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FAQs on Magnificent/Ritteri Anemone
Health/Disease Related Articles:
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Anemone Behavior,
Anemone Health,
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Placement, Anemone
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Heteractis
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Injured H. magnifica 3-10-08
I purchased a magnifica today, in the shop he was quite reluctant to leave
his rock, thought taking the rock was not a viable option as it was very large
and covered in e.quads. Anyway, he/she suffered a pretty bad tear during
removal, it is now in my tank (I wasn't sure what to do, I have 2 ocellaris
clowns in my quarantine and I didn't want them harassing it). The tear runs
right through its body and foot, almost to it's mouth but not quite. most if its
foot still seems functional and it is expanding slowly (although it is looking
like a BTA as it expands.. I hope I got the right one =\). Is there anything I
can do to help it recover? I feel pretty bad as it is, and to top it off the
aquarium is 2 1/2 hours away so replacement is not viable for a while.
I appreciate any help you guys can give, (btw, PH = 8.3, ammo = 0, nitrate = 0,
nitrite = 0).
<Leave the anemone alone for 24 hours, then attempt to feed with minced meaty
foods and Selcon. Tearing this anemone during removal was irresponsible - more
care should have been taken. It is possible and relatively straightforward to
extricate an anemone with some patience, a credit card, and some ice>
Thanks,
Oscar.
<Anytime - M. Maddox>
Re: Injured H. magnifica
3-10-08
I am aware it was irresponsible, unfortunately it was out of my control as it
was not me removing the creature..
<I would have complained, and not purchased the animal after that abuse>
Thanks for the help though. should it still be able to eat if the tear extends
to it's mouth?
<Maybe, maybe not - worth a try, with finely minced meaty foods, or a turkey
baster and Cyclop-eeze. Good luck, and avoid that store from now on! M. Maddox>
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Failing
Ritteri Anemone, Heteractis magnifica – 1/18/08
Crew,
<Hello Craig, Brenda here!>
Some background info about my situation:
I have a 92 corner bow front and a 40G sump that was moved in October,
originally set up last July. I moved 30 miles and switched from using
tap water to RO water at that time, since my local water didn't want to
mix with salt or Kalk very easily. The 92 that was set up back in July
was filled with sand, rock, and livestock from a 54 corner bow front
that had been set up for 2 years. The 54 and 92 housed the same mix of
corals and fish until recently, when I sold my Ritteri and pair of
perculas.
<Anemones should never be kept in a system using tap water.>
The tank has the following mix of species, and this mix has remained
relatively unchanged for about 12 months, other than switching out one
Ritteri for two new ones and two Perculas for three Ocellaris.
<How long ago were the new anemones added? Why is the water cloudy
looking? Did you replace the sand bed, or rinse it?>
It is important to remember these animals have always been in the tank
with my old Ritteri and now with my new Ritteri as well.
<The old anemone made the move with the tank?>
I know how Bob expounds without end the risks of keeping a mixed reef,
but all my animals are no less than 6" away from one another and I have
not had problems with chemical aggression.
<Unfortunately, chemical warfare is not always visible until late
stages. I agree with Bob on this. Do you run fresh carbon in your reef
tank? How often are you replacing it?>
* Two Ritteri anemones
* LPS - 10 head green branching hammer, 2 head yellow frogspawn
* SPS - 6 4-6" Acro, Monti, and Staghorn
* Clavularia - Daisy, Star polyps, and 2-3 other types I can't
ID......prolific on my rock, covering all told 30-40 square inches
* Pipe organ - 6"
* Various Ricordea - 10-12 Actinodiscus, which are not "hairy" or
"knobby"
* Juvenile Emperor (3") when he gets bigger so will his accommodations
* Black Ocellaris - three that are 2-3"
* Longnose Hawkfish - 3"
* Snails, crabs, what not cleaners
The salinity was usually kept around 1.028-29 with the old Ritteri,
which was high, but the old Ritteri definitely preferred these higher
salinity ranges by demonstrating positive behavior (not moving,
remaining inflated) so I let the livestock dictate the parameters and
not the books and instruments. Now I have two new Ritteri, an additional
one was given to me since an extra one was shipped in my order.
<Shipping anemones is also very stressful on anemones. This is no doubt
adding to the poor health of the anemone.>
For the first month I only had the first anemone, but after the LFS
couldn't sell and couldn't provide enough light, it came home with me.
Given these anemones are often found in huge associations in the wild,
is it a problem to keep more than one in my tank for now (yes, a
fraction of the water volume...but they are only about 6-8" inflated)?
<It can cause problems.>
The LFS kept the anemones at 1.025 and the anemones seemed more inflated
there than in my tank, but that would be a very imprecise appraisal. It
is worth noting the LFS had dozens of 20G tanks plumbed together with
zooanthids, tons of Ricordea, polyps, and all manner of actinarians:
BTAs, LTAs, Condys, Sebaes, etc.
<Ouch! This is definitely not the best environment.>
Here is the issue: as you can see, both anemones don't seem to want to
fully inflate. 1/4 of the tentacles somewhere on the anemones are
deflated at seemingly all times. So I know that all animals within a
species are individuals and behave uniquely, and also these new Ritteri
are likely from a different location, since they have a purple mesentery
and my old Ritteri had a yellow body and thus they could be from the Red
Sea and prefer higher SG (like my old Ritteri). Even when I had only the
one newer anemone I noted this behavior, so the presence of the second
anemone is out of the question (they are also about 3 feet apart). The
deflated areas change throughout the day, so tissue damage is out of the
question. Both anemones have eaten under my care (they both prefer only
tilapia...same as my old Ritteri) so failure to feed is out. They are
under 400W of halides at 14000K, and do not move around (which of course
is atypical for this species). I have a Hydor 3 circulation pump
(1200gph), two Rio 1200 with rotating deflectors (600gph) and a Mag 24
return pump with central diffuser (~1800gph) so I don't think a lack of
circulation is an issue.
<It doesn’t sound like it. However, if you don’t protect the intakes of
those pumps soon, you may have a bigger problem if your anemone decides
to roam.>
I have even tried turning down/off some of the pumps in case too much
circulation was an issue (though I have heard Bob admonish this is
almost never possible with non-laminar currents).
I do run an Octopus NW200 skimmer for tanks up to 200G. Nitrate is
around 5-10ppm.
<It needs to be zero.>
Nitrite is 0, ammonia is 0, and phosphate is 0. Salinity is 1.027.
Temperature is 80F. pH is 8.2. Basically, all the parameters are the
same as they were with the old anemone, but these anemones do not seem
to be altogether comfortable.
<The anemones are also a bit bleached.>
I have experienced in the past when an anemone remains less than fully
inflated for extended periods of time, it is not long for this world. I
know reef animals need stability more than anything else, so if I am
going to change one thing (other than livestock, which is the last
resort) it is going to be the specific gravity of the tank.
Being osmotic conformers, can anyone verify my hunches regarding the
osmoregulation feedback loop of anemones? So if the SG in the
surrounding water is lower than what the anemone wants, would it deflate
to attempt to raise the concentration of salts within its tissues? Or is
it the opposite? Do anemones have some sort of mechanical automatic
response when SG is changed?
<Anemones don’t do well with abrupt changes. Anemones do deflate to
exchange water, and to expel waste. However, I do not believe the
anemone is deflating because of a salinity issue.>
I have observed changes in inflation whether increasing or decreasing SG
by .001 over the course of an hour (always keeping it between
1.025-1.029).
<A range of 1.025 – 1.029 is much too large. When you increase or
decrease by .001 over an hour, what you are seeing is the anemone
acclimate it self to the change in chemistry.>
Then they seem to go back to their initial state of inflation. I don't
want to play guessing games with the SG of the tank and end up killing
the anemone, so before I take the step of removing all other inverts,
could you give me some perspective on how to feel about this lack of
inflation? I understand it's a common problem people experience when new
to keeping anemones, but I have been at this a while and the answer
evades me. I have attached three photos (glass is a little foggy...water
is clear).
<Good!>
There is one of each anemone and one photo of the setup as whole, for
you to see the spacing of the animals. Sorry for the marathon email, you
guys
<and Gals>
are the ONLY reason I have had ANY success in this hobby.
<Glad you find us helpful.>
You are also the ONLY reason I have such an appreciation for these
animals and their natural environs.
<Craig, I believe you have a couple of things going on that are causing
the poor health of the anemones. First, the tank was moved in October,
this is too new of a set up for anemones. I’m a bit confused on how this
transfer was done. Did you replace the sand bed, or rinse? Anemones need
established environments. I’m not seeing an established sand bed.
Second, both of your anemones have likely recently been shipped, and
likely both recently collected before they were shipped. Wild collection
and shipping is incredibly stressful and many times deadly to anemones.
Your fluctuating of salinity is also not doing the anemones any favors.
I typically recommend 1.026 for anemones. This species is known to do
well in captivity at this level. However, I would not say that 1.027 is
necessarily bad for this creature. Stability plays an important role
here. The mix of corals you have could also be harming the anemone.
Running fresh carbon may help this issue.>
Regards,
Craig
<Hope this helps! Brenda> |
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Anemone problem
I have looked at a very large amount of anemone websites on the internet and I believe that you site is ranked as one of the most informative in my
opinion.
<thank you... as it is intended. I for one feel that most anemones should not be collected and that most aquarists should not buy/keep them. We could talk for hours about the reasons why. Simply know that for starters that they are likely doomed to fail (assuming you can even get a healthy undamaged one) if they are not kept in a species tank: no other cnidarians! No coral and no other anemones>
I have kept many anemones with not much luck. They just all seem
to slowly die. I hate that.
<don't keep buying them my friend>
I currently had a big beautiful ritteri anemone.
<perhaps the most difficult of them all. They need full reef lighting... more than most coral. How many aquarists are willing to spend $1000 on a hefty halide lighting system just to keep a single anemone. This... most climb the walls starving for light and die without it or get torn/killed in a pump or overflow intake in their search. Tragic>
It seems to be big in the morning but as the day progresses it just
seems to get much smaller and tentacles begin to deflate. It has plenty of light
<250-400 watt metal halides?>
and a moderate amount of water movement.
<very strong water movement needed here too>
The thing with all my anemones is when the begin to die, they look like they begin to
expel some sort of a smoky substance. Can you tell me what that is?
<one possibility is the expulsion of zooxanthellae under duress>
And is there anything I can do to help my anemone?
<natural sunlight supplemented with big halides, no unguarded pump intakes, heavy feedings of micro sized ocean meats, weekly water changes... essentially a species tank>
thanks, Chris
<best regards, Anthony>
Heteractis magnifica health 12/12/03
Guys,
<Adam here this evening>
I have had a magnifica for about 8 months (previous owner had it for 2years)
<congrats on your success with this difficult animal!>
and all of the sudden the mouth has protruded outward and it has not
decreased in size. At night the mouth comes out even further.
<I have seen this behavior in other species of anemones, and have always seen
it pass in otherwise healthy specimens>
The anemone has not lost its color or its ability to hold onto food (it does not
eat food but holds onto it for about 10 min. and then lets it go)
<Good signs that the stress it is experiencing is probably mild and still reversible.>
It is about 12 inches wide and 2 clownfish host it one 3 inches long and one
1inch long. I have metal halides and bombard it with current.
<You obviously are aware of this animals requirements in this
regard. If it has been healthy for 8 months in your care, I suspect
that you are meeting light and current needs. My next thought goes
toward water quality. Even if all of the parameters you test for seem
to be within acceptable limits, there may be a water quality issue outside of
the things we normally test for. If this aquarium also houses corals,
I would be suspicious or allelopathy. If not, I would still recommend
a couple of significant water changes.>
I use to feed it 3 times a week but for about 2 weeks I have not fed it at all.
Let me know what I can do to remedy the situation.
<I would verify that all measurable water quality parameters are acceptable,
and proceed with a couple of water changes regardless of the
results. If any large corals are present, I would consider moving
them to another tank. In the mean time, I would limit feeding
attempts to only enough food to see if the animal resumes
eating. When it does, you can increase the amount. If you
don't ever vary the food, you may try that also.>
Thank you for your input
<Always a pleasure! Please do keep us updated. Adam>
Alexander Blanco
Ritteri blues
Good Morning,
<hello>
I have a 50 Gal. tank that is 36"L X 18"W X 20"D, with
2 175 Watt Metal Halides and 2 65 Watt power compact actinic blue lights. My
tank is completely cycled for almost a year now, and my water quality is
exceptional ( I do a 30% water change every two weeks, sometimes more often),
and I have a motion full tank with alternating wave action. My
question is I have purchased a 8"-9" Ritteri Magnifica about 6 weeks
ago, I did the acclimation properly for a week, and he was in good health when I
bought him. For about the lst 4 weeks he deflates himself for several hours a
day several times a day ( at no specific time period for any amount of time) and
he looks like a blob, but he isn't deteriorating, and then reinflates himself
for several hours again. I filter feed him only twice a
week, and he is hosting a percula clown, he hasn't moved since the first day he
was in my tank so I don't know if he is happy or not. I also have a
carpet anemone in my tank, but he is all the way in the other corner of my tank,
and he hasn't moved for 6 months. I am beginning to wonder if I am
pushing to much light or not enough, could you help me please.
< no you are not pushing too much light. This is most of the time normal. they
expel water and take in new. this is one of the most hardest anemones to keep. the
best way I have found to keep them is by making a raised platform near the top
of the surface and place them there. turn off pumps for 10 minutes and he will stick if
healthy). they love light and also love to get hit with a lot of random current. your
should also try feeding him cocktail shrimp uncooked). Last it could be the
clown is harming the anemone. If the anemone is small and the clown is big it
can damage the anemone. the anemone should be at least 5 times the size of the clown. hope
good luck Mike H>
Thanks,
Michael C. Arnold
Re: Questions about my Ritteri
Thank You for your response,
<welcome>
I have a wave maker in my aquarium that
is set on rolling action. My clown is about 1" in length and my Ritteri
is about 8"-9", so I doubt it is the clown
<I doubt it too>
Should I keep my lights on little longer, right now they are on 10 hours a day?
<10 hours a day is good I would not go any longer than that Mike H>
Thanks,
Ritteri Anemone 5/21/04
Hello Anthony
<cheers Drew>
Recently bought a nice Ritteri Anemone from my LFS and was wondering about some strange things its does,
<this is such a beautiful anemone, but one of the most challenging cnidarians (among all corals and anemones) to keep in captivity. They require an extraordinary amount of light (halides ideally over 5 watts per gallon) and powerful water flow with target feedings several times weekly (finely minced meats only... no nig chunks) in a species specific tank (no other cnidarians). Most become a statistic within a year, sad to say. Please do take this advice to heart. I hope this works out for you!>
every night and hour before the lights go out it will lean almost lay down into the current? seems odd to me but I can not find anything on habits of an anemone other then they will wander.
<yikes... there is lots of info abroad (mostly negative) on the keeping of this anemone. Dig deeper my friend>
tonight he was leaning over and just fell off the rock?
SPG is 1.0235
ph is 8.3 - 8.4
temp is 78
water flow is approx 1300 GPH
90 Gallon aquarium.
for lighting I just installed prior to buying him, 4 VHO bulbs
all are 110 watts
2 Super actinic
2 Aquasun.
<the water flow is good.... but the lighting is not even close to par. The actinics are just for aesthetics and offer little to no help here (I still like them too though <G>). In essence, you have 220 watts (just over 2 watts per gallon) to keep this anemone with only two white bulbs... and worse still.... its VHO which is very attractive in my opinion, but only penetrates weakly into the water column. Unless the anemone sits in the top 8-10" of the surface, It is not getting enough light to even survive the next couple of months. My advice is to switch to four 7k - 10k K bulbs and force the anemone to stay near the surface (top 10"), unless a halide fixture is a possibility>
also like to mention that two True Perculas have taken to him only a few days after he was put in the tank. During the day he seems fine he is on a high point where he will
receive lots of light and current but on a separate pile from the main rock work to deter
wandering. sorry for the lengthy email just thought to pass on info I thought that may help. Thanks. Drew
<no worries... you are on the right track. I wish you the best of luck!>
ps. plan on buying your book I found an autographed copy at my LFS and will be picking it up shortly.
<ah, thanks kindly :) Anthony>
Ritteri shock?
Hello Crew,
<Graham at your service.>
Sent an email about my ritteri falling off his rock, but received no response.
one thing i did notice though is its every night when i shut off the lights it
falls off and rolls across the bottom of the tank, I have left it and it looks
most unhappy so i always put it back on its rock where it seems fine till the
next night.
<It's completely normal.>
Guess my question is, will the sudden change in light cause my ritteri to
release from his rock thus being blown off from the current?
<No. As you probably know, anemones have no central brain -- thus why they
cannot adapt to a certain environment. If your aquarium isn't fitting the exact
needs the anemone would encounter in the wild, the anemone will move to find a
suitable location. This move is commonly done during the night. With that said,
leave your anemone and let it roam around the tank where it wants -- just make
sure it cannot be sucked into a powerhead or filter.>
if so what can i do to prevent this with having to spend extra money for a
dimmer.
<See above.>
am running a icecap 660 with 4 110 Watt VHO lights
2 super actinic to Aquasun.
Thanks as always
<Good luck! The Ritteri is a very difficult anemone to successfully keep.
It's important to maintain excellent water quality and give the anemone ample
amounts of lighting. You may also want to feed the anemone foods such as krill,
squid, silversides, lancefish, etc. 3x weekly to give the anemone added
nutrition. Take Care, Graham!>
Drew
Ritteri Anemone Trouble
Hello,
I have a question, I have a Ritteri anemone, for about 3
Months it has been doing good until the past few days.
It had moved to the top of the tank and stayed there.
I notice the bottom of the anemone is falling apart
(Dying) but the top looks excellent. The mouth is in good shape too. I assume
that maybe this is a light issue.
It is a 29 gal. tank with power compacts 100 watts,<I believe the light should
be adequate provided of course the tubes are changed yearly and one should be an
actinic.> <<No... RMF>>
10x on the water flow ( Which it moved it self right in the path of) 0 ammonia,
0 nitrite, ph 8.2, nitrate 20ppm
Only thing in this tank is a pair of maroon clowns, and some live rock. Is there
any saving this anemone? As I said the top looks great!. Is there anything I
could or should do, or is it too late. I would start by doing a 20% water change
with an enriched salt such as Reef Crystals. Secondly, do a 10% change weekly,
not just till things get better. Are you using a protein skimmer? Do you feed
your anemone? Please respond for a more detailed answer. James (Salty Dog)
Thanks,
WWM Fan!
Ritteri Anemone Trouble
Yes I was feeding it 3 times a week, The lights were new,
1 Antic. I pulled it out the mouth was did not look good and it was fouling
the tank. It was Gone and nothing I could do. I just do not know what
happened to it. I do use a protein skimmer and getting good stuff out of it.
and in All my tanks I faithfully do 20% a week, including my 180, and my 300. I
haven't missed a water change in 2 years. I always add my supplements. The
food was Chopped up krill, with chopped silversides and other mix.
Thanks for your help, but I do not think it was meant to be.
The Maroons look lost. I think they were wild caught.
I have had them a year. they lay eggs, they hatched a few times but did not
live. I just do know what kind of anemone to get them anymore. I had a nice
bubble tip In there with them, but It was too small. They beat the heck out of
it, It
almost died but I moved it to another tank and it is doing really well. The
problem is the female is about 7" and very aggressive and protective of her
anemone. I barely could stick my hands in the tank to clean it. Thank you
for your time.<Hello Mr. Zielgler. One thing to keep in mind. Anemones are not
easy to keep. First of all, they don't ship well and that adds to problems from
the start. You must have done your homework on anemone/clown relationship since
the Ritteri is the anemone of choice for the Maroon Clown with the bubble tip
being second and long tentacle anemone (Macrodactyla doreensis) being runner up.
The use of metal halide lighting is preferable for the ritteri. PC lighting is
acceptable for the bubble tip providing your tank is not deep. You certainly are
doing things right but you are just experiencing what many of us have and that
is realizing most anemones can't be kept in a closed system for any long term
duration. Every now and then a lucky aquarist will get one that does
exceptionally well under proper conditions. James (Salty Dog)
Scott
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