Wandering ritteri anemone

Delphinus · #1 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 · #2 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 · #3 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).

Delphinus · #4 04-01-2013, 10:01 PM

My experience with sebaes goes back a LONG time ago now (1998-2000 timeframe) and it's sort of sad how much things have not really changed in that time (coming in bleached or dyed, that is).

I found that the trick to getting the one I had to settle was to have the foot wedged into a crevasse gap between two rocks that was about 1" wide but something like 12"-14" deep. My thinking is with that species is that they don't really attach with the bottom of the pedal disk that other anemones do, but instead use their verrucae to adhere to substrate and also inflate the base so that it's pushing into the rocks and not able to be pulled out by the current.

daniella3d · #5 04-02-2013, 12:03 AM

It's really sad about the sebaes. The first one I got was dyed pink and it was dead after 2 weeks. It would not eat anything. The second one was a fighter. She was bleached but still had a little faint trace of beige color but what saved her was her appetite. That thing eat like a little pig each day since day one. It's really sad that they inject them with color. I never saw a healthy one at the store either.

Here is mine at the begining, it was 3" with very short tentacles, in starving mode, but that is the best I could find in any store:

After 2 or 3 months it was starting to change, tentacles getting longer and it was getting darker:

And now today after a year of good care and eating a lot, she's 12" and very dark brown body:

asylumdown · #6 04-02-2013, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daniella3d

It's really sad about the sebaes. The first one I got was dyed pink and it was dead after 2 weeks. It would not eat anything. The second one was a fighter. She was bleached but still had a little faint trace of beige color but what saved her was her appetite. That thing eat like a little pig each day since day one. It's really sad that they inject them with color. I never saw a healthy one at the store either.

Here is mine at the begining, it was 3" with very short tentacles, in starving mode, but that is the best I could find in any store:

After 2 or 3 months it was starting to change, tentacles getting longer and it was getting darker:

And now today after a year of good care and eating a lot, she's 12" and very dark brown body:

Yah the guy I had was even whiter than yours was, like, sheet of unlined paper held directly under a 10000K spotlight white. I'm not surprised it didn't make it. yours looks fantastic, I would have loved to get an anemone like that.

asylumdown · #7 04-02-2013, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

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).

This guy's base is a pretty vibrant purple, and here's where he's been since Saturday afternoon:

I'm really, really hoping this is where he stays. I can work with this from an aquascaping perspective.

asylumdown · #8 04-02-2013, 10:04 PM

wow I totally didn't even notice Ferdinand photobombing this pic until just right now.

daniella3d · #9 04-03-2013, 03:28 AM

wow, I would remove those beautiful SPS colony from anywhere around the anemone because in few months they will be incursted to the liverock and the anemone will be all over them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by asylumdown

This guy's base is a pretty vibrant purple, and here's where he's been since Saturday afternoon:

I'm really, really hoping this is where he stays. I can work with this from an aquascaping perspective.

asylumdown · #10 04-08-2013, 10:44 PM

Le Sigh.

Nothing like an anemone that can't make up it's mind to trigger a complete re-aquascape. It moved again. Still on the same rock, but all the three corals to the left of the nem in the last pic I posted all had to be rescued. One of those acros was so encrusted to the rock I think I left 1/3 of it behind.