Ruckus16
Active Member
Have you had them spawn before? I just found 5 in my tank. About the size of pencil erasers. They must have been a fall spawn.
Rock Anemone babies!
- Thread starter AcroNem
- Start date
- Tagged users None
OP
OP
Nope this was my first batch, I've raised many anemones but not Phymanthus crucifer. My guess is that they're probably a bit older than mine.
Ruckus16
Active Member
It's awesome! I have been following your post and anytime I did maintenance I would look for little ones. Once I spotted one I kept finding more. I'd like to set up a tank just for them to breed.
OP
OP
Well thank you I appreciate that. It's been a curiosity of mine for a while now I really like this species. I'm the same, I keep toying with the idea of just making this system only for raising them and having 15 or so adults in it. How many adults do you have in your system?
Ruckus16
Active Member
I got a little carried away! I have 10 adults and now the 5 little ones.
I was under the impression they only spawn around the fall and spring equinox. Looking up the fall equinox I wouldn't have had any at that time(September 22). There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on their spawning habits or even on the growth rates. These are some of my adults, I isolated them to a solo rock.
I was under the impression they only spawn around the fall and spring equinox. Looking up the fall equinox I wouldn't have had any at that time(September 22). There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on their spawning habits or even on the growth rates. These are some of my adults, I isolated them to a solo rock.
OP
OP
Nice! Those look great. I need to get a few with the other color patterns, the way I get them I don't get to choose individuals though so I'll just hope.
Thanks for the updates! I had some babies this past equinox as well. I saw the mother that was popping them out, im hoping shes not the only female in the tank as I've got 10 adults. a 9-1 ratio would make me feel bad for her hahaha! Right not I'm sitting on about 5-6 babies that I can see but they seem to be quite mobile. One popped up overnight about 5 inches from its previous location, but in actuality it may not be the same one.
JaimeAdams
2500 Club Member
I had a customer at the store a few weeks back that has a bunch in his tank. He is certainly an anemone fan. He said although everything that he reads online says that they only spawn on the equinoxes that he has observed his spawning almost monthly.
OP
OP
They are definitely able to move quite far, all of mine have relocated several feet from where I first placed them after they were expelled.
Oh I'm not unhappy at all with how many I still have, just wanting to keep as many going as possible. The gyre pump and filter with no grate or cover on it are likely the culprits for the deaths of the others. I do feed heavily, target feeding 3x weekly with broadcast feeds nightly. I'm sure it's a factor.
Although I can agree that many do seem to follow one cycle or another, I've seen a lot of spawning events in other species of corals and anemones that don't fit any of the previous factors in their spawning cycles. I just assume that they are incredibly healthy with a lot of food. Perhaps a couple other factors that can come in to play, changes in temperature, placement, lighting etc. Could all trigger a spawning from one species or another.
How often are you guys feeding the parents? up until the birth i was feeding 5 times a week, now im at about 2x a week due to rise in nitrates but im about to dial that back in and go daily again. They seemed to love it, Im hoping it will get them to breed more often. That, warm water and some smooth jazz!
OP
OP
They rely more on supplemental feedings, they're always eager to grab food. I target feed mine 3 times per week with either mysis, Pacific krill (smaller variety), or 800-1000 micron golden pearls. They also catch a lot out of the water column during my nightly broadcast feeds that make it so I can't see the back of the tank it's so murky.
Ruckus16
Active Member
Have you noticed a large variation in growth rates. I have some that are bigger than a pencil eraser but I found 3 green ones today that are maybe half that size. Wondering if I had more than one spawn happen in my tank
OP
OP
Sure have. With this being the first batch I don't have much to go off of, I'll have more data with the next batch. But with this one I have some that are 6-8mm across in the pictures, but also still have a couple that look like they've barely grown even though they're getting the same foods and are two inches away. Doesn't make much sense but oh well.
OP
OP
Found what seems to be the "perfect" food for the young nems at this size tonight while target feeding everything. I usually have a slurry but tonight was just 100-200 micron golden pearls and the response was crazy. Almost frantic. So it must be the perfect size for the 4-8mm nems. Just wanted to add that for others that are currently raising E. crucifer of their own. Yes they'll eat pretty much anything, but it's nice knowing they love something that's very good for them.
OP
OP
@kdino1 what size are yours now? Pictures are welcome. Now that I'm back to nightly target feedings for every nem they're growing steadily again. I'll try to get more pics later.
OP
OP
Just got home with the lights still on, and counted 21. So perhaps there were some closed and retracted (they're on a ceramic bio media brick, so I'm thinking they can potentially retract all the way inside it still) when I looked last with lights off. That's a bit more than the 15 of my last count.
Dalton Hunter
Community Member
I have 15 and still no babies 
Similar threads
