H. magnifica

[Dragonlady]

Although I kept a purple H. crispa for several years before I moved, I recently lost my H. magnifica. I wish I knew what I did wrong.

I guess this is why Heteractis magnifica have such a bad rep for being difficult. I still feel terrible about supporting the demand for this beautiful animal by purchasing it. I will never buy another H.magnifica unless it is aquacultured. Anyway, here is a link to a video that I thought was worth sharing if anyone is interested. Rest in peace H. magnifica at 1 year in my care and definitely much, much older.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9Dcb92xPpE

 

[Dragonlady]

oops video

 

[WDLV]

I started reefing in the summer of 1997. I got my first H. magnifica in the first part of 1998. It was about the size of a dinner plate and lived for about one year. When I came back from basic training in January 2000 it was bleached on one side and never recovered. I have not kept one much beyond a year and I am yet to nail down why that is.

My first....

 

[tufacody]

Yea, I lost two mags and decided not to try them again as well. Strangely, one day I saw a gigantea at an LFS and thought I would give it a shot, and it has been doing great for about 2 years now. Nothing about the sytem that has allowed a gigantea to thrive and the mags to fail has changed.

 

[Dragonlady]

By the way this is my second attempt at keeping H. magnifica. The first attempt was not a species tank and also contained other corals and hosting anemones, which won a possible unseen battle of chemical warfare. This 1st mag also thrived for about 1 year. This final attempt was in a species tank, which might rule out chemical warfare between invertertebrates as a possible cause of demise in mags. I admire anyone who has a nice hardy specimen of H. magnifica for many years, but I think there are very few people who have accomplished this....without more than a few tries. H. magnifica is the most beautiful anemone, in my opinion. I miss my mag dearly, but I'll just watch my video when I want to see a nice mag from now on. :sad2: