How I spent my Birthday gift...

[cmor1701d]

It was time so I went to the lfs (2 actually) after looking at all the great pics here.

I planned to get one Purple firefish but there were two in the tank and he gave me deal on both. I was going to get one and a bi-color blennie, but he didn't any left.

Then I decided to get a home for the clowns, so ...

 

[alrmc4]

awesome! great birthday present!

 

[Hara]

really neat!

 

[reefrunner69]

Very nice. Is that a heteractis magnifica? Sure looks like one.

 

[EMS503]

Looks great. Glad you got two Fire Fish they do better in pairs.

 

[rthoman]

Speaking of pairs of firefish....I have a firefish, can I add a purple one? Or should I add just another firefish?? Id like to have both kinds.

 

[EMS503]

I never mixed them before, I do have four Red tail Firefish two hide as one constantly harrass them, then I found out no more then 1 pair. My tank is 75 gal with lots of LR but they still get picked on.

 

[cmor1701d]

Hi kevin,

Now I'm confused too. I was told that is a Yellow-tip Ritteri with a scientific name of Stichodactyla haddoni.

It might be Stichodactyla.mertensii but it sure looks like heteractis magnifica which is also known as Ritteri Anemone.

Any idea how I can make a positive ID?

Cmor :?

 

[reefrunner69]

It's not a haddoni, the tentacles are way to long, I'b bet you money it is a H. magnifica, which is sold as a ritteri. This is unfortunate, since H. magnifica has a very poor track record in home aquaria.

 

[cmor1701d]

Yes, so I've been reading. Any thoughts on avoiding a slow death? and what would the signs be?

 

[reefrunner69]

what would the signs be?

Well the anemone will probably stay closed for a few days before it's ultimate demise.

Any thoughts on avoiding a slow death?

Plenty of waterflow and very intense lighting. Other than that....I don't know.

 

[cmor1701d]

I'm assuming that when I notice it's been closed for a few days that it will be too late to save it...?

I was told to keep it in medium water flow and that it would move if wanted more light or better conditons. True?

Dr. Ron's booklet on anemones indicates that they do well with moderate light, neither too dark or too bright. He never does explain that though. I have a Coralife 36" Aqualight on the side with the Anemone. It's 192w PC (96 w 10,000K and 96w Actinic).

As for water flow, I have a Mag7 for the return and 2 Hagen 802's on either end. Both are mounted on the rear wall. One points to the front center, the other was just changed to direct towards the center/rear. That one was causing sand dunes to form when pointed to the front center.

I have a Mini-Jet Powerhead 404 that I could place on the side wall and point just above the anemone to create some more flow, although the clowns seem to do a good job of moving all parts of the anemone around

I'm planning on adding a couple of Maxi-Jet 1200's and a wavemaker; either the Natural Wave Timer or the Red Sea Wavemaster Pro.

Do you think of any of that will make a difference?

 

[cmor1701d]

Sad to report that both firefish have suffered SFD (sudden fish disappearance).
The tank is covered. There's nothing big enough to eat them and nobody was chasing them. Firs the smaller one went missing, then a couple of day later the larger went missing right after feeding time. I haven't seen either one for several days now.

 

[Hara]

so sorry to hear that

 

[EMS503]

Fire Fish are great hiders the pair that gets picked on can hide for days and then come out of nowhere, don't give up on them just yet, they made be in the rocks.

 

[cmor1701d]

Thanks, I'll keep looking. I never witnessed them being picked on after the first hour. The Coral Beauty chased them for a bit but then backed off. They were fine for several days before the first one went missing.

 

[d9hp]

They may have gone carpet surfing, I hear they like to jump. I want one of those guys!

 

[cmor1701d]

The tank is covered so I doubt they jumped out. Still no sign of them...

 

[PrettyFishies]

How often do you feed it and how much light do you have?

 

[cmor1701d]

Feedings are once or twice a day of either frozen brine or mysis or flake (several types). I also add some nori every couple of days.

I got a bicolor blenny and a small sailfin tang this weekend. I'll post pics soon.