Magnifica compared to sps

[OrionN]

There are SPS, and there are other SPS. Some SPS are easy to keep while other are almost impossible. We should not lump all SPS together in one lump.
Regardless, I think Magnifica needs high light, high current situation with stable temp and table good water condition. They are not easy but not that difficult to obtain. Stability is the key and the hard part here. We all can have good water condition, but the skill is to keep this consistent for an extended period of time.

 

[D-Nak]

Stichodactyla gigantea like to live in shallows............usually in the sand..........seagrass................etc..........

Stichodactyla mertensii...............like to live in Reef slopes.........attached in the rock formation.........exposed to strong currents.............

Heteractis magnifica...............like flat surfaces.............on top of the rock formation...........or Reefs...............


Carlinhos Moreno set up............shows an intresting rock scape..........a plataform...........

It is suitable for a large Anemone expand the mantle over the plataform..............

Mags needs this space to expand.................

Mertens too...........

A tank like this................with no Corals...........with similar rock scape....................is good for Mags and Mertens.............

Gigs needs DSB............they like sand...............as well as LTA........Haddons........and Auroras..................

Mertens and Mags needs flat Rocks.............exposed to a bit stronger flow..........


This posts are just an idea...........about what I think that is a good tank model to large rock anemones.............such Mags and Mertens..........

Though much of what we read and even see of photos taken of gigantea in the wild, 99% of the gigs in captivity are rock dwellers. Granted, some of located where the rocks meet the sandbed, but none need a deep sand bed. Of the three carpet species that host clowns, only haddoni needs deep sand. If you were to place a gigantea on a DSB, it would not dig its foot into the sand like a haddoni. I actually tried it a few times out of curiosity. Each time the gig would inflate its foot and float above the sand. Once it found a hard surface it would attach.

The key difference between mags and gigs is that mags like flat surfaces to spread out their foot, while gigs typically prefer to wedge their foot within the rock structure, though not as deeply embedded as a BTA.

 

[Yuri Barros]

Gigs lives live in sand.........and try to hide the column........rock cavities between the sand and the rock...............is favorite...........like this :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54527470@N00/9497312075/

In aquarium..........these places between the sand and the rocks.....usually have low PAR..............

Usually lower than 300 micromols...........

 

[D-Nak]

Gigs lives live in sand.........and try to hide the column........rock cavities between the sand and the rock...............is favorite...........like this :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54527470@N00/9497312075/

In aquarium..........these places between the sand and the rocks.....usually have low PAR..............

Usually lower than 300 micromols...........

I think it's actually quite the opposite. The photo you show is of a gigantea in the wild at low tide. It's probably in less than 12" of water so the PAR is probably extremely high. Many of the photos in the collection are taken a low tide, and some of the gigantea are even exposed to air.

If you read the description that the photographer provides (click on the link to the right of the photo:"More about this sea anemone"), it reads "Where seen? This enormous colourful carpet anemone with short skinny tentacles is commonly seen on our Southern shores, usually on hard surfaces such as coral rubble, near reefs. It is also sometimes seen on coral rubble on our Northern shores."

In aquariums, even if given the option to stay at the bottom of the tank near the sandbed, most gigantea will climb up onto the rock structure.

Rather than derail this thread, I've started a new thread here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=22759059#post22759059

 

[Yuri Barros]

Yes the bottom of the tank have low PAR.........they need higher PAR......

But they are founded in sea grass too............

for exemple :

http://ctatlas.reefbase.org/mapsofthemonth/map14.aspx

 

[D-Nak]

Yes the bottom of the tank have low PAR.........they need higher PAR......

But they are founded in sea grass too............

for exemple :

http://ctatlas.reefbase.org/mapsofthemonth/map14.aspx

Ah, sorry. I mis-read your post. I thought you meant they didn't need high PAR.

 

[Yuri Barros]

Yes............in the bottom.............PAR values normally range between 100 and 200 micromols...........

Its not a good value.................too low...............

I think a good PAR value is around 400 micromols.............

However............high PAR in the bottom................means that you can exceed PAR value in the higher parts of the reef.................over saturating.............and the Zoox stop photosyntesis..............

A PAR Meter is a good device to calibrate the PAR...............

We need to know exactly is the sweet spot between.........LCP (Light Compensation Point).........and LSP (Light Saturation Point)...........

I don´t know what is the exact PAR requeriment of Stichodactyla gigantea..............


However the Anemone is exposed in the low tide.............there are clouds...........and Sun rotation that minimizes the effects of high PAR..........

In aquarium we have to find a sweet spot..............

That site.........."Wild Singapore".............have the presence of Dr. Daphne Fautin..............world Anemone specialist.................

That wrote a Book with Dr Gerald Allen..................

http://www.amazon.com/Anemone-Fishes-Their-Host-Anemones/dp/1564651185

Super cool site "Wild Singapore"................

 

[Yuri Barros]

Back to Mags...............I was reading this article about Chagos............

And I quoted this extract :

"From previous dives here we know that the place is prone to strong currents and this is evident in the abundance of anemones. They like to have the tentacles wafted by the moving water. "


This is about Mags...............one of the favorite host for Amphiprion chagosensis.....................

The diver reports.........that he know that the place have strong currents............just observing that there..........have many Mags.................

http://chagos-trust.org/2014-biot-expedition

For me it seems that the anemones search this kind of places............with ideal water flow and movement..............reported strong..............

An intresting report.....................

 

[TinManx]

In response to the OP, my success ratio is better with gigantea and magnifica than with SPS, as strange as it sounds. In all of my tanks SPS wither away and die while my anemones go strong. Perhaps it is due to high nutrients and lack of Ca/alk supplementation.

On my current tank I am running an ATS and dosing Kalk more often, and am trying to get my SPS to grow. Hopefully the change in methodology doesn't kill my anemone mojo....

 

[adtravels]

Yuri, Have you got any clearer pictures of the Chagos Anemone fish? More information on them? Do they all have black pelvic fins and do the juveniles look any different?
Great link btw

 

[Yuri Barros]

Yes.........I selected a few.........

Chagos Archipelago belongs to a Chagos-Laccadives formation...........it´s a geolocical formation that includes Maldives and Lackshadweep Islands............

This is the aspect of Amphiprion chagosensis Habitat............

Heteractis magnifica is one of the favorite host............

Amphiprion chagosensis

Pero Banhos..........

Amphiprion chagosensis hosted in Entacmaea quadricolor...........

Here in Diego Garcia Atoll...........

Some fishes have a brownish tan...........

Stichodactyla mertensii..............is another host anemone for this species...........

Here in Diego Garcia Atoll..............

Amphiprion chagosensis belongs to the same Clownfish Complex of Amphiprion bicinctus and Amphiprion omanensis..............

Juveniles of this three species are very similar..................



OBS:

Amphiprion allardi do not belong to this Clownfish Complex..........

Amphiprion allardi belongs to the same Complex of Amphiprion latifasciatus...........the Juveniles of these two species are similar..............

Amphiprion allardi and Amphiprion latifasciatus........belongs to another context..................

Bicinctus Complex have just these three species...............Amphiprion chagosensis...........Amphiprion bicinctus............and Amphiprion omanensis..................

 

[Yuri Barros]

I almost forgot..........

Check this out : Anemone Reef..........Andaman Sea..........Thailand........ Phuket..............

"Anemone Reef or Hin Jom (Submerged Rock) lies just underwater, about 600 meters to the north of Hin Musang. As the Thai name makes clear, no part of the pinnacle is exposed, and underwater the rock drops off more dramatically to a depth of between 20-27 meters until reaching a bottom of sand and oyster shells."

Check these Mags.............

 

[adtravels]

I almost forgot..........

Check this out : Anemone Reef..........Andaman Sea..........Thailand........ Phuket..............

"Anemone Reef or Hin Jom (Submerged Rock) lies just underwater, about 600 meters to the north of Hin Musang. As the Thai name makes clear, no part of the pinnacle is exposed, and underwater the rock drops off more dramatically to a depth of between 20-27 meters until reaching a bottom of sand and oyster shells."

Check these Mags.............

I have dived that site, very nice. There is also sail rock in the gulf of Thailand whose tops are covered in Magnificas.

 

[Yuri Barros]

Fantastic to know that you dived in this place.....................

Anemone Reef - Thailand

 

[OrionN]

looks like they are all clones of the same anemone. I got one with this exact color in my tank, and I had the same color anemone in the late 1990's that divided in my tank.

 

[Yuri Barros]

When they are retracted...........one can see what size of the space they need..................to expand the mantle...........

It seems that the favorite place is flat surfaces.........................

I was studing Carlinhos Moreno aquariums....................and this guy make intresting hard scapes..............

I like this one............and I think that it´s great for Mags...........

Source : http://brasilreef.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=3532

 

[Reefahholic]

They definitely like high flat surfaces.

 

[M Woodhill]

They definitely like high flat surfaces.

i always reserve a flat live rock for it :smokin: i didn't know marcorocks produce reef mortar. ill definitely try to make with it a huge flat rockwork as seen in the bra pic

epoxy works very poorly for me

 

[ca1ore]

I'd echo much of what others have said. Mags ship poorly, far worse than SPS, but are actually more forgiving once acclimated. I was able to keep a mag well before SPS - 1992 or so. I have had tank crashes take down my corals but the anemone made it through. So, hard to get a mag established, but easier than SPS once successful.

 

[ca1ore]

Very nice! Been looking for one with this coloration forever.