Ron Reefman's Rock Flower experience

VTBig053 · Aug 24, 2018

Katrina71 said:
No pics? C'mon, let's see

Not directed at me but here you go...

Anubis012880 · Aug 25, 2018

Glad I seen this thread. I didnt know that they needed direct feeding. Thankfully I was already doing that. I got one for free and he hides here for now. Hope it comes out soon. But i will keep feeding. And going through this thread for more care info!

Ron Reefman · Aug 25, 2018

VTBig053 said:
Scored three beauties in the Aqua SD ebay auctions last night. All under $50. I’ll post some photos in the show off thread once they arrive.

I look forward to seeing what they look like. After I get my rockscape redone in the next few weeks I may have to start hunting the online auctions and ebay sales.

It seems some prices for some pretty nice RFA's are moving down slightly. But that's just my gut feeling. That and I was told by 2 coral vendors at a recent show here in SW Florida that they didn't bring any RFA's because there isn't much profit margin in them currently. The collectors/wholesalers haven't lowered prices and the demand from reefers is down a little as many who really wanted RFA's now have them. I'm not sure just how true that is.

Dsnakes said:
I’ve got a rock on the sandbed of my new build picked out for a rock flower island. I can’t wait. I have 3 in my small tank to move. Great thread here!

Dsnakes, just a comment for you and you may already know this. I think RFA's are unhappy it the open on a rock. I've tried it a couple of times and they all moved off to the edge of the rock at the sand/rock interface. I think they are happy to live on a rock if they have a big enough hole to set their foot in and are able to withdraw all the way in if they are disturbed. But a bottomless hole all the way through the rock is less useful. And if the hole is too small a diameter or too shallow for the anemone to retract completely into, it may not stay there. But in the Florida Keys I have a small island I snorkel at that has hundreds of RFA's. About 50% are in the all rock wall of the island that is above the sand. But when I disturb the nem it literally disappears in it's hole and is 100% out of site. The other 50% are on the bottom which is still a hard rock surface covered with sand. Some are in very little sand and some are in sand that is up to 3 inches deep, maybe even a bit more. They still seem to find holes in the rock for their foot, but now the hole doesn't necessarily have to be so big or deep. In this situation when the nem is disturbed, they can just retract and disappear under the sand.

So in your situation, I would either drill some good size holes in the upper surface of the rock or expect the nems to move to the outer edges of the rock at the sand.

But that's just my experience and I'm no expert. If anybody else has any different perspective on this, I'd really like to hear it. And if anybody can confirm any or all that is my opinion, I'd like to hear that as well.

Ron Reefman · Aug 25, 2018

Katrina71 said:
Hmmm. Male and female? This is cool! How do they reproduce? Aside from when a Mommy and Daddy really love each other. What do you look for? Breed at night?

Katrina, I have not seen it for myself in person, but I've seen a couple of videos here. The male puts sperm out into the water and the female will collect some of it. A couple people who have been smart enough, good enough or lucky enough to catch this when it happens, have used a turkey baster and collected some of the sperm and delivered it to other RFA's. Either knowing from past experience or hoping that they were female. I'm really not sure, but I think this tends to happen at night or early in the morning... but that's really soft data! The female then releases babies some time later. I read somebody who said it's about 4 to 6 weeks? But again, this is very soft data.

I've looked quite a bit for scientific data about these anemones and especially their reproduction and it seems there is very little data (at least very little that I have found). I remember several years ago that the guy I bought my first colorful RFA's from (I already had 1 or 2 plain ones I had collected) that they reproduced by what is called pedal laceration. And a RFA 'breeder/wholesaler in Michigan was of the same opinion.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4757-9724-4_13
I'm certainly far from 100% sure, but I don't think this is true. I think these people found new babies near by or even on the central disk or tentacles of the parent and assumed this form of reproduction. But reefers videos of babies being 'spewed' out the opening in the middle of the central disk sure looks like 'old school' reproduction to me.

Again, if anybody has any information to confirm or refute anything I've said, I want to hear it. This is how we learn and I want to know more!

Ron Reefman · Aug 25, 2018

Anubis012880 said:
Glad I seen this thread. I didnt know that they needed direct feeding. Thankfully I was already doing that. I got one for free and he hides here for now. Hope it comes out soon. But i will keep feeding. And going through this thread for more care info!

Yours appears to be young and in a small hole and good size depression in the rock. For now it's big enough for the nem. It's just my opinion, but I think that over time, as it grows, it's going to want a bigger hole or to get to the edge of a rock at the sand to live. And that may take months. The other side of the coin is, it may be happy in that depression in the rock if the water flow and food supply is to it's liking. In that case it may just stay there, but it should be more out and open over the rock. BTW, it looks like it has nice color. Is it an orange disk with green tentacles and a splash of white tentacles? I have an adult and a couple of babies that look very similar.

I have 2 babies that I'm watching. One has an orange center that fades to yellow and the other has a yellow center that fades to orange. Currently it's hard to tell what color the tentacles will be.

Dsnakes · Aug 25, 2018

Ron Reefman said:
Dsnakes, just a comment for you and you may already know this. I think RFA's are unhappy it the open on a rock. I've tried it a couple of times and they all moved off to the edge of the rock at the sand/rock interface. I think they are happy to live on a rock if they have a big enough hole to set their foot in and are able to withdraw all the way in if they are disturbed. But a bottomless hole all the way through the rock is less useful. And if the hole is too small a diameter or too shallow for the anemone to retract completely into, it may not stay there. But in the Florida Keys I have a small island I snorkel at that has hundreds of RFA's. About 50% are in the all rock wall of the island that is above the sand. But when I disturb the nem it literally disappears in it's hole and is 100% out of site. The other 50% are on the bottom which is still a hard rock surface covered with sand. Some are in very little sand and some are in sand that is up to 3 inches deep, maybe even a bit more. They still seem to find holes in the rock for their foot, but now the hole doesn't necessarily have to be so big or deep. In this situation when the nem is disturbed, they can just retract and disappear under the sand.

So in your situation, I would either drill some good size holes in the upper surface of the rock or expect the nems to move to the outer edges of the rock at the sand.

But that's just my experience and I'm no expert. If anybody else has any different perspective on this, I'd really like to hear it. And if anybody can confirm any or all that is my opinion, I'd like to hear that as well.

Thank you for that advice! In their current tank, one is planted with its foot in the crevice of 2 rocks and the other 2 have their foot in holes of the rock. I will try to drill the rock in the new tank with foot holes.

I think I will have to cut the rock up in the old tank to remove them when I am ready.

Anubis012880 · Aug 25, 2018

Ron Reefman said:
Yours appears to be young and in a small hole and good size depression in the rock. For now it's big enough for the nem. It's just my opinion, but I think that over time, as it grows, it's going to want a bigger hole or to get to the edge of a rock at the sand to live. And that may take months. The other side of the coin is, it may be happy in that depression in the rock if the water flow and food supply is to it's liking. In that case it may just stay there, but it should be more out and open over the rock. BTW, it looks like it has nice color. Is it an orange disk with green tentacles and a splash of white tentacles? I have an adult and a couple of babies that look very similar.

I have 2 babies that I'm watching. One has an orange center that fades to yellow and the other has a yellow center that fades to orange. Currently it's hard to tell what color the tentacles will be.

Yeah it is orange with the green. It was given to me when I bought my rainbow bta. So I didnt know at first. He was like heres a free gift. Walked away and it was this. But like I said, I will keep researching and learning. I want to keep it alive and happy. Free or $100, it's an animal that I own and want to keep it happy and alive. I like his colors. Thanks for this thread though. It's a big help

laverda · Aug 26, 2018

Ron great thread. What do you find they like flow wise?

Ron Reefman · Aug 26, 2018

laverda said:
Ron great thread. What do you find they like flow wise?

Thank you, but it's pretty easy when it's about something you have a passion for!

I have them all down at the sand level and even though I run a fairly high flow tank, it's more so at the upper levels and not so much at the sand. I think they like flow, but not so much that they start to retract from it. BTW, then I feed, I shut off all the flow for 10 minutes and feed them directly with a turkey baster. When the pumps start up again, I only let them run for 5 to 10 seconds to get things stirred up again and the shut them down for another 10 minutes. I think this is good for both the anemones and the corals. When the pumps start up again, it's only the wavemakers in the tank and not the return pump in the sump. I leave it off for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.

Katrina71 · Aug 26, 2018

So far so good with my son's 2. I really appreciate you taking the time to educate me a little.

Ron Reefman · Aug 27, 2018

Happy to do it.

Part of my love of sharing knowledge comes from the fact that I'm a closet teacher at heart. I was 90% of the way to being a teacher in college. Back then (early 70's) new teachers couldn't find a job with both hands, a flashlight and a magnifying glass! So I got a masters in marketing instead and worked for 3M Co. Now (retired) I volunteer as a Shell Ambassador for the Bailey Matthews National Shell Museum on Sanibel (SW Florida). My wife and I walk the beaches and our shirts invite other beach walkers to ask us questions about shells. We find very few locals at the beach on good shelling days (after a storm or a cold front). We find it amazing how little some people know about mollusks and ocean life. Close to 50% of the people (mostly from states that are far away) don't know that shells are made by mollusks!

And if anybody has a question they don't want to ask publicly or doesn't fit this thread, I always answer PM's.

Baldguy · Aug 31, 2018

What's everybody's experience with Peppermint shrimp and RFA's? Peppermint's are my go to for aptasia and I've read more than once Peps can feed on RFA's.

Katrina71 · Aug 31, 2018

How well do these guys ship? I am looking for a tiny one for myself. Maybe nickel or even dime size.

reef lover · Aug 31, 2018

Katrina71 said:
How well do these guys ship? I am looking for a tiny one for myself. Maybe nickel or even dime size.

They ship very well.

Katrina71 · Aug 31, 2018

reef lover said:
They ship very well.

Awesome. I think I NEED one.

Ron Reefman · Aug 31, 2018

Baldguy said:
What's everybody's experience with Peppermint shrimp and RFA's? Peppermint's are my go to for aptasia and I've read more than once Peps can feed on RFA's.

I wish I could help David, but I only have cleaner shrimp and pistol shrimp and they don't seem to mind the RFA's. I hope others will offer more help.

Katrina71 said:
How well do these guys ship? I am looking for a tiny one for myself. Maybe nickel or even dime size.

Katrina, you do realize that these guys do grow bigger as the age and get fed? My adults are about 3+ inches and I've seen them get even bigger, up to 5 inches in the wild. If you don't spot feed them, or at least control how much or how often you spot feed them, you can have some effect on how big they get. But I think trying to keep one the size of a nickel may be difficult.