Merten's Keepers?
- Thread starter WDLV
- Start date
elegance coral
They call me EC
Do you have a source to get mertensii anemone's from? If not, the system could be empty for a long, long time.
I don't think the 24x24 will be large enough for one of these anemones. Unless you don't mind looking at the underside of the polyp as it curls up the glass.
Try PM'ing Phender. He has pic's of his old mertensii. It was about 24" in diameter.
I don't think the 24x24 will be large enough for one of these anemones. Unless you don't mind looking at the underside of the polyp as it curls up the glass.
Try PM'ing Phender. He has pic's of his old mertensii. It was about 24" in diameter.
Not easy
Not easy
They are not easy to keep and their reef condition are not easily reproduced in a small tank.
After one try with one in a 30 breeder holding tank, im pretty sure there is no way to replicate the flow they need in a smaller tank. They dont like direct flow they like sloshing back and forth which is not easily reproduced.
Not easy
They are not easy to keep and their reef condition are not easily reproduced in a small tank.
After one try with one in a 30 breeder holding tank, im pretty sure there is no way to replicate the flow they need in a smaller tank. They dont like direct flow they like sloshing back and forth which is not easily reproduced.
elegance coral
They call me EC
The people I've talked to that have kept this anemone, say they are relatively easy to care for. Similar to haddoni. I've never had one personally though.
phender
Active member
I didn't find mine difficult to keep at all. I was even able to keep it for several years under 240 watts of CP lights in a 60 gal (48") tank. They like a flat rock for their anchor but with a build up of rock around that to lay their oral disk.
The problem is, they get BIG really fast and the ones that come in are usually already too big for a 24" square tank.
I don't have my "fingers in the mix" as much as I used to, but most of the ones that I have seen pop up are not merten's but instead mis-IDed C. adheasivium or S. gigantea.
Good luck on your search. Personally I would think that a H. magnifica might be a more likely natural host for your thiellei.
I attached a bunch of pics. (I will try to find a video)
The first is about a month after I got it. The second and third are full tank and close-ups a year later and the the fourth and fifth are pics after two years.
The problem is, they get BIG really fast and the ones that come in are usually already too big for a 24" square tank.
I don't have my "fingers in the mix" as much as I used to, but most of the ones that I have seen pop up are not merten's but instead mis-IDed C. adheasivium or S. gigantea.
Good luck on your search. Personally I would think that a H. magnifica might be a more likely natural host for your thiellei.
I attached a bunch of pics. (I will try to find a video)
The first is about a month after I got it. The second and third are full tank and close-ups a year later and the the fourth and fifth are pics after two years.
Attachments
phender
Active member
Not the greatest video, but it's all I have. Hope it helps. You can see that the current was not extreme, but it did move the tentacles and lifted the "skirt" on occasion.
http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd234/phender_01/?action=view¤t=DSCN0494.flv
http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd234/phender_01/?action=view¤t=DSCN0494.flv
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WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
Thanks for posting that Phil. I'm not overly concerned with the size. The only detriment that would generally cause is that it might sting corals or get sucked into a powerhead. In the system I'm designing, corals are an expendable afterthought and there is no chance of it getting sucked into an anemone.
I plan to keep an H. mag too but for my nigripes pair. The reason I didn't consider H. mag as a candidate for A. thiellei is because it does not host A. sandaracinos in nature. I believe A. sand to be one of the parents. S. mertensii host both of the clown species that I believe are the parents of A. thiellei.
I already know that I can keep most of my clowns in BTAs. But that's not really the objective of my project.
The way I have it figured, I will keep the following clowns in the following biotopes. I chose E. quad for a couple of them because I already have them on hand and see no reason to be redundant on the more difficult anemones.
A. thiellei - (Philippine Island) S. mertensii
A. ocellaris - (Darwin) S. gigantea
A. leucokranos - (Solomon Island) E. quadricolor
A. barberri - (Fiji) E. quadricolor
A. latezonatus - (Lord Howe Island) H. crispa
A. nigripes (Maldives) H. Magnifica.
I plan to keep an H. mag too but for my nigripes pair. The reason I didn't consider H. mag as a candidate for A. thiellei is because it does not host A. sandaracinos in nature. I believe A. sand to be one of the parents. S. mertensii host both of the clown species that I believe are the parents of A. thiellei.
I already know that I can keep most of my clowns in BTAs. But that's not really the objective of my project.
The way I have it figured, I will keep the following clowns in the following biotopes. I chose E. quad for a couple of them because I already have them on hand and see no reason to be redundant on the more difficult anemones.
A. thiellei - (Philippine Island) S. mertensii
A. ocellaris - (Darwin) S. gigantea
A. leucokranos - (Solomon Island) E. quadricolor
A. barberri - (Fiji) E. quadricolor
A. latezonatus - (Lord Howe Island) H. crispa
A. nigripes (Maldives) H. Magnifica.
phender
Active member
My concern size wise is that in a 24" cube the Merten's will soon be touching all four sides of the tank making circulation and viewing difficult, not to mention it will take up a large portion of the volume of the tank and not leave much space for water.
I was thinking perideraion x ocellaris in a magnifica, forgetting that ocellaris live in merten's as well.
On your biotypes, if it were me, I would switch the leuc's E. quad for the latz's H. crispa. I have never seen a pic of a leuc in a BTA, always merten's or crispa, whereas I usually see latz in BTA's, sometimes crispa. They are your tanks though.
Since you have the connections to get pairs of thiellei, leucs and latz maybe you have the connections to get a merten's as well.
Good luck on your project. You will need to post pics of the tanks as you set them up.
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
My leucs had a mag in their display for over a year but showed no interest. They preferred the quads for some reason.
My concern size wise is that in a 24" cube the Merten's will soon be touching all four sides of the tank making circulation and viewing difficult, not to mention it will take up a large portion of the volume of the tank and not leave much space for water.
I was thinking perideraion x ocellaris in a magnifica, forgetting that ocellaris live in merten's as well.
On your biotypes, if it were me, I would switch the leuc's E. quad for the latz's H. crispa. I have never seen a pic of a leuc in a BTA, always merten's or crispa, whereas I usually see latz in BTA's, sometimes crispa. They are your tanks though.
Since you have the connections to get pairs of thiellei, leucs and latz maybe you have the connections to get a merten's as well.
Good luck on your project. You will need to post pics of the tanks as you set them up.
Thanks for your input. I know you're one of the few on here who has kept one long term. Your comments on tank size are not falling on def ears. Keeping the hosts for the long haul is part of my objective. I'm also looking at attaching a 125 gallon or a 180 to this system instead of one of the 45 gallons. A long tank would allow me to do another linear flow tank or a tunze wave box tank.
A lot of thought is going into this system and it would be very easy for me to just forgo this particular biotope for a later date when I have room for a much larger system. I already have a thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15946365#post15946365 detailing where I already have one of the tanks online. The biotope is an idea that came to light after setting up the first tank. This system can't age fast enough! I started drilling a second tank this morning and I'm in the process of planning out the flow and aquascape.... whether this tank will be rock bottom, DSB or what have you will depend heavily on what future anemone species will go in it. In the case of mertensii -vs- quadricolor it won't make much difference as they prefer similar substrate.
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