Rock Flower Anemone Information and Appreciation Thread

[seabass]

Pretty cool Harry.

[FlowerMama]

I wanna be next! When they do Harry you might hear me from Miami! I'll scream so loud I'll be so excited.

[HarryPotter]

I wanna be next! When they do Harry you might hear me from Miami! I'll scream so loud I'll be so excited.

Ha! I'll keep my ears open

[My tiny reef]

Got an order of RFAs in last week, here are a few updated shots now that they have settled in.

My favorite from the new batch on top here...one of my old favorites on the bottom. I think they look beautiful together ?

 

Love the white details on the green one and the mix of red and white tentacles on the red make it look pink almost.

 

Top down, new red at the top of the picture and a few babies getting bigger and starting to florescence on the rock.

 

 

FTS, taken under actinics with orange filter.

[My tiny reef]

Ok, one more of my favorites under just actinics ?

[FlowerMama]

The 2nd pic looks peachy to me. Pretty.

[Ebn]

Four of them in the cluster. There was a fifth in the cluster but it decided that it didn't like the neighbors and moved two inches into the main rockwork.

 

 

 

 

Cheapest of the bunch and interested in seeing where it goes. This one is currently either morphing or finally showing its colors slowly.

 

Here's the loner.

[FlowerMama]

Nice! I love the way the light looks on rock flowers. They can be very dramatic.

[BulkRate]

So does anybody know what causes a female to give birth or how long the babies typically gestate? A couple months ago I saw about 3-5 little anemones suddenly show up in my tank. Thought at first they were a pest (and removed a couple - doh!) until busting out the magnifying viewer and realizing that they were indeed little bitty rock flowers. But so very small, like the size of a split lentil.

 

Then last Saturday I went to bed after commiserating over the recent loss of my ruby mandarin only to wake up the morning to a big(-sh) baby rock flower about the size of a hazelnut clinging to macroalgae under the anemone ledge. Weird, but cool.

 

Pics once I'm home.

[getmealemon]

As far as i know they gestate for about 3 months. I think it does vary and certain conditions can trigger them to release them early though. Alot of the babies i've had are very small but on one occasion i saw some noticeably larger ones being born.

Anybody have any views on lighting causing colour change in rock flowers? A few anemones i've bought have changed colour quite alot, usually becoming duller. I just run blues over the tank so wondering if lack of white light is causing colour shift in them? Also how much light can they handle?

[BulkRate]

OK... here goes:

 

The green/white one in front was tiny (split-lentil) when I found it stuck down in the macroalgae a coiuple months ago - the other two were about that size but blew away & I haven't seem them in months. The yellow-orange/white one was easily 4x their size (english pea sized) and was "born" last Saturday.

[FlowerMama]

OK... here goes:

baby nems1.jpg

 

The green/white one in front was tiny (split-lentil) when I found it stuck down in the macroalgae a coiuple months ago - the other two were about that size but blew away & I haven't seem them in months. The yellow-orange/white one was easily 4x their size (english pea sized) and was "born" last Saturday.

 

Yeah, it stinks. You see them & they disappear. I had that problem. But you have some survivors which is really cool!

[Anden]

So i kinda have a problem my rockflower is 12cm or close to 5inc and im running out of room, so i was hoping you ppl can tell me how big do a rock flower get, i can read online that max is 4inc or 10cm but is that true?

[jedimasterben]

So i kinda have a problem my rockflower is 12cm or close to 5inc and im running out of room, so i was hoping you ppl can tell me how big do a rock flower get, i can read online that max is 4inc or 10cm but is that true?

They can get up to about 6" IIRC

[Anden]

I only had my big one a little under one year or so and it is so big now that i think i have to upgrade the tank but if 6" is max then it is at it's max size now i think but i dont know.

[FlowerMama]

I've also heard 6"

[Pancetta]

Hey folks I need some advice about one of my RFAs. It has moved from its long time niche on one my rocks and migrated

all the way to the bottom of the rock?!

 

How do I get off the rock? I tried rubbing my finger around the base but it shrunk back into a crevice.

I am in the process of moving livestock to a new tank. So far I have only moved fish and a few frags. But will want to move the RFA soon.

 

Thanks,

David

[FlowerMama]

Try face the power head gently at it,, you may have to chip away some of the rock to get it out in the end.

[Pancetta]

Thanks, I will try that.

 

Seems odd that it is trying to hide under a rock? I was not surprised when it first moved since my Montipora has grown

and is shading it from the light. But, now it seems to be avoiding light.

[seabass]

Yeah sometimes they will attach themselves in a shaded area (even to their own demise), and refuse to move. It doesn't make sense, you'd think they would look for a better location. In most cases, I've had to break up the rock in order to remove them.

[Pancetta]

Thanks Seabass.

One of my LFS guys said the same thing. Guess it is time to dig out my cold chisel?!

 

David

[seabass]

Or, if you are willing to go that far, try to make their spot either better by rotating the rock, or (if that wouldn't work long term) make it worse by turning the nem upside down and encouraging it to move. I've also had some success by resting a smallish rock against it.

 

They are petty hardy when removing them by breaking up the rock that they are on, but you still have to be very careful not to damage their foot. You have to take your time and not rush it.

[Pancetta]

OK, maybe I will try flipping the rock over so the RFA is exposed to the light and flow. The montipora on top of the rock is trashed anyway. It broke when I was catching my fish for transfer to the new tank.

 

I tried pulling it off the rock a couple of times but it retreated in to a crevice.

[Proudgeek]

Ok. I finally get to play

 

Picked up today:

 

 

Picked up yesterday:

 

 

[BulkRate]

Very nice selection, proudgeek. Where from, if you don't mind my asking?

 

When it rains, it pours. Apparently the first two babies last week were just a precursor - woke up yesterday morning to find 10-ish baby anemones of various sizes all over the rocks. Maybe more if I get out the looking glass and hunt around for the really tiny ones (look like ambulatory micro zoas minus base tissue). No idea yet on the coloration - they're all very pale ATM. Those that do have pigment seem to be mostly in the pale orange/yellows. Time will tell.

 

As for feeding - I had been broadcasting a mix of decapsulated brine shrimp eggs & V2O's "Zooplankton" as the main feed for my ruby mandarin over the past three months or so. Seems to have worked well as even the smallest anemone seems to be able to grab & swallow some.