Anemones!

[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

1 hour ago, FarmerTy said:

I'm curious about size Gig'em. Are there any anemones you mentioned besides the maxi-mini anemones and the BTAs that are smaller than say... A dinner plate? Or are all the other types ones that typically grow a bit larger?

My dreams of having a 350+ gallon tank may include a larger anemone. Just curious on size alone, any that stay too small? Any that get too big?

The maxi mini anemones and the rock anemones are the two that you can count on not growing too large over time. Condys start off pretty small, but have the ability to grow larger. The red maxi mini (which I don't think is a true maxi mini anemone, but a sub species of mini carpet anemone) is a great high end mini anemone that hardly gets larger than the base of a coffee mug. 

 

The three largest anemones are the H. magnifica, the S. gigantea, and the largest would likely be the Stychodactyla mertensii, which can get to be 3.5 feet wide! Magnificas can grow to be absolutely huge, in this picture I took of magnificas on a reef in Tahiti, that clownfish was probably at least 8" long and the anemone about 2 feet in diameter.

My mags have the ability to grow to over a couple feet in diameter, as you can see by the exponential growth of my magenta based mag I posted above. The good thing is if you stop feeding them, they essentially remain the same size. I'll have to admit that the two I have in my tank have certainly filled out their "zone" in my 120 and may eventually grow large enough to completely dominate that side of the tank. I may have to sell off one in the future if that becomes the case, or build a species specific tank to house it in. I've seen gigantea anemones grow large too and take over large sections of a tank. If you have a good sized tank, a large anemone would be a great way to fill up a spot and add a lot of movement and color to your tank.

 

[jestep]

3 hours ago, FarmerTy said:

B.) They split too much: Good and bad.  Mine usually only split once a year, and often that is associated with a stressor I put on it.  My Sunburst has split naturally two times on me, both were induced by some type of stressor I gave it.  First time I left the T5s on all night, so 23 hrs of T5 lighting did it.  The 2nd time I was trying to cover up the anemone with rocks to force it to move its foot so I could remove it and cut it as it had gotten bigger than I wanted.  2 weeks of the rocks over it and it split by itself.  Both situations they were induced by stress to split.  My theory of the ones that constantly move or split is because of water conditions are stressors put on them.  For instance, you friend with is tub of anemones.  I'm going to guess that his water quality wasn't the best and his tank wasn't in the best condition when he ended up with 10 clones of the anemone.  Either way, a split to me is a good thing, sell off the clone, give someone else a chance to enjoy owning an anemone, and carry on.  The only burden is to remove the split and sell it off, while making some money back for yourself.  

I do think this has a lot to do on the specific anemone. I have a red one with speckles that is going on 7 years and it's never split. I had another green one that would split before it would get to even tennis ball size in the same tank.

I can attest to water quality or variable parameters causing them to split. I don't see it much here on ARC but on one of the other forums I participate on a lot, I cringe on a weekly basis when I read many of the hooray my anemone split posts. Basically means that an animal is dividing itself in half because on a biologically level it thinks that it 's going to perish and self-propagation is a last resort to carry on its DNA...

Also, if anyone has a good method of removing one that's buried itself in a crack, I would like to know. I need to get the aforementioned red spotted one out of my main DT, and into my daughters anemone and LPS tank.

[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

16 hours ago, jestep said:

I do think this has a lot to do on the specific anemone. I have a red one with speckles that is going on 7 years and it's never split. I had another green one that would split before it would get to even tennis ball size in the same tank.

I can attest to water quality or variable parameters causing them to split. I don't see it much here on ARC but on one of the other forums I participate on a lot, I cringe on a weekly basis when I read many of the hooray my anemone split posts. Basically means that an animal is dividing itself in half because on a biologically level it thinks that it 's going to perish and self-propagation is a last resort to carry on its DNA...

Also, if anyone has a good method of removing one that's buried itself in a crack, I would like to know. I need to get the aforementioned red spotted one out of my main DT, and into my daughters anemone and LPS tank.

I agree it's a case-by-case situation with these anemones. Many times it is genetic and the anemone is more prone to asexual reproduction while some anemones take years and years to split. I've had plenty of BTAs split due to a stressor that triggered it's self preservation mode causing it to create multiple copies, and I've had BTAs that split because I had been feeding them a lot and the conditions had been suitable and stable for reproduction. There are a lot of variants between BTAs out there and once you start owning multiple different kinds, their diversity becomes more noticeable. It's like calling every dog you see "Dog" when there are large differences between great Danes, pit bulls, collies, chihuahuas, etc.

 

I've had luck getting BTAs to leave their holes by shading the area or changing the flow so that it no longer likes where it is. Once it desires different conditions and doesn't split because it thinks the world is ending, it will start to move itself to a new spot. Problem is you have to catch it in the act before it can find a new crevice to anchor in or walk its way into a powerhead or overflow. You can turn the light off where the anemone is, stack some rocks over it to shade it, turn off the flow or point the flow directly at the crevice it's in. Unfortunately getting a BTA out is more about convincing it to come out rather than just pulling it out and takes patience.

[Robb in Austin]

Anemones you say?