tufacody wrote: Kevin: do the anemones from your Cali facility receive the same care as the Wisconsin facilities? I'm curious - why the extra ship to Wisconsin for the premo stuff?
tufacody,
The anemones we offer that ship from California do not undergo such a lengthy quarantine process, but rather are shipped when they exhibit normal behavior and appear to be in optimum health. Shipping some select species to Wisconsin for extended quarantine allows us to source animals from a variety of exporters and suppliers who all have different supply, so we may expand our offerings to our customers. By housing some select species in Wisconsin also allows us to offer (WYSIWYG- What You See Is What You Get) aquatic life in our Divers Den section of LiveAquaria.com, as over the years, more and more customers prefer to see the exact animal before making the purchase on their next addition to their aquarium.
Reefvette wrote: Have you guys had any mertenssi, since viewing your site i haven't seen any.
Reefvette,
We haven’t had an opportunity to acquire
Stichodactyla mertensii this year, but last year we sold three beautiful Merten's Anemones from Vanuatu that were quite large and very healthy. Two of these animals were purchased by a few individuals here on RC who are very experienced hobbyists, and to the best of my knowledge these animals are still thriving and growing in their aquariums. Merten's Anemones grow quite large and are not ideal for everyone, as they need a very large space and obviously proper lighting, water flow, and pristine water conditions.
Reefvette wrote: Also since magnifica and gigantea are commonly found exposed to air is it safe to assume that since my magnifica tends to stay at the water line that it was collected in a low lying area. As a reefer i can not replicate these conditions.
Heteractis magnifica have quite a range which extends from the Central and Western Pacific Ocean down through the South Pacific and Coral Sea, then west into the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. These anemones are commonly found from 1-40 meters in depth. In shallow water it is more common to see far less of these animals, and when you do they are solitary in nature and are normally smaller in size. From reading scientific papers it’s been found that there seemed to be a tendency for these solitary anemones to move to deeper water and cluster once they reached a certain size-range. It is far more common to see large numbers of
Heteractis magnifica in the wild clustered together in groups in deeper water.
Reefvette wrote: My gigantea is doing great it hasn't moved since i got it but in the last owners tank it looked like a up side down bell, now with the shorter tank it looks like coloum with a 12 inch by 12 inch peice of shag carpeting.
That is great to hear about your success with your new
Heteractis magnifica . These are incredible animals, and definitely require more specialized care as they are one of the most difficult anemones to successfully maintain long term. Some of these anemones will wander about in home aquariums, and in my personal opinion based on my experience with these animals over the years, that when
Heteractis magnifica move up along the side of the aquarium glass to the top of the water line, as opposed to attaching themselves to a large rock where they have adequate water flow completely around the entire animal which is how they are normally found in the wild, they are either not receiving a sufficient amount of water flow in the form of alternating current, or the spectrum and intensity of light is not of their liking.
I would like to thank everyone again for your comments, suggestions, and most of all your support. You all are most welcome, and its a pleasure to take some of your suggestions and comments, and change how we describe anemones that are listed in the Divers Den section of LiveAquaria.com. By offering detailed specifics on the care and husbandry of these anemones during our quarantine process will hopefully give everyone a much better understanding of how to better care for these animals in the home aquarium.
Cheers!
Kevin Kohen
Director of LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster and Smith
Kudos, this sort of information means a lot to us and just providing it shows a level of concern for the buyer and the animal above and beyond what other retailers usually show.
