Saltwater garden: What is your experience with Rock Flower Anemones?

[Amstar]

Where do you get your RFA’s? I seem to be only find the boring orange or green ones at my LFS

 

[pulpfiction]

Rockflowers are my favorite right now. I have a whole tank dedicated to them.

 

[Peace River]

Where do you get your RFA’s? I seem to be only find the boring orange or green ones at my LFS

Most of mine have come from @Corals.com, @WWC, and Trash Panda.

 

[Murky Waters]

Love them! Hopefully I score some unique ones at Reefapalooza this weekend

 

[JoJosReef]

Where do you get your RFA’s? I seem to be only find the boring orange or green ones at my LFS

I've gotten most of mine from AquaSD during live sales or their ebay nabs. My big green RFA is from Cultivated Reef. Loking into Hellfire Corals since they have great pricing on a bulk pack.

 

[Ryebreadiest]

I like saltcritters.com, they have some really nice ones sometimes - wait for a big 40% or more sale though.

 

[Jim Gomoll]

First time trying RFA last year. Picked these three up in October at Aquashella Chicago.
They took to the rock structure right away and didn't move for 5 months. 2weeks ago the middle one move out of the crack up on top and is now MIA. Think it went behind. Left one moved to the middle and the right one is happy where its at.
Spot feeding 1-2x a week, fun to watch. Looking to get more. Hopefully like the one in first post. Its beautiful!!

 

[Sleepingtiger]

anyone keep them with large angels?

 

[Astronomical]

I have several. I find them generally easy to care for and peaceful. There's so much color variety collecting is fun.

One spawned once but I lost all the babies in a tank move.

I like to place them on those pink barnacles you find in shell shops. I had some old peices from a fish only tank from years ago and they work great. The nems take to the holes like a pvc ring and you can move the barnacle with the nems attached for tank maintenance.

This (blurry) picture shows four on a hidden pink barnacle.

 

[Steve2020]

I would love to see that 8" RFA next to a clown or something for comparison.

Here is my 4" diameter green RFA, which I thought was massive!

The rock to the right has a 10" base which is more near the front of the tank than the RFA and the Lobo in the photo is the size of a baseball. Photo taken 6mo ago. I will try to catch either my Tang or Magnificent Foxface near it and take a photo in the near future. Both are 7.5-8"

 

[JoJosReef]

The rock to the right has a 10" base which is more near the front of the tank than the RFA and the Lobo in the photo is the size of a baseball. Photo taken 6mo ago. I will try to catch either my Tang or Magnificent Foxface near it and take a photo in the near future. Both are 7.5-8"

That is an amazing RFA. And I see that elegance on the side, and those aren't tiny! Signs of a happy tank!

 

[jabberwock]

I love mine. I have 5 in a 25 gallon lagoon. They have been super easy. I got 5 for $100 (not "ultras"). My tip is to turn off the flow when you first add them, and...

Let them go where they want to go. You have to manage your expectations about where they place themselves.

 

[Captngutts]

I've got four currently in my 10 Gallon Nano for the past 2 months. Any recommendations on flow & lighting? Also, how fast do these puppies grow?

 

[Reefer_kano]

Talking about this guys prices smdh...I just went to petco by my house and they have RFA dime size for 70.00!
They need to stop doing so many drugs lol

 

[Narideth]

I love mine. I have 5 in a 25 gallon lagoon. They have been super easy. I got 5 for $100 (not "ultras"). ..

I was under the impression that 'Ultra' just meant they had a fluorescing quality under blue lights, which it looks like yours do? Is there another meaning for 'Ultra' RFAs?

 

[jabberwock]

I was under the impression that 'Ultra' just meant they had a fluorescing quality under blue lights, which it looks like yours do? Is there another meaning for 'Ultra' RFAs?

I think ultras have 3 or 4 colors at least. Regulars may have 1 or 2 colors. This is just my observation. I don't think there is a scientific designation for ultras.

 

[Narideth]

I think ultras have 3 or 4 colors at least. Regulars may have 1 or 2 colors. This is just my observation. I don't think there is a scientific designation for ultras.

There are non-flourescing RFAs though. Maybe it's just one of those terms that is bandied about. My batch were all called 'Ultra' and I guess they have 2 or more colors, but the site I purchased from indicated it was the fluorescing property.

 

[Narideth]

And because I want to share the little beauties, here's some of them.

 

[Gretchacha]

Rock Flowers for my birthday from my husband
I have three that I got about two or three weeks ago. They stayed near where I placed them, but crept a bit to their preference. I had to move an alveopora that one was grabbing. That one moved up the rock and hides its disk in the rock with the tentacles layed out on the crevice. One moved to the sand and inverts and buries itself nightly. The other one needed a lot of holding to stay. It detached once but I cought it and put it back. It crept a bit and is comfy now on the bottom of a cliff. Mine don’t eat very much.
Last week I got some new inverts and one little nassarius fell off the rock right into the mouth of the one on the sand. I thought it was hors de houvres for sure… but it escaped! In fact the nem was unfazed by this.
Just remember those awesome colors are mostly fluorescent and they look very different in actinic and full spectrum. For those of us who don’t get a lot of blue time with our tanks, red and lime green in the photos still look nice under white light. Salt Critters shows nems under two lighting spectra and has an amazing selection (best selection I have seen) and fair prices. Sometimes they have deep discounts even on the ultras. https://www.saltcritters.com/collections/anemones/products/ultra-rock-flower-anemone-d119-1

 

[Steve2020]

I've got four currently in my 10 Gallon Nano for the past 2 months. Any recommendations on flow & lighting? Also, how fast do these puppies grow?

My RFA is in 220 par and I would say it is in a medium flow area for most of the day. I run multiple flow scenes at various speeds throughout the day. You can tell when too much flow when the outer portion of the RFA will fold over like they do when they are feeding. Mine folds over a little when I run Nutrient Transport Mode at 75% but then gets used to the flow and folds back down. So I would say they can handle a good amount of flow. At least mine can. I have 2 MP60's and 2 MP40's in a 84"x30"x24" tank. They will tell you when they are not happy by curling up.
As far as growth, my RFA is over triple the size when I purchased him 2yrs ago. Was 2.5" and now 8" in diameter. They are pigs and love to eat. They need to be fed frequently IMO. I feed mine a good chunk of shrimp and scallop every other day plus whatever he catches when I feed my fish twice a day.