Rock flower Anemone tank

[BlackFlagAquatics]

Who all here has a lot of rock flower anemones in one tank? I currently have 3 in one tank but want maybe 20 by the end of it since they come in so many colors. My question is how have you done your scape for this style tank as well as other corals in the tank with them. Have you ever had any luck with them reproducing in your tank?

The guys over at www.hellfirefrags.com are doing a giveaway for a 10 pack of them and it got me thinking about this.

 

[jkcoral]

About 100 of them in my 80g tank. It’s a bare bottom setup, and mostly just RFAs, gorgonians, and some LPS. Mine just had some babies a few weeks ago. They’ll reproduce, just feed them well.

I’ll have to get a better picture of the full tank, but at least this photo shows some of them.

And one of the new babies hiding under two large ones:

 

[Kathy Floyd]

I have 7 and all are on a rock except 1 in my 60. Still no babies.

 

[twentyleagues]

Ive got 5 in my tank most are on the sand bed one moved to the rock. They are growing good. 1 was big when I got it and the other 4 have doubled or tripled in size.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I have 8 or 9 in my 15 gallon. They have not spawned, but today is summer solstice, so my fingers are crossed.

 

[Cell]

Here is some reading for you. Enjoy!

Ron Reefman's Rock Flower experience

Ok Wow! New to this, sorry. anyhoo picked up two RFA at the LFS and needless to say the gal working was supper busy and yanked the poor RFA’s out of the display tank they were in. Didn’t really pay attention, because I’m checking out the next purchase after these poor guys. The little one...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Cell]

So i kept finding more babies here and there for a few days. I'm now up to 22! They are growing nicely in their little endcap.

 

[exnisstech]

I have 5 (I think) on a single rock in my 180g but I have quite a few babies showing up in different areas. The tank is kind of a free for all so I leave them where they choose to attach.

 

[PR_nano]

Following, gf wants to set up the IM15 as a rock flower anemone and sexy shrimps

 

[mattdg]

Currently 10 rock flowers in a 15 gallon that is plumbed into a larger system. They tend to stay towards the bottom, foot in the sand attached to the glass bottom. It is a very shallow sand bed 1/4". Tank is very low flow and around 80 PAR. Far as I have read, this is the ideal environment for rock flower anemones. I did remove one, to place in my high flow main display. It held to the rock, that I introduced it on, for several weeks, but eventually moved. I am sure it is somewhere in there still, where I can't see it.

 

[jkcoral]

Just captured this new baby (and 2 others I think were born yesterday) about an hour ago. PVC endcaps are a true safe haven for baby RFAs.

Do you target feed them at all? I target feed babies, especially young ones, with phyto or reefroids every day. Curious to hear how you/other people care for them.

 

[Cell]

I would hit them with powder food like Benereef or Reef Roids once or twice per week. At some point they all got moved to a WB10 and barely get fed now.

 

[jkcoral]

Yeah, I think the target feedings help them out a lot. Been keeping them for decades and saw a noticeable increase in survival rates after I started to diligently feed new litters.

 

[twentyleagues]

Yeah, I think the target feedings help them out a lot. Been keeping them for decades and saw a noticeable increase in survival rates after I started to diligently feed new litters.

3 of mine were about the size of a dime when I got them in Feb. I was feeding them 2-3 times a week until recently. They are about the size of half dollars now. Or you could say .5" to 2" ish.

 

[jkcoral]

3 of mine were about the size of a dime when I got them in Feb. I was feeding them 2-3 times a week until recently. They are about the size of half dollars now. Or you could say .5" to 2" ish.

That is some good growth. In my experience, the target feeding really helps RFAs pack on the size for the first year and half or two years, and after that their growth slows. But they can definitely pack on some size in that time.

Mine really like anything meaty, especially reef frenzy. But they’ll eat anything. What do yours like to eat?

 

[Sleeping Giant]

do they attach to rocks immediately or is there a process to adding them to a tank and ensuring they go on the rock you want it to be on?

 

[jkcoral]

do they attach to rocks immediately or is there a process to adding them to a tank and ensuring they go on the rock you want it to be on?

When you add them to the tank, kill all your pumps, returns, powerheads, all flow for about 30 minutes. If you gently place them in a spot and barely just told them there for a minute they should put their foot down. Give them enough time without flow in the tank to get attached.

Also, keep in mind that they will move. They aren’t the prolific journeyman like some other anemones (especially bubble tips), but they can and will move to a spot they prefer. Once they like a spot they’ll tend to stay there for a long time, sometimes forever.

 

[twentyleagues]

That is some good growth. In my experience, the target feeding really helps RFAs pack on the size for the first year and half or two years, and after that their growth slows. But they can definitely pack on some size in that time.

Mine really like anything meaty, especially reef frenzy. But they’ll eat anything. What do yours like to eat?

I feed them a mix of everything I've got. I'll mix it with something different each time I feed. They are not fussy at all and will eat just about anything. Pellet, reef roids, mysis, chopped up krill.

 

[Matt Miller]

do they attach to rocks immediately or is there a process to adding them to a tank and ensuring they go on the rock you want it to be on?

I usually shut down my power heads for about 20m or so and put them where I'd "like" them to be. They'll usually attach fairly quickly, but it's a good idea to watch them for a while just in case they decide to move.