My Magnificent Sea Anemone Journey....

Maxx

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Interestingly enough mine have yet to move... but i know its not happy.


You're not missing much. Just a few prolonged heart attacks or a couple hours worth of panic when you have to go to work and dont have anyone to give you updates on what the anemone is doing.

Even having years of experience with this particular anemone, I was not happy it was trying to wander.

Smaller more regular feedings is better long term than less frequent heavy feedings. Once it get's healthy enough, the clowns will not be able to pull food from it, and it will "steal" food from them as they bring it back to the anemone in an attempt to eat in peace without competing with the other fish in the tank.
 
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You're not missing much. Just a few prolonged heart attacks or a couple hours worth of panic when you have to go to work and dont have anyone to give you updates on what the anemone is doing.

Even having years of experience with this particular anemone, I was not happy it was trying to wander.

Smaller more regular feedings is better long term than less frequent heavy feedings. Once it get's healthy enough, the clowns will not be able to pull food from it, and it will "steal" food from them as they bring it back to the anemone in an attempt to eat in peace without competing with the other fish in the tank.
Nice! @Maxx thanks buddy seriously, i appreciate you continuing to ask and help with me with my Mag Journey, of which you are very much a part of. Thanks again my friend... seriously.
 

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I must say this has been a very educational thread! Sometimes it's not about what you should do, but for me, this is more of what I shouldn't do. I don't think I will EVER attempt such a complicated creature. But, by riding along on your journey, I'm spared the heartache (and wasted money) on something that requires far more care than I can give at this time. Thank you very, very much for sharing your ongoing adventure. I wish you and your Mag the very best of luck and success.
 
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I must say this has been a very educational thread! Sometimes it's not about what you should do, but for me, this is more of what I shouldn't do. I don't think I will EVER attempt such a complicated creature. But, by riding along on your journey, I'm spared the heartache (and wasted money) on something that requires far more care than I can give at this time. Thank you very, very much for sharing your ongoing adventure. I wish you and your Mag the very best of luck and success.
Thanks! Its been a journey and the acclimation in my experience is painstakingly long.
 

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Nice! @Maxx thanks buddy seriously, i appreciate you continuing to ask and help with me with my Mag Journey, of which you are very much a part of. Thanks again my friend... seriously.


You are quite welcome.
I dont recall where you live, but I'm in St Louis Mo. Not exactly near the coast, so getting healthy livestock here in the heartland isnt always easy. I used to live on the west coast when I was a kid and it was substantially easier (back then) getting healthier livestock which gave reefkeepers a better shot at success.

I've made mistakes with H.magnifica anemones in the past. If I can share my mistakes and what I've found to be helpful in my experiences with these animals, then we can all have a better chance at success.

And you and I and a whole host of others are successful at keeping reef tanks, odds are we'll be able to get more people into this hobby and be able to continue growing it.

I've been keeping saltwater tanks since I was 12 (in 1985) and I've seen the reefkeeping hobby grow from the early days when Xenia was hard to keep, the Berlin method with a rotating spray bar over DLS material in a wet sump, a counter current protein skimmer with a wooden air stone, and 175 w MH with 3500k bulbs and Actinic VHO's was the highest of high tech, to where it is today.

I'm still learning just like everyone else here...and there are people here with some AMAZING tanks that I could only dream of...So I guess what I'm saying is that you're quite welcome, and I'm just trying to pay my way like the rest of us.
 

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I received a beautiful purple Mag Saturday morning on 03/07, i was really excited to have the king of sea anemones in my aquarium. Prior to ordering the anemone i researched their requirements, care and signs to look for to get ahead of any potential problems. I have had my Colorado Sunburst bubble tipped anemone for over 3 years and it has split more than a handful of times. I also have kept SPS corals with success for years as well. I believe all the years of reef keeping and experience would give me the best chance of success at keeping the infamous Magnificent Sea Anemone. I have documented my journey on the below timeline. I hope this will help anyone who is thinking about keeping or has recently acquired one of these beautiful creatures.

Here is my story:

I ordered my sea anemone 03/04 and it shipped the day of 03/06. I chose the online retailer due to the length of time they stated they keep their mags before they sell them to the public. In my case my anemone, according to them has been in their system since 10/2019. This was important as it should result is a very easy transition from their system to mine or so i thought.

After removing the nem from the shipping package, i noticed it was packaged really well! I begin to temp acclimate and later drip acclimate the nem to its new home.

1584330305387.png



This pic is the 1st few hours after the nem was introduced into the aquarium on 03/07 after acclimation. It quickly latched on the rock work, although not completely.
1583945940307.png


Early observation: After it completely latched to the rock work... a few hours later, slightly gaping mouth... not overly concerned at this point, but noted. My thoughts...its adjusting to the water conditions, lighting, current....etc.

1584328752944.png


It was recommended that i add small clown fish to further help it acclimate. So a few hours later, two small Occellaris Clownfish were added, at this point all appeared well.... Success!! Or so i thought.



1583945986408.png




1583946010829.png



03/08: The following morning, the nem had a tight mouth but something looked off.... didn't look full and more tentacles where deflated. At this point im getting concerned.

1584329180377.png



A couple of hours later:

1584331141210.png


4 hours later: The nem appeared to deflate. Based on prior research, in Mag anemones especially...this is a red flag. Im concerned my nem is not healthy. I also read sometimes, they will deflate a time or two as an adjustment in a new system. My thought...I will give it the benefit of doubt.

1583946164898.png


03/09: I didnt take any pictures, however observed the nem repeating the above cycle 2 additional times in one day. My biggest fear became a reality. I knew according to my research, if i didn't act now the animal would surely die in my system. I placed an overnight order of Fish Flox (30 pills 500MG each pill), in the meantime i would continue to observe and look for more negative signs.

03/10: I came home from work and at my door was my cipro order, when i looked at the nem that evening.....it didnt look well.

1584331674749.png



At that moment I decided to take it out and treat it. Was it the right decision? Was i overreacting?

03/10: The anemone looked worse after i placed it in the treated hospital tank. Its mouth was gaped open pretty bad and all sorts of gelatin type substances coming from it. Its body was not flat, but smaller and tentacles deflated...big time.

My treatment regiment consisted of breaking one of the 500MG pills in half and mixing it with a small cup of water from the DT to dissolve it. I filled a 10 gallon aquarium with water from the DT and placed the anemone in the hospital tank (10 gallon aquarium) and mixed the dissolved cipro in the hospital tank.


1583946234196.png


03/11: I continued the treatment by removing each day, 50 -60% of the water from the hospital tank and replacing it with water from the DT. Once the lights were off, i would dose 250MG of cipro. The goal was to repeat this process until 7 days passed. The nem appeared to get progressively worst. At this point it never looked better than the above image.

03/12 : I almost gave up... I figured the anemone was dead. It was unresponsive and not sticking to anything including the glass. I reached out to some folks here and the advice i was given was the following: Until the anemone breaks apart or turns into mush..there is still a chance....

1584327543339.png


03/12: I continued the regiment, although in my mind I was preparing myself for the loss. That evening upon returning home from work, i walked in to find the following surprise:

1584328081883.png

1584333154742.png


OMG!!! Did it work? Is my nem good? Will it make it? I could not contain myself.... this is the best the nem looked since the 1st day i placed it in the display. I remember the advice i received from @ca1ore "It will likely go through cycles of looking good then looking bad. Don’t get too encouraged by the former or discouraged by the latter. Do the full 7 days regardless." Great advice!

So the Journey continues....

03/15: The nem continues to maintain and i have not observed it deflating since the day i thought it was dead. This was a few hours ago:


1584333316564.png


If it all goes well, in a couple of days it will be reunited with the clownfish that sorely misses it!


A special thanks to @ca1ore for the great advice! I will continue to document my nems journey. Thanks for being apart of this story, hopefully it will be an success!

Looks like you were very lucky!! As a long time importer of marine fish over 30 years, RItteri are the hardest to keep mostly because they are damaged either in collection or transport to exporter. Looking at the progression of your pictures I was very familiar with how it looked at each stage. Looks like somehow, either the flox ( which seems unlikely that it would effect it ) or maybe the time away from the clowns to acclimate, but you just might get it to recover!! Congrats!!!
 
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Looks like you were very lucky!! As a long time importer of marine fish over 30 years, RItteri are the hardest to keep mostly because they are damaged either in collection or transport to exporter. Looking at the progression of your pictures I was very familiar with how it looked at each stage. Looks like somehow, either the flox ( which seems unlikely that it would effect it ) or maybe the time away from the clowns to acclimate, but you just might get it to recover!! Congrats!!!
Awww thanks buddy.
 
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Another update....

So i have been feeding the Mag daily at this point.....its looking better guys and its starting to get the"dirty" look on the tentacles (Sign of zooxanthellae returning). Its also starting to spread across the rock work more and the tentacles are getting thicker.... If only i can get it the size of my bubbletip.....i know i know, one day and step at a time.





This was 4 months ago;

1596754273832.png


This shot was taken today.
1596753710745.png

One month ago:

1596754317181.png



Just for comparison... this was my bubble tip 3 years ago:

1596755019762.png




About a year ago:

1596754698085.png



Today:
1596754780584.png
 
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You are quite welcome.
I dont recall where you live, but I'm in St Louis Mo. Not exactly near the coast, so getting healthy livestock here in the heartland isnt always easy. I used to live on the west coast when I was a kid and it was substantially easier (back then) getting healthier livestock which gave reefkeepers a better shot at success.

I've made mistakes with H.magnifica anemones in the past. If I can share my mistakes and what I've found to be helpful in my experiences with these animals, then we can all have a better chance at success.

And you and I and a whole host of others are successful at keeping reef tanks, odds are we'll be able to get more people into this hobby and be able to continue growing it.

I've been keeping saltwater tanks since I was 12 (in 1985) and I've seen the reefkeeping hobby grow from the early days when Xenia was hard to keep, the Berlin method with a rotating spray bar over DLS material in a wet sump, a counter current protein skimmer with a wooden air stone, and 175 w MH with 3500k bulbs and Actinic VHO's was the highest of high tech, to where it is today.

I'm still learning just like everyone else here...and there are people here with some AMAZING tanks that I could only dream of...So I guess what I'm saying is that you're quite welcome, and I'm just trying to pay my way like the rest of us.


Im in Houston, Tx @Maxx...i hadnt been in the saltwater game as long as you, maybe 15 years for me.... and i do remember the wet dry filter and the berlin method!! oh the memories....ROFL
 

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You're doing good with anemone man...Keep going!
 
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Hey Family!! Im sorry i haven't updated this thread in a bit. Im in Houston and between dealing with family in Louisiana due to hurricane Laura and other family stuff i hadn't updated this. So here we are. In two days it will be 6 months of owning this challenging anemone. A couple of observations.... i didn't realize how much zooxanthellae the anemone lost during treating until i looked at some earlier pictures.

Feeding for me has been key to my success with this anemone thus far instead of losing size as experienced before, its getting bigger and i couldn't be any happier. Please see Today's pix

FYI, im going to start taking pix from the same angle so we can use that as a point of reference.


1599337900981.png


1599337883470.png
 

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I'm glad your tank's doing well. I was beginning to worry you had lost power or had something catastrophic happen with the tank in the past month.

The anemone looks better, but you've still got a ways to go if it's just getting "dirty" with Zooxanthellae. IIRC, it took several months for my anemones to get it back after bleaching from a thermal event, (heater died in the winter...tank dropped into the low 60's for a couple of days). They made a full recovery, but it took time.

In my limited experience, (2 H.magnifica anemones in the same system. One was with clowns, the other was not), the anemone with the clowns recovered zoox quicker than the one without. Substantially quicker.

Glad you're still moving forward.
 
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I'm glad your tank's doing well. I was beginning to worry you had lost power or had something catastrophic happen with the tank in the past month.

The anemone looks better, but you've still got a ways to go if it's just getting "dirty" with Zooxanthellae. IIRC, it took several months for my anemones to get it back after bleaching from a thermal event, (heater died in the winter...tank dropped into the low 60's for a couple of days). They made a full recovery, but it took time.

In my limited experience, (2 H.magnifica anemones in the same system. One was with clowns, the other was not), the anemone with the clowns recovered zoox quicker than the one without. Substantially quicker.

Glad you're still moving forward.
Thanks brother! No power outage thank god....although my whole home generator was delayed:mad::mad:. I was dealing with high levels of tin which has dropped to normal levels. For me i just have to take it one day at a time.... admittedly i have to frequently check my patience....i want everything to be good. But as with anything in life you work hard and you appreciate the journey as well as the reward....so that is where i am.
 

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Yup.
It's good that it's spread to a bunch of different tentacles. More places to really take off from.

IIRC, it was several months before mine got back to full coloration.
 
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Yup.
It's good that it's spread to a bunch of different tentacles. More places to really take off from.

IIRC, it was several months before mine got back to full coloration.
Thats good to know, ive been going through my pictures and watching the transition of this animal is amazing. Its been a journey and it hasnt really started...lol
 

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Nope....it hasnt.
You've only had it for a few months.
Before you know it, you'll turn around and have to think to figure out how long you've actually had it.

I introduced some orange skunks to mine, (A. sandaracinos). I'd been holding out for captive bred A. nigripes...but that's taking longer than I'd like.

The anemone looks better with clowns in it.
 
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Nope....it hasnt.
You've only had it for a few months.
Before you know it, you'll turn around and have to think to figure out how long you've actually had it.

I introduced some orange skunks to mine, (A. sandaracinos). I'd been holding out for captive bred A. nigripes...but that's taking longer than I'd like.

The anemone looks better with clowns in it.
I always confuse the Skunk clowns vs. Orange Skunk... they look almost identical.

1599802570267.png


I have a pair of the below clownfish hosted by bubbletips

1599802692960.png



1599802919402.png


1599803289524.png


And of course pix of my Ocellaris Clowns with the Mag


1599802988892.png


1599803359320.png
 
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