Wandering ritteri anemone

Delphinus · #1 03-31-2013, 11:53 PM

They want to be as high as possible to be as close to light as possible. You need a bommie far enough away from anything so it can't sense a path 'up' so to speak. Lots of flow. If you can get a light to put overhead that will help a lot. As soon as they can sense light 'over there' they will move that way.

I kept this anemone for 9 years. Beautiful animals but very particular/uncompromising in their needs.

Good luck!

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asylumdown · #2 04-01-2013, 01:08 AM

hmmm, Tony you've given me an idea. I've been looking for an excuse to buy an LED spotlight canon like the Kessil for a while. Maybe I'll pick one up and put it right over top of the hem to see if I can make it stay put

Delphinus · #3 04-01-2013, 05:26 AM

I was thinking after I posted that I bet a Kessil would do the trick nicely. :-)

daniella3d · #4 04-01-2013, 01:25 PM

Is this not the one that can grow to 3 feet in diameter? Good luck keeping any coral with that monster. I would sell that thing and get a sebae instead. they grow to only about 1 foot and stay in the sand. Mine has never moved from her spot, she remains in the sand at the bottom of the tank and there is not a lot of current there but she seems happy with it. She eats every day PE mysis and other meaty food.

Very well accepted by clownfish too.

Delphinus · #5 04-01-2013, 04:57 PM

Depends on how well it's fed and how often but yes it is a large anemone. Mine was 24" around fully extended although the base was more like 12" diameter. The thing was huge, but I loved it... I regret having sold it.

asylumdown · #6 04-01-2013, 09:33 PM

A Sebae was my first choice, and I tried one before this, but I have yet to see a Sebae anemone in a store in Calgary that either wasn't so bleached it was beyond recovery, or had been artificially dyed. Sebae's generally don't fare very well in the collecting and transport process, and the overwhelming majority of them show up at stores bleached to within an inch of their life, and I would assume that the majority of those don't live very long after they make it to people's tanks. The one I got looked to be the least bleached of all it's comrades under store lighting, but once I put it under my lights... it was practically glowing white. It was incapable of attaching, so I spent two weeks babying it, doing my best to try and bring it back, but after 14 days getting blown around the tank any time a current hit it, it finally turned itself inside out and died. If I ever find a sebae anemone in a store that's in as good a condition as this ritteri, I might consider it selling the ritteri, but in the past 2 years I have yet to have seen one that I would consider healthy.

As of today the nem still hasn't moved, so that's 2.5 days in one spot. It's also an ideal spot for me in terms of visibility and overall aesthetic, so I'm hoping it stays there. The two corals that I had to break off the rocks for it to be in this position were about to start fighting with each other anyway, so they needed to be moved or heavily trimmed. Now only the encrusted base of one coral is within tentacle distance, and even then only one small area. If it stays here, I think I'm going to be golden. I also know how large these things can get, but my tank is 6 feet long by 3 feet wide. Even if it grows to it's max size I still have plenty of room for the rest of my corals. The key is it staying put.

I picked up a Kessil A150 today. I was going to mount it right over the nem, but I liked it so much I swapped out the lights on my pico tank. I just wish it dimmed, I think it's too powerful for a 4 gallon tank. I may have to ditch the gooseneck and find a more creative way to hang it higher up.

Delphinus · #7 04-01-2013, 09:57 PM

I've forgotten, what are you using for lights otherwise?

Where has he settled in now? Last picture I saw of him he was sort of in the middle. Can you share an updated shot so I can live vicariously through your pictures?

(What colour is his base BTW? The one I had, was a tan base but the most brilliant yellow of tentacles. Banana yellow. Have I mentioned yet I regret selling him? .. sigh. I have 2 carpets and 2 roses right now though and that's rather enough of a load as it is).