Magnifica Dominated Reef Tank

[Tmoriarty]

The original Magnifica has been in the tank now for a month and is still healthy, here are some updated pictures with the two added nems from Aqua SD. In another month once these two are settled I will be adding another 2/3 Magnificas to the tank, totaling 5 or 6. This will cover most of the arch, and will cover the whole arch easily as they grow. They take up quite a bit of room so I am happy that I built the tank around them.

Overall they have stayed put. The new ones blocked some light for the original so it moved up the rock work, the new ones have moved around a bit but are still staying on the arch towards the top. I have no problem with them moving as long as it is controlled movement. So far so good though, my fingers remain crossed. Here are the new pics, including the addition of my new snowflake to mate with my Onyx (thank you Pickle)

Clownfish photo first. The new guy went straight in, he is small and a bit shy, but he is healthy and the female is accepting of her new partner, so far . He was put in to replace a Black and White Occe that I will later breed with a seperate Onyx Perc

Here is the onyx (lost a lot of her black in the new nems, common occurence with natural hosts so I hear)

Here is one of the new nems purple base (it is eating)

And here is all three nems together on the arch, they will move a bit more I am sure until they are all happy with their spots. The main reason I chose these anemone is because they can touch without causing chemical warfare, although I have heard that debated. I also enjoy having something different then the standard BTA's that everyone has.

And lastly a full tank shot, what is any thread without one.

 

[coondog]

How long has your tank been set up? I have a 6' 150 gallon tank I'm wanting to do what you are doing with the mags. Any info or secrets would be appreciated.

 

[rssjsb]

Very nice. Where did you source your mags? They look very healthy!

 

[Tmoriarty]

How long has your tank been set up? I have a 6' 150 gallon tank I'm wanting to do what you are doing with the mags. Any info or secrets would be appreciated.

Tank got water on 27SEP2011, half of the rock was from an established 55g. As for info or secrets there is many people in the hobby with far better secrets than me, lol. Mobert is one for sure, she had the right idea with developing a seperate location within the tank that discourages the nems to cross. I changed it a bit but used a similar tactic by segregating the central arch, Magnificas like a lot of light so for them to move down off the rock they would be moving away from the light. Also they prefer rock work so the hope is that if they hit the sand on the bottom they will prefer to go back up the rock work and stay isolated on their "island"

The Magnificas are from a couple different places, one is a LFS who picks up livestock from LA every two weeks. The other is a store in San Diego who gets them in from time to time. In another month or so I will be adding some much more colorful Magnificas. I have already sourced them I am just waiting for the next shipment and to give my nems time to settle in.

Tyler

 

[coondog]

Definitely keep us posted. I can't find many threads about mags on here. Thanks.

 

[Reefvette]

Be careful one will become dominant. Right now they are juggling for position on he top of the rock right under that light.

Do any of their feet touch?

I had 3 mags together all collected at the same time from same location. They were find for about three months as they grew they would inter mongle their tentacles and then one day two starting dancing around each and till one moved up the glass and one stayed right under the light.

Magnificas are colony anemones but i dont think it can be acheived in captivity. Not enough water volume to dilute chem ware fare or the pefrect spot fight like i had

Wdlv posted some pics of a tank where they had three mags one ridiculously large one and two small stressed ones on one rock. This tank was huge it was an aquarium

 

[Tmoriarty]

I have heard some of the risks but I have also seen it work with E. Quads, while they are different anemone they do share the colonial charateristic. As of now they are doing and hopefully will continue to do so. They do have plenty of room to move on the arch still and they have shown no signs of stinging one another.

While I do not have a way to test if they are producing large amounts of chemicals I will keep an eye on them.

I have high hopes.

 

[Ron Popeil]

i too will concur to the problems with attempting a colony of magnificas. Ultimately one anemone will be the dominant magnifica, regardless of there being ample space and conditions for multiple specimens. The other magnificas will not grow, will tend to have thinner tentacles and move around. Almost immediately after the dominant anemone is removed, the others will swell in size and be noticably happier.

 

[Winwood]

I also have experienced one anemone becoming dominant and hindering the development with mags.

 

[Tmoriarty]

Ill keep it updated, positive or negative I will post the results either way, failures speak more for the hobby and give others an information source as to what can happen.

 

[pfan151]

Maybe you could move one to each island if they have issues. Great looking tank. I hope your plan works for you. It would be an impressive look if it did.

 

[Tmoriarty]

If I have to I have seperate islands and the ability to move my LPS from one side to a different area. I do hope it works the way I would like, for now it is working out fine.

 

[Tmoriarty]

Here is an updated picture of the nems, still doing good. They have stopped moving so it seems. The purple based mag at the back has deflated and reinflated a bit but I think it is more based on its acclimation to the tank (it came in a little bleached but not at all bad). There still seems to be no fighting between the nems on a physical basis. For size reference the female clown is 2.5 inchs+ :Crappy cell phone picture, better pictures soon:

 

[Tmoriarty]

Update:

Promised I would keep this updated good or bad. Eventually (after around two weeks) both the new nems began deflation cycles and perished. I removed them both to a seperate system to see if it made a difference and it did nothing to save them.

I have since added another purple based magnifica (Late September) and it has been doing fine.

It has experienced very little deflation cycles until recently when I had to move it to a new location to prevent warfare with a RBTA it was next to. While it was not having to many issues the RBTA was and I was not able to move it.

Here is a picture of the Magnifica butted up to my now 6month or so old magnifica.

 

[blackgate]

I appreciate the updates, please continue to do so. This is by far my most favorite creature in the sea, but with so many issues involving this species it's always nice to be able to share information like this. Kudos.

 

[OrionN]

You are lucky that the sick anemones did not infected the healthy one. I would set up a quarantine tank to keep them before adding them to your main tank now that you have several healthy anemones in it.
This is first hand heat breaking experience for me. Good luck with you tank.

What happen to the snowflakes?

One problem with Magnifica is that A. percula sometime loose color in them. I am looking for some nice looking black foot clowns for my magnifica tank. I saw some TR Blackfoot clowns (from SA) but I don't have the normal body shape IMO.

 

[Tmoriarty]

I actually do have a QT tank and they spend a week in it in a basket normally, this one did at least, the prior two did not as I wanted to give them the best enviroment.

I have a reef tank that has been running for almost two years with T5HO lights and good flow where I QT my fish and new additions.

The snowflake is still alive and well with the breeding pair, he occupys his btas while my other two stick to mostly the magnificas.

You are indeed correct about the loss of color, my WC onyx lost a good portion of her black in the anemone, she is still a gorgeous clown and will pass on that onyx profile to her offspring but she no long holds it in the magnifica.

 

[velvetelvis]

I am looking for some nice looking black foot clowns for my magnifica tank. I saw some TR Blackfoot clowns (from SA) but I don't have the normal body shape IMO.

I had a pair of these clownfish for a while, until they died for unknown reasons. They're beautiful (and very feisty). If you ever get some for your magnifica system please post pictures. My dream aquarium is a 90G or so cube with a magnifica clone and a pair of SA blackfoot clowns.

 

[82ndengineer]

Funny enough I have blackfoots that go between my Mags and my RBTA. They prefer to swim in the RBTA during lights on but as soon as the lights go off they head back home to the Mag. Do clones of the same Mag have the issue of dominance. If so I'm going to have to find a different place for my new split.

 

[Tmoriarty]

They are far more tollerant of their own clones.