My Ritteri Anemone Journey...

[mmletzko]

Just wanted to share my experience so far with a Ritteri Anemone, as I know they're a challenging one to keep.

I tried once before about a year ago or so, but I think I was a bit too greedy with what I was doing. I added it to my 40g breeder that I turned it into an AIO by building an overflow chamber for filteration, skimmer, return pump, heater, etc.. The tank had about 15 bubble tips (2 black widows and the rest rainbows), a Sebae and an LTA. My goal was to have a clown harem. The ritteri seemed okay for the first week or so, but then started going downhill pretty quickly. It deflated a lot, had a gaping mouth, and moved around a lot. I quarantined it and treated it with cipro, but I was too late.

I've always wanted one so I was determined to try again. This time I would be better prepared. I set up a new 20g cube in my office (I WFH) - new rock, new water, etc. to be a BTA-only tank with a pair of clowns. It took 5 months for it to be ready for BTAs. I knew it was ready because starting at month 3, I would transfer a nem in a basket from the 40g to this one. If after 1-2 weeks it lost color, I just moved it back to the 40g to recover - still in the basket. Then I would try again a couple of weeks later. It was my test nem.

Once the office tank was ready, I got to work on the 40g. I replaced a lot of the existing sand, and added quite a bit more (for a diamond goby), removed a lot of the rock and built a new rock structure with new flat rocks - one directly under the light, and moved all of the nems out. I even moved out a huge green finger leather coral as I know they can release toxins - JUST in case. So now the tank only had some mushrooms, zoas, polys, and pulsing xenia remaining. Only 5 fish - 3 clowns, a springer damsel, and a newly added diamond goby.

After it went though a little mini-cycle (a few weeks) due to the new sand, I was ready to go. No ammonia, and nitrate and phospate were at good levels. I asked my LFS when they were getting more Ritteri and they told me they were planning on ordering some soon as multiple people had been asking. A few days later they had 3 nice ones. I scooped up the largest, healthiest looking one. I floated it for 45 minutes and added a little water (via turkey baster) from my tank a few times during that 45 minutes. The LFS said they don't drip-acclimate them so I didn't do much of one either.

I turned off the return pump and wavemaker and placed it on the top rock. It stuck right away and inflated nicely. Looked very healthy. I was excited! But, then the fun begain....

A few hours later it deflated completely. Then a couple of hours later in the evening it perked up again. Over the next few days, it deflated completely, and often. It spent more time deflated than inflated. It usually looked better in the evening, so I thought maybe the intensity of my light (Smatfarm G5) was too high - I backed it down a little. The mouth was gaping a little - especially when it deflated...but nothing major. Most of the time (whether it was inflated or deflated, it had what basically looked like a national geographic nipple, lol. According to what I've read, they shouldn't deflate that often, and it really shouldn't have a 'nipple' mouth. It also wasn't accepting any food (tried some shrimp a few times).

At this point in time, at the 5 day mark, I wasn't sure if it was just trying to get used to its new environment, or it was in need of some medical care. So, just in case...I decided to treat it with Cipro, in-tank. I know that's not recommended as Cipro can kill beneficial bacteria, but I felt like it would have been more stressful to move it to a quarantine tank and then move it back. I prepared a week's worth of 300mg daily cipro treatments, using jello-shot cups with some RODI water. I removed the carbon, turned off the skimmer and started dosing. I modified the light schedule so they would go off at 8pm, which is when I dosed...giving me 12 hours of darkness for the medicine to work.

Each day, things improved. It never moved, but still deflated regularly. Every 2 days I did a 20% water change. I decided to do 1 extra night of dosing (so 8 days), just to be sure. For the last couple of days, it has not defalated AT ALL, which I assume is a great sign. It also finally accepted food yesterday (the 7th day of dosing)...so that's a great sign too.

I know it's only been 2 weeks now, but I feel really good now about it's chance for success. I would LOVE to get a green one in there too, but I won't even attempt another until I've had this one for at least a few months. One thing I have noticed that still concerns me just a little is that the tentacles are a little shorter than when I first got it. I've read that could be a sign of too much light, but we'll see.

I attached a couple of pics. I could watch it all day - so mesmerizing.

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

Keep up the WQ, flow, high PAR , and observations. IMO mags are hard to establish, but once settled in they’re bullet proof. I’m current 1 for 5 .

 

[mmletzko]

Update on my journey.

For the past 2 1/2 months (since treatment), it's been fully inflated 24x7, eating well (feeding it a small piece of shrimp a couple of times per week) and still hasn't moved from it's spot. I added a little 6500k spot light a couple of weeks after treatment - which it really seems to like.

But, a few days ago it started to deflate a bit, and then a bit more...and since then hasn't fully inflated. These are the recent events:

1) Added a few torches, hammer, birds nest and monti cap in the weeks before, which have all been doing really well. No indications of any infections on the LPS.
2) The last 2 times I fed it a piece of shrimp, I soaked it in Selcon for some extra vitamins. The last feeding was a couple of days before the start of the deflation.
3) I was slacking in water changes a little bit - last one I had done was at least a few weeks ago, and only a small one - maybe 10%

What I have done in the last 24 hours:
1) Added some carbon, just in case there are any toxins in the water. I don't usually keep carbon in the tank all the time.
2) Did a 25% water change.

I keep Alk ~9, nitrate is ~5 (tough to tell with the Salifert kit) and phosphate is almost undetectable.

The mouth hasn't been gaping, only puckered a little (like a nipple), it's foot is still suck securely to the same spot, and its tentacles are still very sticky.

What I'm wondering is - how much time should I give it before maybe treating it again (in-tank). It's been almost 3 days now. I would rather not treat it if it's not necessary, but not sure how long I should wait as I don't want to wait so long that it's too late.

Have any of you with Ritteri had multiple-day time periods when yours would stay deflated? It doesn't even look like a 'pitiful' FULL deflation. There's one in an LFS that I've seen look like it was melting, and then next time I'd see it it was fine.

Here's what it normally looks like...this was taken last week

Here is what it looks like now:

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[55semireef]

Update on my journey.

For the past 2 1/2 months (since treatment), it's been fully inflated 24x7, eating well (feeding it a small piece of shrimp a couple of times per week) and still hasn't moved from it's spot. I added a little 6500k spot light a couple of weeks after treatment - which it really seems to like.

But, a few days ago it started to deflate a bit, and then a bit more...and since then hasn't fully inflated. These are the recent events:

1) Added a few torches, hammer, birds nest and monti cap in the weeks before, which have all been doing really well. No indications of any infections on the LPS.
2) The last 2 times I fed it a piece of shrimp, I soaked it in Selcon for some extra vitamins. The last feeding was a couple of days before the start of the deflation.
3) I was slacking in water changes a little bit - last one I had done was at least a few weeks ago, and only a small one - maybe 10%

What I have done in the last 24 hours:
1) Added some carbon, just in case there are any toxins in the water. I don't usually keep carbon in the tank all the time.
2) Did a 25% water change.

I keep Alk ~9, nitrate is ~5 (tough to tell with the Salifert kit) and phosphate is almost undetectable.

The mouth hasn't been gaping, only puckered a little (like a nipple), it's foot is still suck securely to the same spot, and its tentacles are still very sticky.

What I'm wondering is - how much time should I give it before maybe treating it again (in-tank). It's been almost 3 days now. I would rather not treat it if it's not necessary, but not sure how long I should wait as I don't want to wait so long that it's too late.

Have any of you with Ritteri had multiple-day time periods when yours would stay deflated? It doesn't even look like a 'pitiful' FULL deflation. There's one in an LFS that I've seen look like it was melting, and then next time I'd see it it was fine.

Here's what it normally looks like...this was taken last week

Here is what it looks like now:

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

I probably wouldn’t jump straight to treating again based on what you described. If it were gaping, losing stickiness, or letting go of the rock, I’d be a lot more worried about infection. But a planted foot, sticky tentacles, and no real gaping makes me think irritation/stress first, not bacterial issue first.

The timing with added corals, slacking on water changes, and then the deflation makes me think something in the system changed and the nem is reacting to that. Running carbon and doing the water change was the right call. Personally I’d hold off on feeding, keep carbon on, keep everything stable, and watch closely for whether it starts trending worse or starts recovering over the next couple days.

If it starts doing repeated hard deflations, loses adhesion, gets less sticky, or the mouth starts going, then I’d consider treatment a lot faster

 

[mmletzko]

I probably wouldn’t jump straight to treating again based on what you described. If it were gaping, losing stickiness, or letting go of the rock, I’d be a lot more worried about infection. But a planted foot, sticky tentacles, and no real gaping makes me think irritation/stress first, not bacterial issue first.

The timing with added corals, slacking on water changes, and then the deflation makes me think something in the system changed and the nem is reacting to that. Running carbon and doing the water change was the right call. Personally I’d hold off on feeding, keep carbon on, keep everything stable, and watch closely for whether it starts trending worse or starts recovering over the next couple days.

If it starts doing repeated hard deflations, loses adhesion, gets less sticky, or the mouth starts going, then I’d consider treatment a lot faster

Welp, I was going to just do another 25% water change today, but I decided not to take a chance since it had been almost 4 days of it being deflated and still hadn't improved much. From what I've read - it really shouldn't be deflated for more than a day or two if it's 'normal'.

So, I prepared 7 days of a Cipro treament (in-tank), like I did when I first got it. I dosed last night (carbon removed and skimmer off).

This could obviously just be coincidence, but it looks MUCH better today:

I'm going to do another 25% water change here in a few, and swap out my gyre wavemaker for a clean one as that one has been on there for a few months since it was last cleaned.

I guess I'll just take it day by day. I already mixed the Cipro, so I'd hate to just throw it away...and typically when you do antibiotics, you want to finish the treatment until it's over (with humans and pets anyway). When I did it before - it didn't hurt anything else in the tank, so I'm confident in doing so again.

 

[justinm]

How is your nem doing?

 

[bmheath]

Very interesting. I want to get a nem once I get my upgraded tank in. I want my clownfish to host it, like most people I’m sure do. What nems do people recommend?

 

[mmletzko]

How is your nem doing?

Great timing - I was going to post either later today or tomorrow, lol.

So, I think I figured out the issue. After the first night of treatment (in-tank) last Thursday, the next day he bounced back...then in the afternoon...pitiful again until very late in the evening. Same cycle repeated for the next few days. I was really hesisitant to continue treatment, but also concerned about not doing so and missing a window. I did a couple of 25% water changes over the last 4 days, and have continued treatment each night, then turned the skimmer on in the AM to run during the day to also help pull out any remaining meds.

But, yesterday afternoon it finally occured to me what [I believe now] was the issue. Sometimes it's the simple things, you know? Like not as bad as "is it plugged in?"...but not far off. Temperature!

We like to open our windows when we can, but it's been a little warmer lately. We usually close the windows and turn on the AC when it gets to like 75-76 (depending on the humidity), but during the last couple of weeks, it's been very windy so we've had a nice breeze going through. I do have an air pump pulling air from the outside and pumping it into the tank, but still..it's nice to get rid of a bunch of the built-up CO2 in the house.

The temp was around 83. I'm using an electronic one and wasn't 100% sure how accurate it was, so I popped a mercury one in the tank and amazingly enough, it's right on the money. So, I closed the windows, turned on the air, and floated a couple of frozen water bottles in the tank to get the temp down. I also decreased the temp on my heater a little, even though the dial is already set to like 77. Those things are always so inaccurate with respect to the dial itself. Some you can calibrate, some you can't.

I also ordered an aquaruim fan that I'm going to try. It has a probe so the fans (that will blow across the surface) will only kick on if the temp goes above a temp. We like to have the windows open, so I want to have an option to keep it cool, but don't want to go the chiller route.

I believe my theory is correct because I have purposely kept the windows closed and the air on today, and it's been looking much better all day. The temp now hovers between 79-80 instead of around 82.

I'll come back in a week or so with an update. Here are a few pics.

 

[mmletzko]

Very interesting. I want to get a nem once I get my upgraded tank in. I want my clownfish to host it, like most people I’m sure do. What nems do people recommend?

If you're new to nems, I would suggest a BTA - Rainbow specifically. They are the coolest looking but also most affordable of the BTAs. I would stay away from plain Rose BTAs. In my experience, they stay smaller,
multiply quicker (so they can become more of a nuisance) and aren't as colorful. Be careful as they are both referred to as "RBTAs" since the R could be "Rose" or "Rainbow". There are lots of color variations of rainbows which is why I like them.. I have a 20g office tank with a bunch of different ones in it.

My personal favorite of the BTAs is the Holy Grail. It's bright green with purple/pink tips.

You can mix most BTAs together, but there are a few that some people have issues keeping with others - like Chicago or Colorado Sunbursts. Black Widows have also been known to be a little more finiky to mix...more so than Roses/Rainbows, but not as much as Colorados/Chicagos. I would stay away from the plain green ones with the short/stubby tentacles. Not sure why, but those are the hardest BTAs to keep in a home aquarium long term, and it's a mystery as to why. I was having a conversation with the owner of one of the LFSs about them just last week. He has no idea why either. They are very commonly sold in places like Petsmart, Petco, etc., but you'll also find them in a lot of LFSs.

LTAs aren't too bad, but require a bit of a deeper sand bed and get be a little more finiky about settling in. They will host clowns, but it's not as common as with BTAs. They also usually stay near the sand with their foot wedged under a rock or to the bottom of the aquaruim. You can help them by digging a little whole for them to wedge their foot in.

The next more difficult is probably Sebaes. They are also usually sand dwellers and are known to struggle in aquariums. Some people can have success with them, but they're definitely on the more difficult side. You can also try to dig a little hole for them, but they are famous for just floating around the tank and not finding a happy spot.

The other in the trade is the Carpet. I've never had one, but they are more challenging like the Magnifica/Ritteri. They need space, and are more known to eat fish. They can also pack a punch with their stings.

Here are some examples of BTAs. The bright green one is the Holy Grail. The others are different rainbows.

Oh, and regarding hosting clowns. Some clowns will take to a nem immediately and some won't. There are ways to 'help' that relationship get started, but the one I've had the most success with is by putting a nem and the clowns into a confined space together - like a bowl/bucket, etc. So before you put your nem into a tank, put it into a bowl, and then catch at least one of your clowns and put it in the container with it. Once one clown goes in, the other will usually follow.

In my 20g BTA tank, I have a pair of Picassos who haven't made the connection yet and it's been months. Probably because they have spent their lives in empty tanks. I'm trying to just let nature take its course, but I might nudge the process along a little the next time I buy a new nem, using this process.

 

[mmletzko]

Great timing - I was going to post either later today or tomorrow, lol.

So, I think I figured out the issue. After the first night of treatment (in-tank) last Thursday, the next day he bounced back...then in the afternoon...pitiful again until very late in the evening. Same cycle repeated for the next few days. I was really hesisitant to continue treatment, but also concerned about not doing so and missing a window. I did a couple of 25% water changes over the last 4 days, and have continued treatment each night, then turned the skimmer on in the AM to run during the day to also help pull out any remaining meds.

But, yesterday afternoon it finally occured to me what [I believe now] was the issue. Sometimes it's the simple things, you know? Like not as bad as "is it plugged in?"...but not far off. Temperature!

We like to open our windows when we can, but it's been a little warmer lately. We usually close the windows and turn on the AC when it gets to like 75-76 (depending on the humidity), but during the last couple of weeks, it's been very windy so we've had a nice breeze going through. I do have an air pump pulling air from the outside and pumping it into the tank, but still..it's nice to get rid of a bunch of the built-up CO2 in the house.

The temp was around 83. I'm using an electronic one and wasn't 100% sure how accurate it was, so I popped a mercury one in the tank and amazingly enough, it's right on the money. So, I closed the windows, turned on the air, and floated a couple of frozen water bottles in the tank to get the temp down. I also decreased the temp on my heater a little, even though the dial is already set to like 77. Those things are always so inaccurate with respect to the dial itself. Some you can calibrate, some you can't.

I also ordered an aquaruim fan that I'm going to try. It has a probe so the fans (that will blow across the surface) will only kick on if the temp goes above a temp. We like to have the windows open, so I want to have an option to keep it cool, but don't want to go the chiller route.

I believe my theory is correct because I have purposely kept the windows closed and the air on today, and it's been looking much better all day. The temp now hovers between 79-80 instead of around 82.

I'll come back in a week or so with an update. Here are a few pics.

Update on Thursday - next day.

Welp - that wasn't it. Darnit. Yesterday he did great, but starting early this afternoon, even though the temp is only at 80.3, he's not happy again. Back to the drawing board...

 

[dvgyfresh]

Update on Thursday - next day.

Welp - that wasn't it. Darnit. Yesterday he did great, but starting early this afternoon, even though the temp is only at 80.3, he's not happy again. Back to the drawing board...

thanks for keeping us updated

 

[skyrne_isk]

I keep my mags for many years around 77. they definitely do not prefer warmer temperatures. That being said I would not drop your temperature straight from 80 to 77 but I would think about about the cooler side of that spectrum. Most of the time when they get droopy like that it is indeed something bacterial going on. I have been known to feed a gut loaded piece of shrimp with Cipro in it to usually good effect. it usually takes a couple days of this kind of treatment. but the pieces of food must be very small, which can make gut loading tricky. I will often use the end of a shrimp tail.

 

[D-Nak]

I'm glad it perked back up.

You mentioned feeding it shrimp. What kind of shrimp? The reason I ask is because a lot of shrimp sold frozen in grocery stores is treated with Sodium Tripolyphosphate (sometimes referred to as STPP). I don't know exactly how much is harmful (or if it even is harmful) but I try to avoid anything with any type of phosphate. Just look at the ingredient list and it'll be listed if present. There are shrimp that you can buy that doesn't have it, so that's what I look for. Or I feed frozen food meant for our fish to consume (like LRS Fish or Reef Frenzy).

 

[mmletzko]

I'm glad it perked back up.

You mentioned feeding it shrimp. What kind of shrimp? The reason I ask is because a lot of shrimp sold frozen in grocery stores is treated with Sodium Tripolyphosphate (sometimes referred to as STPP). I don't know exactly how much is harmful (or if it even is harmful) but I try to avoid anything with any type of phosphate. Just look at the ingredient list and it'll be listed if present. There are shrimp that you can buy that doesn't have it, so that's what I look for. Or I feed frozen food meant for our fish to consume (like LRS Fish or Reef Frenzy).

I was feeding it thawed out frozen cooked shrimp, which I discovered isn't a good idea. So last week I bought some frozen raw uncooked shrimp. I haven't feed him yet (as he just got out of his 2nd Cipro treatment, which I'll detail more below), but I looked at the label after reading your comment about STPP, and sure enough - it does have that in it. It says it's to 'retain moisture'. So now I'm hesitant to feed him any of that without some further research. Thanks for that info!

I do have LRS Reef Frenzy too (I alternative that with feedings of mysis/brine), so maybe I'll just feed him the bigger chunks it has that are too big for the fish to eat. Actually, when I fed that to the tank last night, one of the clowns did bring the nem a huge piece that he couldn't eat so that's good.

 

[mmletzko]

I have continued to bring the temp down - to keep it more around the 78 mark. I even bought a fan that has a temp probe on it that will kick on (blowing across the surface) when the temp gets up to a certain point. It actually works really well.

But, I don't think that was the root cause of the problem/reason for the constant deflation. He spent more time deflated than inflated. So, I did another 8 day in-tank Cipro treatment. The last dose was 2 days ago. He's looked MUCH better starting at around the 4th treatment day, meaning no deflations since then.

On another note - it handled a pretty big temp swing last week nicely. I work from home most days, but ended up having to go into one of the offices for the day last Thursday. Wouldn't you know it - the power went off for a couple of minutes and when it came back on, the return pump didn't. I had JUST put that return pump in a day or two before during a water change because the one that was in there needed to be cleaned. It's the one I usually use for water changes and it HAS been more tempermental...usually needing a couple of bangs on it to get it to come on. I kind of forgot about that when I put it in there. I just bought a couple more new ones so I'm going to swap that one out soon.

Anyway, since the return pump wasn't working and the heater is in the overflow, the tank water dropped to about 72 by the time I got home. The nem was perfectly fine. No issues while the temp came back up either.

So, things are looking good at the moment. He's been fully inflated and healthy looking since early last week.

 

[mmletzko]

Couple of weeks later - things still going great. The nem has never looked better. But, he's actually reaching for more light now, which is crazy because it never really did that before. Maybe because it hadn't ever been 100% healthy, even though it didn't deflate for over a couple of months. So, I decided to upgrade the clip-on par20 spotlight bulb from 50w to 75w. I got one that allows you to change the spread (like 20% up to 60%), the wattage (50 or 75), and the color (from 2000 up to 6500). 2 of them for $13 at Home Depot - pretty cool.

So right now it's set at 75w at 20% spread at 6500K. We'll see how he likes it...and if still reaching after some weeks, I will either get a 100w bulb, or I'll get another clip-on fixture and put that 2nd bulb in there. Then I can go to 100w, 125w, and then 150w...without having to buy more bulbs.