Ron Reefman's Rock Flower experience

[OrionN]

@Ron Reefman
It seem that AquaSD has a lot of really beautiful RFA. They tend to over saturated their pictures so I am not realy confident if I will get brightly color anemones. Have you order RFA from them? If you did, how did you find them on arrival?

 

[Ron Reefman]

@Ron Reefman
It seem that AquaSD has a lot of really beautiful RFA. They tend to over saturated their pictures so I am not realy confident if I will get brightly color anemones. Have you order RFA from them? If you did, how did you find them on arrival?

I know I have ordered corals from AquaSD more than a few times and I've always been happy with them. I don't think I've ever ordered RFAs from them.

I did order RFAs from a Florida outfit that was selling RFAs collected in Central and South America, rather than the Caribbean. I got 5 and only one would ever attach to ANYTHING! I tried and tried various ways and ended up losing all but one. And it attached to a pvc end cap the very first day.

Good luck. If you buy from AquaSD, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about what you get.

 

[OrionN]

@Ron Reefman
I am very interested in you comment on if this coloration, under white light is unusual. Under blue light it really popped but I don't have blue lighted tank.

 

[souciemm]

@Ron Reefman
I am very interested in you comment on if this coloration, under white light is unusual. Under blue light it really popped but I don't have blue lighted tank.

I have one with very similar coloration… I assume it’s a relatively common pattern but I don’t really know.

 

[Ron Reefman]

@Ron Reefman
I am very interested in you comment on if this coloration, under white light is unusual. Under blue light it really popped but I don't have blue lighted tank.

It's a good looking RFA. The colors of RFAs these days are pretty much all over the board. I like yours. Most RFAs look a lot more ordinary under white light and then 'pop' under blue light. Just like a lot of corals.

It's all about the zooxanthellae that the anemone (or coral) adopts. I have 3 RFAs that were seriously bleached pure white when I collected them off a tiny island in the Florida Keys (in only a few feet of water). It took them several months to develop some color (mostly grays and blacks) and patterns. RFAs from deeper water (20+ feet) usually have a lot more color (under white and blue light). And these deeper water versions tend to 'fluoresce' more than the shallow water versions.

 

[jkcoral]

I forgot I had been following this thread, what do you guys think of having peppermints with them, especially baby rfa? I have 6 adults and maybe 12 babies, not super super tiny but not close to adult size yet. I also have a crazy amount of aiptasia. I wanted to do peppermint shrimp as I can’t seem to find berghias locally, but I’ve heard horror stories of them eating rfas too. Thoughts?

I’d definitely keep an eye on them…

RFAs are pretty resilient little creatures and can bounce back from a lot. But in my experience, the 3 things I’ve seen that are most likely to mortally wound a rock flower are very cold temperatures, a broken foot, and peppermint shrimp.

 

[Wuzzo]

Thanks, I decided not to and just wait on the nudis, I’ve had them for years and this is the only time they’ve spawned and had babies so I’d rather not risk it. Mamas with some babies and the aips and algae mixed in -

 

[Ryebreadiest]

Peppermint shrimp are too risky imo. The only 2 things they have going for them are 1) they WILL absolutely decimate aptasia and 2) they are easy to trap and remove with an inverted bottle trap.

A friend added like 20 to his 180 gallon that was riddled with apraxia and within a month you couldn’t find a single pest anemone. He was able to trap all but 1 of the shrimp over the course of a few nights and that one doesn’t seem to cause any issues.

 

[OrionN]

I got some really nice RFA yesterday and they are out a little bit, under too much white light in my tank but still very beautiful. I have a collection of 10 right now.

 

[OrionN]

@Ron Reefman, and everybody else,
Having several RFA in my tank for a little time, I see that there are several morphological types of the group of heterogeneous anemones.
Anyone do a research on this and see if there are various species that reefers lump together as RFA? To me this clearly is the case, just from observing the 10 "RFA" in my tank.
Comments please

 

[dansyr]

@Ron Reefman, and everybody else,
Having several RFA in my tank for a little time, I see that there are several morphological types of the group of heterogeneous anemones.
Anyone do a research on this and see if there are various species that reefers lump together as RFA? To me this clearly is the case, just from observing the 10 "RFA" in my tank.
Comments please

Curious about this too. I know I've seen Borneman anemones sold as RFAs. Same genus, different species I believe? Many other spp. in the genus with broad distributions based on WoRMS.

 

[OrionN]

@Ron Reefman
This is such a great thread, with a lot of good information. I asked Admin to make it a sticky and was successful. I am glad that we have this thread as a resource for reefers who want to keep RFA

 

[OrionN]

I am so happy with these. I got them Saturday in Houston. White light. It look even much better under more blue but cannot take picture worth a darn under blue light.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I am so happy with these. I got them Saturday in Houston. White light. It look even much better under more blue but cannot take picture worth a darn under blue light.

Under blue lights, use a yellow filter and it will help a great deal. There are even filters made to do this with cellphones!

That's what all the website sellers do. That's why you see so many RFAs that have blue tentacles... they are actually white but look blue due to the blue lighting.

 

[Ron Reefman]

To OrionN and everybody else who has participated in this thread, I want to say thank you and I feel honored that this has become a sticky in the Anemone &Clownfish Forum!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Shots of my tank taken today. This is under mostly white light and with a flash on my cell phone.

Here is a FTS:

The next 2 were collected by me in a very shallow area in the Florida Keys. They were 100% white when I collected them and colored up over about 2 months in my tank.

Below are 2 RFAs and a Maxi mini. The bigger RFA is different in that the oral disk is purple and doesn't fluoresce but the tentacles fluoresce in gold with small green specs (it doesn't look like much here, but under strong blue light it look spectacular).

Again the bigger RFA is different in that the oral disk is magenta and doesn't fluoresce but the tentacles fluoresce in gold with small green specs (just like the one above).

Here is a Maxi-mini, a small RFA I collected and a Rose Bubble-tip that has split twice in the last 6 months while in my tank!

 

[Ron Reefman]

We (my wife and I) will be going to the Middle Keys in the Florida Keys to do some snorkeling and LEGAL collecting. I know a spot that has lots of shallow water RFAs, Of course that means they won't be all that colorful. But last time we were there, there were several very bright RFAs that were somewhere between lime green and a very greenish yellow. But I didn't have the proper tools to collect them. As always, I'll also be collecting some CUC.

I may follow up from the Keys, or at the very least, when we get home. If there is anything special, I'll have photos.

 

[Netfish and Chill]

I'm currently setting up my 120gal display, and this post makes me want to get a bunch of rock flowers for that tank!

Do they generally stay in place, and are they aggressive?

Thanks for this awesome post!

 

[Ryebreadiest]

I'm currently setting up my 120gal display, and this post makes me want to get a bunch of rock flowers for that tank!

Do they generally stay in place, and are they aggressive?

Thanks for this awesome post!

Not aggressive at all, I have many that have been touching other corals for months. They have functionally no sting. I actually had a Nepthea soft coral frag that grew among some RFA and seemed to drift them away.

As far as staying in place… experiences can vary. They are much less prone to wandering than BTAs (which seem contractually obligated to move from their placed spot) but it can happen. I’d say about 3/4 of mine stay right where I put them and the rest usually move around a bit before finding their forever spot.

In my tank with 20+ I’ve got one orange RFA that still wanders his rock even after a year. I’m fairly certain it’s because the rock it is on is underneath some torch coral frags mounted to the glass and as they grow and then get fragged, the amount of light hitting the RFA will change and that seems to trigger a lap around the rock.

 

[Netfish and Chill]

Not aggressive at all, I have many that have been touching other corals for months. They have functionally no sting. I actually had a Nepthea soft coral frag that grew among some RFA and seemed to drift them away.

As far as staying in place… experiences can vary. They are much less prone to wandering than BTAs (which seem contractually obligated to move from their placed spot) but it can happen. I’d say about 3/4 of mine stay right where I put them and the rest usually move around a bit before finding their forever spot.

In my tank with 20+ I’ve got one orange RFA that still wanders his rock even after a year. I’m fairly certain it’s because the rock it is on is underneath some torch coral frags mounted to the glass and as they grow and then get fragged, the amount of light hitting the RFA will change and that seems to trigger a lap around the rock.

Thanks for the great response! I will definitely be adding some to the tank!