHO or MH?

[trueblackpercula]

well thank you im sure we will here about this hahahahaha well maybe people will start to read and learn.

[BonsaiNut]

Originally posted by Eryl Flynn
This thread has been mixing hardiness and difficulty to keep alot.

Eryl do you have a point to make? Or are you just here to argue?

Blackperc - your anemone is looking awesome. Get another S. gigantea and get them to spawn :) Then raise the larvae and give me one :)

[trueblackpercula]

hey i have a deal for you send me yours and i will spawn them and send you back pick of the litter haaaaa.by the way is there a way to tell if it is male or female other than when they spawn.this would be a great question for debate any takers? oooooo bye thet way when is the anemone faq going to be finish you now the pictures?cant wait to see the end result.

[BonsaiNut]

I don't know of an exact way to sex anemones. If they are female, you can see the eggs inside their body tissues when they are getting ready to spawn (you have to be able to hold them in front of a bright light to see the eggs). I have seen some interesting photos of this where the eggs were clearly visible. Otherwise, I think you need to wait until they spawn. People don't even have a good idea about spawning frequency, or what triggers spawning behavior.

[trueblackpercula]

hey have you seen this.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/feature.htm
it was very interesting gets into detail about the spawning of bta and gigantea.thought you would like to read it maybe you can post the whole page with pictures and text so that some off us to read,and maybe they will start to pay attention.

[matt_rogers]

Great thread.

@trueblackpercula - I don't want to nitpick too bad with your good post, but I don't agree about the 250w min halide requirement. I had a Ritteri for years under a 150w halide in a 30 gallon until I broke the tank down, take a look:

http://www.3reef.com/fish/tankpics/topleft2.jpg

That said, as Minh can attest, with a newer tank (15-20 gal hex) and the same bulb, I just killed one and I feel like a jerk. :(

Giving this A LOT of thought, I think there were a few things going on here - the bulb was the same one used on my last tank, I had ordered a new one, but it didn't arrive until earlier this week post anemone.

So the bulb was ancient.
It actually would shrink under the halide and grow under the PC. Now some will say that it was just reaching for the PC light, but, trust me, it was extreme.

It would not eat and the mouth got bigger and bigger while the rest of it shrunk.

I did a battery of water tests and the only thing that stood out is my alk dropped to 3 meq/L from 4meq/L. My nitrates were less than 5ppm. So I am dosing to raise the alk.

Other than that and the bulb, as someone else pointed out in this thread, the anemone didn't look 100% in the store, and ulimately I think that was my biggest mistake. It was kind of a sad, arrogant, impulse buy. :rolleyes:

So I just want to emphasize the call to hold a healthy specimen in the store for a while and make sure you have a GOOD bulb that hasn't lost it's spectrum as I think I have just relearned this the hard way.

FWIW

matt

[BonsaiNut]

I had not seen this. Amazing article. Changes/updates a lot of my general understanding of anemone reproduction.

[PupChow]

Is there any anemones that can be kept under PC lighting (72w, ~5" from light)? I have 3 tiny olive green anemones with pink tip and they're doing great... just wondering if I would have similiar luck with their larger cousins.

[Eryl Flynn]

3. Eryl, how long has your LTA been alive. And what are you lighting it with. Pc's VHO or MH?

Over a month and it is growing already, never had a problem feeding. When we bought it the anemone was on a rock, the store and we agree did not want to force the anemone off, so we bought the BIG rock and the anemone. It has not moved once since placed in the tank, still on that rock. It has a Clarkii living in it that loves that anemone, also the color is nice. Not as dark as I would like but with only 2 96 watt PCs over it I don't expect it too look really dark brown. I feed it about every other day small bits of shrimp soaked in selcon for at least 40 mins, I feed the fish mysis every other day soaked also and the Clarkii may be feeding it. The mouth is tight shut and it spreads out it's tentacles most of the time occasionally pulling in to flush it self and do other routine things. If you like I can save this thread and come back next year and tell you how huge the anemone is.

Oh water is great, we have about 125# of live rock AND about 60lbs of base rock that came from the ocean, and it will be live eventually.

Eryl do you have a point to make? Or are you just here to argue?

I could ask you the same thing.

The point is, I thought this thread was about difficulty, why are you derailing it talking about relative hardiness of different anemones and making that the entire topic? That is a minor sub topic and of very little concern if you have a healthy anemone to start and the right conditions.

What I find most annoying is the elitist attitudes some throw around here. If you don't have metal halides, you don't belong in this hobby is what I hear. I hear alot of, if you haven't been around as long as I have you can't do this or that.

I did harder things than this in high school chemistry, and that is all this is. A big chemistry set. I use titration to check the DKH and calcium. Mix up a few solutions to test other chemicals. Use refraction to check for specific gravity. Hell I was doing this stuff in my sleep 14 years ago.

Oh and the anemone is a LTA, Hectaris Crispus from what I can identify.

The cost of this hobby is too dam expensive, you don't need to push more away by thinking you are so much better than others.

[trueblackpercula]

Great picture im sorry about the anemone looks like it was a nice one. but if you look close at the picture you posted the anemone looks a little pal compared to the other corals you have there and its at the top of the tank probably right under the bulb so maybe my theory holds some water you know 250watts being the right choice .sure the animal lived in your tank and if you read my post I clearly said anemones will live with less light but would do better if they had more intense light.

[matt_rogers]

Yeah it definitely found the light and camped there. I am not sure about the pale part, I thought it had a lot of color. You have a 250w over a 30? Wow. Well.. actually I am not that different with a 150w over 15 gallons of water volume.

Some might think that a tank this small is too small for a ritteri and probably they are right, but the last one in that pic never got much bigger after 3 years. I really didn't feed it very often, mostly it got scraps from the clown.

[trueblackpercula]

so that answers our question as to why it was on the pale side it was feeding of its zoaxnthelea.if you would have feed it more it would have colored up a lot more.

[OrionN]

Originally posted by Eryl Flynn
.....
The point is, I thought this thread was about difficulty, why are you derailing it talking about relative hardiness of different anemones and making that the entire topic? That is a minor sub topic and of very little concern if you have a healthy anemone to start and the right conditions........
Hardy animal means is easy to keep animals. Not hardy means hard to keep. I am not sure if it is me that is dense or it is you. The point of this thread is anemone is hardy thus easy to keep and which is not hardy and hard to keep. For those that are not hardy, thus require very specific condition, the thread point out what those conditions are.
Lack of hardiness is the same as being difficult. Of course difficult is not impossible. One just need to know what the requirements for these anemones are.
For H. magnifica and S. gigantea, they required clean water, lots of current and very bright light (MH light) and lots of feeding to do well. They are also easily succumb to infection with minor wounds.

Guess what, LTA are intermediate in term of hardiness/easy to keep. They are more forgiven to errors and degradation of tank condition than the two anemones mentionED above.

HARDY = EASY ..... NONHARDY = DIFFICULT

Here is my hard to keep H. magnifica that is divinding with a little help from me due to the lack of room. The anemone did not have enough room to complet move apart thus I have to help it along with rubber bands. I got three divition in my tank and ended up with 4 clones from one animal.
http://www.reefland.com/gallery/data/507/1316Riterri_dividing_with_a_little_help.JPG


http://www.reefland.com/gallery/data/507/1316HM_Finished.jpg
Minh

[JKramer0706]

clones for sale?

[BonsaiNut]

Originally posted by Eryl Flynn
The point is, I thought this thread was about difficulty, why are you derailing it talking about relative hardiness of different anemones and making that the entire topic?

Well I guess since it is my thread I assumed I could talk about whatever I wanted.

Originally posted by Eryl Flynn
What I find most annoying is the elitist attitudes some throw around here... Hell I was doing this stuff in my sleep 14 years ago... you don't need to push more away by thinking you are so much better than others.

I am glad that you find marine aquariums so easy. These messageboards are for the exchange of ideas, and for people with more experience to help those with less experience. If you have something to add, feel free to join in. However to jump on someone else's thread and start arguing because your experience is different from that person's is a little silly. Many people find anemones challenging to keep successfully. If you have had a lot of successful experience keeping the more difficult anemones, why don't you share your experience with others instead of just disagreeing? We'd love to see your setups and your healthy critters and learn from what your have seen and done.

Originally posted by Eryl Flynn
Oh and the anemone is a LTA, Hectaris Crispus from what I can identify.

Without sounding "elitist" you need to check your species names. There is no anemone called "Hectaris Crispus". Are you refering to Heteractis crispa? I'd love to see a photo of your anemone - I love seeing anemones being kept successfully in captivity. The whole point of this board is to increase success rates.

[Carlos]

Trolling is not allowed in this board and it can get you banned. You know who you are and I am keeping a close eye on you. I am known for having very very very little patience and I can tell you right now that I see one more trolling post from you and you will be banned from RC. This is your FIRST and LAST warning.

Kind regards,

Carlos

[trueblackpercula]

Wow this got hot and heavy my best to Minh Nguyen great idea about the rubber bans I wonder if it would work with my S.GIGANTEA has anyone tried this? I would not dare to im way to chicken. maybe BomnsaiNut is willing to clone that great looking purple one. mine is of no interest to anyone its a brown color I think purple is in more of demand hahahahahahaha thanks for the great pictures and the idea about the rubber bands Minh Nguyen do you have anymore pictures to share?
P.S. carlos what is trolling and is it me you are talking about?

[OrionN]

My H. magnifica was dividing. When they divided, they move apart to separate. The piece of rock I have them on was only about 1.5 foot long. by the second division, I already have two Ritteri anemones on it. They just don't have the room to move apart, thus could not complete the division. The anemone was looking like a huge big O. I guess that if he cannot complete the division, he will died. As last resort, I loop two rubber bands at two side of the O and put gentle tension on it. This help the anemone complete the division. I ended up with four healthy clones through three division. I did not initiate the division. The anemones did that by themselves.
The three divisions in my tank took place over 1.5 years or so.

Minh

[RustySnail]

Minh-

Great to see that you were able to "help" the division along to completion. I have sort of the same thing going on with a RBTA; it has two bases and one oral disc. I've been debating on if I should tournicate it to get it to complete splitting; now I know that it's not necessarily a death sentence to do it. Could you give a little more info on how you did it with your H. Magnificas? Looks like you were snugging up a rubber band around it, how long should it take to get the anemone to separate?

-Russ

[OrionN]

The picture of the anemone dividing above show an whole anemone on L side, and one with a huge hole in the middle on the right side. The hole is so big that a huge piece of rock can be seen in the middle of the anemone.
What I did was to loop rubber band through the middle and make a noose by insert the other end of the rubber band through the end that I just loop through. With this the more pressure, the tighter the noose on the anemone segment in the noose. By putting gentle traction on the rubber band, I was able to finish the division within 6 hours. The finished diving pictures above show three anemones with a new clone can be seen completely separate from the rest (two) of it's siblings.
I have no doubt that if the H. magnifica cannot finish dividing, it will die. All of it inner was showing. It will died of infection if nothing else.

[RustySnail]

Thanks for the info Minh!

Originally posted by Minh Nguyen
I have no doubt that if the H. magnifica cannot finish dividing, it will die. All of it inner was showing. It will died of infection if nothing else.

Not too sure about this... I also have a large BTA that recently divided over the holidays. It started by tearing itself in half at the base (you could see it's internals) and then finished over the next 3 days dividing it's oral disc and closing the torn bases. It looked like it would die at first; but did just fine. I was afraid of infection also but no sign of infection or any problems...

-Russ