H. Crispa or H. Magnifica advice

J

jason1218

New member
I am wanting to get a very large anemone that will nearly fill my entire 20 inch cube. I am also wanting a pair of yellow Stripes. I have been looking hard at H. Crispa and H. Magnifica. I like the coloration of the Mag better but like the chances of the Crispa hosting a pair of Yellow Stripes and their relative hardiness. I have been told that the maroons will not go in a mag but have a fairly good chance of going into a Crispa. I know its not a natural pairing but then again neither of them live in glass boxes in the wild either. What is the truth about either of them hosting maroons?

I have also been told that Mags life expectancy in captivity is about 6 months. I see a lot of people saying that they have had theirs for years. What is the truth about this? If a mag is going to wither and die I do not want to get one. I would be willing to substitute a pair of Clarks to have a Mag if I knew it would live.

Does anyone have (or had) either of these anemones that would like to share their experiences with me?

Feel free to ask me for more info but please be specific about what you would like to know.
 
Bad idea IMO... you will have water quality issues with both of these species...a 20 gal would be too small for most hosting species. You may get away with a small BTA providing you have a stable tank and keep up on waterchanges.

Oh and

[welcome]
 
Ah, you didn't mention it was tied into another system, I was under the impression it was a 20 gal alone in which case the nem would foul the water in no time. water qualty shouldn't be an issue then but I still believe that both nems would quickly out grow the cube.

The probelm with mags is that they do not have a good life expectancy in captivity, they look great for a couple of months but decline quickly (i've never owned one BTW). Crispa on the other hand are easier if you can find one that is not bleached or dyed, I have owned a crispa but it was too far bleached for me to bring it back and it only lasted a couple of weeks.

On the hosting question, you are correct in saying the maroons are not hosted by these species naturally, they may or may not take to either anemone. Clarkii on the other hand are anemone whores and should take to any hosting species :)

HTH
 
Ok well the cube is actually 20 inches square about 40 gallons. My skimmer alone is about 45 gallons and it will be tied into a 225 BB reef.
 
no Idea it came healthy fish loved it looked great for about 3 weeks and down she went mouth hung open wouldnt eat anything then turned into a pile of sludge and I have a 125 sps tank with good water and well aged
 
Ideally you would be better with a 24-30 inch cube as a minimum, because as soon as the mag can sense the tank sides it will want to move, so a central rock that has at minimum 8-10 inches clearance all around. This is ideal imo.
 
My mag was the size of a basketball, probably alittle bigger. I never measured...

I dont think I'd try to fit it in a 20gal cube personally.
 
You really don't want a Mag as "a large anemone that will nearly fill my entire 20 inch cube" because it will not do well. It require lots of circulation and will get chew up by whatever you use for circulation. I keep my H. magnifica in about the same cube and it is comfortable at about 6-8 inches fully expanded. If you feed your anemone well, it will grow to a monster of 20 inches in diameter quickly. In the past mine grew from 8 inches to 20 inches in about 4-6 months (previous Magnifica that died in a tank disaster after about 5 years.)

Here is a thread about mine. It is under my care since 10/08 and doing well.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1528132&perpage=25&pagenumber=1
 
If you really want a large anemone to almost fill up a cube like that then one of the sand anemone would be much better. A carpet or Sebae would be much better and they will not get chew up by PH
 
Again, this is not a 20 gallon cube it is a 20 inch cube roughly 40 gallons.

There will be no powerheads in the tank. The flow will be produced by 2 large eductors running off of a pressure rated pump. I would never put any anemone in a tank with a powerhead.

H. Crispa and a haddoni are my next choices.

Thanks for the link mihn.
 
In a smalltank like that 40 g cube, a large size Magnifica will fill the whole tank. they take up about a 2X2 feet area (4 square foot) They required lots of flow. You either have to have PH or Overflow or close loop to provide that kind of flow. Even if you have no PH in that tank, a high overflow and chew up the anemone too, or flood you fishroom.
That is why a large magnifica is not recommended in that cube. If you, like me, get a small one and don't feed him much so he won't grow, you be fine. You can have a large wall to wall carpet or H. crispa in that tank and it will be fine. They don't require lots of flow and won't climb up the wall to obstruct you overflow or chew up by your intake.
My cube is 18X20X20 I think
 
So, it is possible to keep magnificas alive long term? Specimen selection is the key to sucess once you get past ones ability to keep stable and proper water conditions? My issue it appears is that many of you think the actual confines of a 20 inch cube (40 gallon) is not enough room for it. You can easily get 4000GPH of flow out of 2 eductors with the proper pump running them (IE: a pan world 150 PS). I think 1500 GPH of flow in a 20 X 20 cube would be plenty. A real concern would be that it is possible for it to block my over flow. I have a calfo C2C on the tank and a I am doing a beans stand pipe, so over flowing should not be an issue. My concern would be damaging the anemone in the weirs.

Are there any more concerns or special needs I need to concider? What about substrate or rock structure. Is sand desirable?


Does anyone have any more in put on Magnificas? Any more comments on what I've said tank wise?
 
The ideal place for a H. magnifica is a island of rock where he is on top. There should be plenty of light from a point light source right on top of it and plenty of circulation. He will stay put there because that is where there the light is brightest and good circulation and the only way to move from there is down where the light drop off quickly and circulation decrease quickly.
Point light source is important because the intensity of light get much stronger closer to the light and drop off quickly away from it. One can argue that 150 W MH may but out the same amount of 150 W of T5 but there is no argument that the distribution of the MH is not at all the same as that put out by T5. The MH is what H. magnifica needed to stay in place.
Your tank is too small for a large H. magnifica because it does not matter how you produce circulation, in order to move the water, you have to take it in from some where. In a small tank like that (yes a small (for a full grow H. magnifica) 40 g cube) the reach of the anemone can be to all part of the cube. The anemone will bet pull into what ever intake you have and get chew up. It may decide to go up the wall of the tank and will move to higher circulation which would be the intake of your circulation device. It is not random that it move to PH or overflow but that is where it head to, more circulation.

H. magnifica is very hardy and trouble free once he get establish in your tank. Getting healthy specimen is the key. The only species that is more difficult to obtain a healthy specimen, IMO, is S. gigantea. Good luck with your anemone tank. They are very beautiful and rewarding to keep.

I keep H. magnifica since 1997. What I wrote is out of personal first hand experience. I am leaving town now, will be back Monday so I cannot check your reply. I try to answer any question you have later.
 
I know a 40 gallon cube is very small (I would concider it a large nano).

The light I have been concidering is either a 400 watt MH or a 250 watt MH. I already have plent of both. I also have a 175 watt MH.

The rock deal is easy to do. I hav e actually located a healthy H. Magnifica and watched it eat. If it is still there and healthy in 2 months I'm going to buy it if unless something detures me from H. Magnifica like maroons not hosting in it but like I said I will settle for clarks.

Can someone talk about H. Crispa now?
 
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