Rock Flower Anemone Information and Appreciation Thread

[seabass]

A few more UV flashlight pics:

 

 

[ngvu1]

On 10/11/2018 at 8:12 AM, Kellie in CA said:

 

Samsung S7 pro mode with manual focus

 

[HarryPotter]

Sadly, aptasia eating nudibranches do NOT eat baby RFAs 😞. Popping up everywhere like aptasia! 

 

 

 

 

Hanging out with a sponge. Lots of life for a tank started with dry rock...  Brandon would have a fit!

 

[SeaFurn]

2 hours ago, HarryPotter said:

Sadly, aptasia eating nudibranches do NOT eat baby RFAs 😞. Popping up everywhere like aptasia! 

 

 

 

 

Hanging out with a sponge. Lots of life for a tank started with dry rock...  Brandon would have a fit!

 

Those look like good sized ones for babies!

 

Haven’t heard much from Brandon lately...

[HarryPotter]

1 hour ago, SeaFurn said:

Those look like good sized ones for babies!

 

 Haven’t heard much from Brandon lately...

 

I call them babies, I have no idea how long they've been there haha. My guess is a couple days.

 

Dont worry about him, he is busy posting rambling paragraph after another on R2R... 

[ReefFish]

On 10/24/2018 at 11:51 AM, seabass said:

A few more UV flashlight pics:

 

 

Nice baby RFA's

I have one of those UV flashlights to see them but I don't think the anemones like the light much because if you put the UV light on a RFA you will notice the tentacles start to move all around as if it was hurting it

[seabass]

1 hour ago, ReefFish said:

I don't think the anemones like the light much because if you put the UV light on a RFA you will notice the tentacles start to move all around as if it was hurting it

I don't take it like that.  I assume that if it doesn't like something, it will retract.  I assumed they are just basking in the rays.   Mine will even react to a regular flashlight..

[Kellie in CA]

So as I mentioned before, my new RFA parked himself under a completely shaded ledge. I figured he would eventually come out of his own, but after 3 weeks, no such luck.  I noticed his color started to fade, so I took out the huge rock he was attached to and managed to break off a small piece where he was.  I put him back into a slightly shaded area so he wouldn't immediately be blasted with light.  Within a couple hours he let go to the rubble he was on and attached to a main rock. 

He seems to be doing ok, other than being somewhat buried at the moment. I assume he is adjusting to the light?  I offered him a mysis shrimp this morning and it looked like he ate it. Anything else I can do to help him? 

[SeaFurn]

14 minutes ago, Kellie in CA said:

So as I mentioned before, my new RFA parked himself under a completely shaded ledge. I figured he would eventually come out of his own, but after 3 weeks, no such luck.  I noticed his color started to fade, so I took out the huge rock he was attached to and managed to break off a small piece where he was.  I put him back into a slightly shaded area so he wouldn't immediately be blasted with light.  Within a couple hours he let go to the rubble he was on and attached to a main rock. 

He seems to be doing ok, other than being somewhat buried at the moment. I assume he is adjusting to the light?  I offered him a mysis shrimp this morning and it looked like he ate it. Anything else I can do to help him? 

It’s just getting settled in again after moving. It may take it a week to relax and open up wide again. Just leave it be. 

[HookedOnAquariums]

Thinking of getting rfas my lfs has some for a great deal. how much flow can they tolerate? Because i have about 70 times turnover rate (max) going on.

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

4 minutes ago, HookedOnAquariums said:

Thinking of getting rfas my lfs has some for a great deal. how much flow can they tolerate? Because i have about 70 times turnover rate (max) going on.

Rock flowers don't need a lot of flow. When you get one shut the pumps down and hold it to a rock. They should attach soon after maybe 10 mins or so. If they don't like the spot you put them they will move lol. I have one that can't find a cozy spot so he moves around. They are awesome little creatures though.

[HookedOnAquariums]

1 hour ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

Rock flowers don't need a lot of flow. When you get one shut the pumps down and hold it to a rock. They should attach soon after maybe 10 mins or so. If they don't like the spot you put them they will move lol. I have one that can't find a cozy spot so he moves around. They are awesome little creatures though.

Yeah i love the look of them. just wondering if they could handle the flow in my future zoa/sps tank

[seabass]

1 hour ago, HookedOnAquariums said:

Thinking of getting rfas my lfs has some for a great deal. how much flow can they tolerate? Because i have about 70 times turnover rate (max) going on.

I think you'll want to pick a lower flow area of the tank for them (with no direct flow from a pump).  Maybe on the low flow side of a rock, and/or near the sand bed.  Tie a piece of string onto the end of a fish net handle or PVC pipe, then move it around the tank to observe the flow pasterns/intensity by watching the string.  Then pick a place for it (usually in a small depression on the rock, or on the sand but touching the rock).

[holy carp]

On 9/21/2018 at 10:54 AM, holy carp said:

Mine was spawning last night also.  It's not quite the equinox, but pretty darned close.  Started at around 9pm and lasted for an hour or so.   I used a pipette to direct it to my other RFA, so maybe there will be babies.

Spotted the first baby RFA on 10/30, so it seems gestation was only about a week to 10 days. That was faster than I expected. 

 

Now I have to be on Asterina patrol so they don't eat the babies like last year.

[revolution1925]

Hi!  I am planing to Make an rfa only 15gallon tank.  I will use a 2x24watt t5 lighting system.   Do u have to recomend which t5 lamps should i use?  I like the blue color on the tank  btw!! 

 

Also i have some rfas in my 40gallon tank under kessil a160 and i really like how the colors pop under the blue of the kessil.  Will the nems pop also under t5 lighting? 

[Got Corals]

40 minutes ago, revolution1925 said:

Hi!  I am planing to Make an rfa only 15gallon tank.  I will use a 2x24watt t5 lighting system.   Do u have to recomend which t5 lamps should i use?  I like the blue color on the tank  btw!! 

 

Also i have some rfas in my 40gallon tank under kessil a160 and i really like how the colors pop under the blue of the kessil.  Will the nems pop also under t5 lighting? 

hey there, 

 

i have my nems under T5 but i also give them the LED blue lights with Rapid LED bulbs.. I would be careful with the amount of light and flow you give them, they are fairly hardy but don't like a "fast & bright environment". LOL

 

Sandy

[seabass]

2 hours ago, revolution1925 said:

Hi!  I am planing to Make an rfa only 15gallon tank.  I will use a 2x24watt t5 lighting system.... Will the nems pop also under t5 lighting? 

A two bulb T5HO setup isn't that much light (especially if you choose actinic bulbs).  However, RFAs seem to do alright under moderate lighting.  Maybe try the ATI Blue Plus bulbs.  Two Blue Plus bulbs won't give you a high PAR number, but it might be enough for RFAs (especially if you feed them).

 

I'd probably recommend three ATI Blue Plus bulbs and one ATI AquaBlue Special, or even four ATI Blue Plus bulbs.   The AquaBlue Special is more of a daylight bulb, and the Blue Plus is more of an actinic.

[tofer]

When RFA have babies do you have to worry about  anything eating them ?

[Sunstar]

I have three rockflowers, None have bred yet.

[SeaFurn]

34 minutes ago, tofer said:

When RFA have babies do you have to worry about  anything eating them ?

There are so many other perils for baby RFAs that getting eaten by something is way down on the worry list.

The closet I’ve seen is my clownfish swooping in one one to eat a piece of food it was holding. I thought the clown gulped down the entire baby right off the rock but a few hours later I saw it again. Amazingly it had just retracted - and must have done it so fast! 

 

I know bristleworms leave them alone for the most part - unless they are trying to wrestle a food particle out of their tentacles. 

 

[SeaFurn]

 

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

1 minute ago, SeaFurn said:

 

Omg that's awesome. Great shot😀

[holy carp]

16 hours ago, tofer said:

When RFA have babies do you have to worry about  anything eating them ?

I'm pretty confident that I've had asterina starfish eat baby RFA's.  I had a few babies last year and each of them mysteriously disappeared shortly after I spotted asterinas nearby and approaching.  I didn't see the starfish actually consume the RFA's, but I did later see them in the exact spot where the RFA had been.  So it's not confirmed beyond a reasonable doubt that they ate them - the RFA could have just been dislodged by the asterina, but I've been plucking those starfish out of the tank ever since.

[Lula_Mae]

6 minutes ago, holy carp said:

I'm pretty confident that I've had asterina starfish eat baby RFA's.  I had a few babies last year and each of them mysteriously disappeared shortly after I spotted asterinas nearby and approaching.  I didn't see the starfish actually consume the RFA's, but I did later see them in the exact spot where the RFA had been.  So it's not confirmed beyond a reasonable doubt that they ate them - the RFA could have just been dislodged by the asterina, but I've been plucking those starfish out of the tank ever since.

I saw one on my gorg. Looked later and that exact spot was bare to the skeleton. 

[seabass]

4 minutes ago, holy carp said:

I'm pretty confident that I've had asterina starfish eat baby RFA's.

Maybe I need to get some asterina sea stars for my tank.  Not sure what my tank will look like with 50+ RFAs.

 

Mostly kidding, but really don't want that many in my tank.  They really aren't very fancy either (purchased them like10+ years ago, when the fancy ones weren't offered yet).  Still maybe I'll sell them as they migrate off of the rocks (as I don't want to have to break up my rocks to remove them).