Anemone before and after

Hi All

See pics below. These pics are all of the same anemone. The before pic is what they look like in the LFS.....

Just wanted to educate those who are looking to buy an anemone.

There were numerous occasions when I thought it was dead....


Before



During








After

 

Thanks Darren - I agree - too many people misunderstand anemone's - and also do NOT know how important it is to feed anemone's and have the correct lighting. Thanks for this.

 

hey guys my anemone looks like the second pic he was fine untill we had a 3 and a half hour power problem the other day now he wont eat and looks like that should i be worried

 

Dont give up on him... They also delflate every now and then to get rid of waste etc... Just look out for rotting flesh.

Do you have a pic?

 

I have had it for about a year.... It would not eat for about 6 months and would not attach.

I did move it around alot (carefully) and then I found an ideal spot. I put it on a rock where there is a small cave. It liked that and put its foot inside it it grew from there. It hasnt moved since. Now it eats when I feed it and it opens up HUGE. It is now about 4 times its original size.

Thats about it.

 

There should be no need to feed an anemone in a stable reef tank.

 

Sorry... dont agree...

 

Just you and a few others without the experience then . The consensus is that they are fine without it and indeed, it stops them from reproducing and growing oversize in tanks.

Dont get me wrong, they do feed from the water column in healthy reefs, but there should be no need to target feed them unless the tank is lacking in some respect.

 

Neil, does feeding stop them from growing/make them grow slower?

 

Hi Neil -

I have been keeping anemone's now for about 3 years... I have always target fed my anemone. BUT, that said, I don't feed my tank so much, as I do not have many fish in my 2 metre tank. I prefer to target feed my nemmie, than to overfeed my tank, and hope that my nemmie get food from the water column. I have indeed noticed that the more often I feed my h. magnifica, the bigger it grows. I have had my h. magnifica for more than a year now. I also have 2 sand anemone's (LTA's) and one radianthus anemone - all of which are extremely healthy and nice and brown with their zooxanthellae.

My magnifica (ritteri) LOVES it when my metal halide switches on (it actually "Reaches upwards" with it's tentacles and whole body, actually). And when the metal halides go off, it "opens up" to JUST about 50cm in diameter....

It stays on one place (it has been on this same place since I got it).... I feed it pink shrimp once a week to once every two weeks....

 

In the "after" pic, has it really changed to that pink? Are you using MH's?

neillharris, when we getting an update on your tank?

 

I cannot answer from personel experience as I refuse to feed mine. My last bubble tip went from being the size of an old R1 coin, to more than half a meter in diameter in 2 years without feeding. I had to give it away as it was stinging all my corals as it was getting so big. My crispa new has also grown from about the same size to up to 30cm when fully expanded in 2 1/2 years.

I feel that feeding them will increase their growth rates and there for limit the amount of time they can be kept in full reef tanks (unless they split, which can never be relied on).

jmho,
Neil

 

It certainly has coloured up well, never an easy task on a bleached nem, and something that I have seen a lot of people loose the battle with. well done .


As per the update on the tank, I will have to clean the glass first . I am bust trying to get a nano going so when that is finished, I will spend more time on the reef again:blushing:

 

Yes that is what it looks like now. No MH, just 2 t5's

 

That is a very interesting comment about the lighting and may well be one of the keys to your success. Most people with nems have halides and with a bleached nem, I feel less light may be better to get the recovery process going. Whenever I see bleached nems in shops, they always seem to be hidding from the light source, under rocks and the like. Possibly having a bit 'weaker' lighting system, encourages them to stay out more and get the zooxanthellae to multiply. Just a thought , could be wrong:blushing:

 

Hi Darren / Neil - unfortunately I do not have a "before pic". BUT here's a reasonably "current" pic (from about 3 weeks ago):

 

Interesting...

Maybe the zooxanthellae acts like a "Sunscreen" and the light hurts them once they bleach.

 

Hi Gali / Neil - I found that when I bought my nemmies (all 4 of them), they were all bleached out. They did not "hide" from my lighting when I placed them in my aquarium - they stayed out in the open, but were very small and bleached snow-white at the time.
After about a week & half, after daily feeding, they started getting their zooxanthellae back. After a total of about 3 weeks, they were the original/correct brownish coloration. They also grew the fastest when I fed them daily, and after about a 3 week/month period, I started feeding them weekly. Now, I only feed them either weekly or every other week.

Gali - I agree - BUT, you should see my h. magnifica stand up-right when the metal halide is on.... The picture above, was only taken with my T5's on at the time..... The nemmie is actually "spread out"....

 

jacquesb i think its unfair for you to compare your nennies to anybodys(exept my blue carpet im getting)there just to stunning
thanks