Keeps growin' (10 H. crispa Pictures)

[jer77]

I've posted pictures of my H. crispa or Sebae Anemone before when I first got it 6 years ago and later and I felt I should post some more. It keeps on to keep growing steadily year after year since I got it.

Just a little history, when I got it I knew not what "bleached" meant and didn't know many other things about the hobby. Amazingly enough my first purchase was a bleached 5-6'' H. crispa and a baby 1-2'' A. clarkii clownfish and put them in a 20 gallon tank with 55W of PC lighting. I upgraded soon to a 55 and the anemone lived and retained color under 260W PC lighting or about 5W/gal. A few years ago I transferred both to a 180 gallon with 750W MH lighting. I thought the anemone was done growing, but I was wrong.

Here are some pictures:

Overall, from my experiences in keeping a few H. crispa, I have come to think of H. crispa as a hardier anemone than most descriptions of them have suggested. Granted all anemones have to be treated with extra care, I have found H. crispa just adapts better than other anemones, specifically carpets like S. haddoni. I have also found H. crispa is sometimes easier to manage than even E. quadricolor and just as hardy. I say this because for me they settled in and attached their foot quicker and probably more importantly they didn't seem to roam around the tank nearly as much. Once they found a spot they usually stayed only moving after many days of less light or changes in water parameters.

So I don't really understand why H. crispa has been described as more difficult than E. quadricolor. It may have something to do with the fact that most H. crispa are imported bleached, damaged or dyed and therefore stand much less of a chance as a healthier E. quadricolor.

 

[toastedxb]

impressive!!!!

 

[jer77]

Thanks!

I guess I should post a pic of it when I first got it:

I got them for my birthday on May 9th in 2004, so I guess I've had them for 5 years not 6 like I said...

Over the past few months I've added 5 shrimp and 2 blennies which I haven't seen since. Its possible they are living under all the rockwork cause there are a lot of places to hide, but I I really know what probably happened, I'm just in denial.

 

[dalston]

Monster anemone!! nice to see such a healthy H. crispa!

 

[Henryreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14945128#post14945128 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dalston
Monster anemone!! nice to see such a healthy H. crispa!

ditto that, Nice job, looks like you took amazing care of it :thumbsup:

 

[jasonrp104]

I always think mine is good sized and then sombody posts a monster and puts me in my place. Beautiful crispa

 

[apayne]

Very nice, could you post a full tank shot? I like the micro in your display. I am thinking of doing the same with my new cube, nems and micro.

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[jer77]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14948902#post14948902 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by apayne
Very nice, could you post a full tank shot? I like the micro in your display. I am thinking of doing the same with my new cube, nems and micro.

Thanks,
Aaron

Yeah, sure! I went crazy with the anemone pics, I forgot to show others. I'm on my other computer, I'll post them soon. And I hope you meant macro not micro... There's not much else considering the anemone and the space it needs and the caulerpa I'm trying to get out.

Thanks for everyone else's comments!

Now I wish I could have a S. gigantea...

 

[jer77]

I like the macro when cycling and establishing a new tank just because its easier and takes less time. I can put more fish into a young tank and the water quality doesn't seem to suffer. Its good for baby fish I've found too cause it seems to be a conducive environment for pods. Just the whole environment in more like a back reef or lagoon where young fish naturally grow. But getting rid of the caulerpa is a pain so right now I am adding more cal/alk to spur more halimeda growth to overtake the caulerpa and it seems to be working.

I don't have many fish or corals right now in this tank. There's the clown, facula butterfly, semilarvatus butterfly and a kole tang. I have 3 carberryi anthias in QT, and a blue tang and medium sized adult emp angel waiting to go in last. I want to add more corals soon once the caulerpa is gone. The butterflies haven't even touched anything including clams, frogspawn, xenia, aiptasia or any other LPS I have. The same goes for the emp angel- he only likes the spirulina and angel formula I give him.

Here's some more pics-Thanks again for the comments

 

[adtravels]

nice healthy looking tank, that fish is a brute

 

[gsxunv04]

nice nem! I bet that clowns a real PITA, it ever bite you?

 

[jer77]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14961398#post14961398 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gsxunv04
nice nem! I bet that clowns a real PITA, it ever bite you?

All the time! He, or she actually, is pretty defensive over its anemone and definitely tries to bite me a lot but it its mouth is too small. She is really big. Like almost 6''.

She fans the sand out around her nem making trenches. I think she does this to make more space for the nem to spread out.

She only bothers tank mates if they venture too close to the anemone which is hard because its in the middle of the tank. She never actually harms any fish she just looks threatening enough, plus she's too slow for most other fish.

Also, she lays eggs about every 2-4 weeks. I wish I had a male and a large enough established refugium to raise they babies. Is there any chance of introducing one or two younger or smaller clarkii and having them pair up?

Overall though my feelings toward the clarkii go like this:

I really wish I didn't have her anymore, but she's earned her stay. How long do they live anyways? I can't wait until the emp angel gets in there to boss her around. She'll still probably hold her own for a while.

 

[this is me]

I need to get rid of mine soon. Bought it when it was merely 3" a couple months ago and it's now 6-7".

 

[jer77]

I'm thinking of moving the anemone again into a 75 gallon tank that I freed up after moving the two fish into a hospital tank. It would receive just as good lighting under two 20K Helios DE MH's in pendants.There's nothing in the 75 gallon anymore so the tank could be devoted solely to the anemone and the clownfish. If I decided to just leave the anemone in the 180 I would be limited to the type and amount of fish and corals I would be able to keep. Plus it would free up a lot of swimming space. That's what I'm thinking. What does everyone think about this? Does it really matter whether the anemone is in the 180 or not as to the number and types of fish I could keep?

Also, as I wanted to know before, would it be possible to add a couple clarkii clowns and expect them to pair up?

I'd like to see other people's H. crispa's too. If anyone else can post some pics of them and just say a little on how they kept it and how old it is.

I've heard many things on how long anemone's live. Does anyone have any info on this?

 

[davocean]

Nice color, and way to go on bringing it around from it's bleached state.
Mine was a bleached out petco nem(b4 I knew better) that was about 4" at purchase.
This is mine after 5.5 years, coming in at 24"
The yellowish pic shows size better(10K), but looks way better under 14K, and got nice purple tips same as yours.

 

[davocean]

 

[dudley moray]

it is possible but only add one and make sure it is smaller than her but not younger that would be pointless

 

[Grunt]

Nice looking tank. Does the clown have a mate?

 

[WDLV]

It's been a while since I've seen a good species tank. Very nice setup! Love the macro mixed in!

 

[bmayzgirl]

Love all the pics, very beautiful...I am new to the saltwater world, have only had my 55gl for about a yr now. Cant wait to get better at this so I can add a nem.