Rock Flower Anemone Information and Appreciation Thread

[rsucre]

1 minute ago, fishfreak0114 said:

Mine wandered all over the rocks for a week or so before settling down.

Do they tend to move at night?  I have my wave maker set to run very slow at night.  Do they tend to move to a place with light?

[fishfreak0114]

1 minute ago, rsucre said:

Do they tend to move at night?  I have my wave maker set to run very slow at night.  Do they tend to move to a place with light?

It moved regardless of time of day.  I'd come home, and have to take a good look around to find it.  It was always moving to places with light, and it finally settled in the middle of my tank, fairly high up.

[SeaFurn]

9 minutes ago, rsucre said:

I'm a little worried that I will lose track of where it goes or worse that it gets caught by the wavemaker.

I'm assume your wavemaker is up higher on the glass. They will generally stay on the sand or in the rocks.  I've not seen many crawling up the side of the tank. 

They move at all times,  not just at night.  Yes, they will want to be in the light and need light but they aren't that smart.  I'd just be patient with it for the next couple of days until it finds its spot.

[kimberbee]

21 hours ago, SeaFurn said:

I've not seen many crawling up the side of the tank. 

Lies... I have one that has spent the last 2 days on the glass!! 

[SeaFurn]

1 hour ago, kimberbee said:

Lies... I have one that has spent the last 2 days on the glass!! 

I guess my exposure has only been of the non-daredevil variety! Hope yours gets off the glass soon! 

[seabass]

[SeaFurn]

4 minutes ago, seabass said:

That's awesome!

That one must have been afraid of heights! 

[seabass]

I put the rock next to it so it could feel it.  Then the RFA started walking it's way toward the rock.

[kimberbee]

It wiggles!! 

[rsucre]

On 9/24/2017 at 1:01 PM, SeaFurn said:

Yes, they will want to be in the light and need light but they aren't that smart.

I'm worried because the rock anemone is still in the same shaded area in the back of the tank and has not moved.  

[SeaFurn]

16 hours ago, rsucre said:

I'm worried because the rock anemone is still in the same shaded area in the back of the tank and has not moved.  

Is it opened up (not shrunken)?  It might have found a spot it likes - even though that might not be the best spot for viewing. 

They don't need intense lighting like coral.  The guys at VIP Reef actually had me turn my lights down at one point - but I have mostly RFA's along with some GSP in my tank.

[seabass]

17 hours ago, rsucre said:

I'm worried because the rock anemone is still in the same shaded area in the back of the tank and has not moved.  

On rare occasions I've had to rotate a rock to get a RFA back under lighting.  Sometimes, they can remain under cover, even to their own demise.  Like SeaFurn said, they aren't very smart, so you can't always rely on them to do what's best for themselves.  As long as it's getting some light, and hasn't lost its color, it should be alright.

[holy carp]

I have one that is angled downward on the side of a rock and only one side of the tentacles get any direct light.  The rest of it just gets some scattered reflection from the glass and sand.  It had originally walked around for weeks, but hasn't moved from that spot in well over a year.  It is healthy and has been growing faster than the other one that is facing directly upwards towards the light.  

 

My suspicion is that they get sufficient nutrients from catching fish food and other stuff from the water column.  If you're worried, I'd make sure to feed it instead of trying to move it too much.

[BulkRate]

Second on Seabass's comment - they can and do settle into spots to their detriment.  I lose a fair number of baby anemones to the (relatively) large overhang & cave I originally created in my scape to allow shy critters to hide in.  they wander in and then get lost.  It's a note to fix in my impending upgrade.

 

But as long as yours is keeping decent coloration and its tentacles aren't shrinking into nothing you should be good.  Don't stress too much about it - an RFA starving itself can take weeks.  Just take as good a picture as you can every few days so that this is visible in its early stages.  If you're really, really worried, target feed it a little with a baster every week to ensure it's getting enough nutrition. 

[rsucre]

On 9/27/2017 at 4:29 PM, BulkRate said:

But as long as yours is keeping decent coloration and its tentacles aren't shrinking into nothing you should be good.  Don't stress too much about it - an RFA starving itself can take weeks.  Just take as good a picture as you can every few days so that this is visible in its early stages.  If you're really, really worried, target feed it a little with a baster every week to ensure it's getting enough nutrition

I'm worried because the anemone has not moved from the back of the tank (between sand and bottom of rockwork).  If I touch it or even try to feed it, it retracts into the rock.  I think that it is shrinking...  In the place it is, it would be very difficult, almost impossible, trying to get it out.

[seabass]

It's usually easier and safer to move the rock than to try to move the anemone from the rock.

[rsucre]

2 hours ago, seabass said:

It's usually easier and safer to move the rock than to try to move the anemone from the rock.

I would have done that, but it is the main rock.  Can't move it.

[Lula_Mae]

On 9/30/2017 at 11:52 AM, rsucre said:

I'm worried because the anemone has not moved from the back of the tank (between sand and bottom of rockwork).  If I touch it or even try to feed it, it retracts into the rock.  I think that it is shrinking...  In the place it is, it would be very difficult, almost impossible, trying to get it out.

Trying to forcibly remove the nem would probably damage its foot anyway, which would be fatal.  I think it takes time for them to shrink up.  My pom pom crab years ago pinched a ric for a substitute nem and it took a good long while for it to shrivel up and turn pale from lack of light.  Retracting from your touch or from the sudden current of a turkey baster or pipette is what all of my corals do especially if they aren't used to it lol.

[ChristopherDido]

Hey RFA owners.  We are running a classroom reef tank for a club here in STL.  We Got an RFA in the Tank on Tuesday and it was super happy until about 30 minutes ago.  When it did this... It seems to be "melting" and looks like some sort of slime is all around the rock it has been on.  Anyone have any ideas what is going on? in this pick you can see the Sexy Shrimp that had not seemed to be bothering it at all..

Help please

TIA

[SeaFurn]

1 hour ago, ChristopherDido said:

Hey RFA owners.  We are running a classroom reef tank for a club here in STL.  We Got an RFA in the Tank on Tuesday and it was super happy until about 30 minutes ago.  When it did this... It seems to be "melting" and looks like some sort of slime is all around the rock it has been on.  Anyone have any ideas what is going on? in this pick you can see the Sexy Shrimp that had not seemed to be bothering it at all..

Help please

TIA

When mine move they sometimes slough off a slime ring where their foot had been anchored. It looks like tissue and I can see how you might thing it's melting.

Did it just move? Could it be that? 

 

 

[ChristopherDido]

7 minutes ago, SeaFurn said:

When mine move they sometimes slough off a slime ring where their foot had been anchored. It looks like tissue and I can see how you might thing it's melting.

Did it just move? Could it be that? 

 

 

I guess it kind of moved, it seems to be really retracted into the Rock work. I thought it was settled in and happy, all day looked to be opening up bigger and bigger, then bam shriveled up in between two rocks. Checked my water params, all are fine. Hoping it's just moving them... First time I'm experiencing this. Thanks for the comment.

[SeaFurn]

2 hours ago, ChristopherDido said:

I guess it kind of moved, it seems to be really retracted into the Rock work. I thought it was settled in and happy, all day looked to be opening up bigger and bigger, then bam shriveled up in between two rocks. Checked my water params, all are fine. Hoping it's just moving them... First time I'm experiencing this. Thanks for the comment.

Folding themselves into rocks like that is something they do. They can get so tucked into them you'll have a hard time getting them out. But from the looks of your picture it's not shrunken - you'll know shrunken when you see it. Yours seems fine - normal actually. Its open, tentacles not shrunken or clumped together.

The issue with them getting folded into rocks is they may not get enough light. That doesn't appear to be the case with yours at this point. 

[ChristopherDido]

2 hours ago, SeaFurn said:

Folding themselves into rocks like that is something they do. They can get so tucked into them you'll have a hard time getting them out. But from the looks of your picture it's not shrunken - you'll know shrunken when you see it. Yours seems fine - normal actually. Its open, tentacles not shrunken or clumped together.

The issue with them getting folded into rocks is they may not get enough light. That doesn't appear to be the case with yours at this point. 

Thanks @SeaFurn that's very good news! Makes me happy to here, they are so beautiful, I would hate to every have one die on me.

[seabass]

11 minutes ago, ChristopherDido said:

Thanks @SeaFurn that's very good news! Makes me happy to here, they are so beautiful, I would hate to every have one die on me.

They are hardy buggers.  I'm not saying that I've never lost one, but I still have the very first one that ever purchased (well over a decade ago).  It's gone through just about everything you could throw at it.

[ChristopherDido]

Quick update, came in this morning to the classroom it was back out and open, just like all you said that it would be fine!  Thanks for your help and updates!  Here it is happy with two of my sexy shrimp on hanging out on it!