My Blue Gigantea Anemone Under LEDs

[jonnybravo22]

picture update

picture update

the male clown has been doing some great posing now that he's doing so from the comfort of the anemone. thought i'd post. you can also see the nem's color.

 

[Rossini]

Stunning! :bounce3:

Good luck with it.

 

[jupiter]

Glad you're tagging along.

I may stay current with whatever new LEDs come out but I would reconsider your premise that new technology will make existing LEDs obsolete.

That concept holds with computer systems because they have to be fully integrated and new software wont be compatible with old systems, or will require more memory or processing speed than old systems can provide etc. Here we're just talking about lights. There's nothing it necessarily has to integrate with so provided that it meets a threshold that it provides enough light today for the tank, anything that comes out in the future is just potentially a more efficient, more powerful, or more feature laden light. It doesn't make anything obsolete b/c the old version still turns on, still provides light for your system. For instance I have the old version of the AI LEDs as well That's still a good light (that I should find a use for since I only have 1 tank set up at the moment).

Now i do have my AIs hooked up to my Profilux controller, but they work together (and it's not necessary that I use both together --though i would always try to do that).

anyways -- people have gotten very used to saying "the technology is improving" -- and it is! but that doesnt mean that the right system cant do the job already.

The cool thing about LEDs is that they are so easy to control digitally... which makes for lots of possibilities. Many of those I already take advantage of with the Profilux controller, but who knows maybe someone will come out with something in the future that is a feature i just have to have! Outside of that, I think the only thing I would get a new light for is a different color spectrum with more purple. AI chose 470 nm for their blue. I would like it if i could get something closer to 420 nm.

If i continue to see good results though, I would not be in any rush to change my lights if new ones come out. the only thing i'm wondering now that the nem seems to do well w/ LEDs is is there a way to get my Pearlberry to color up -- which may be more related to the tank owner's inexperience with SPS, considering it's my first, but who knows!

I actually meant technology with LEDs will improve. I wouldn't be tagging along if you switched to new technology

 

[jupiter]

I actually meant technology with LEDs will improve. I wouldn't be tagging along if you switched to new technology

I didn't fully read what you wrote before I posted.

I was actually referring to the associated fixtures, reflectors, etc., not the LED light. But ...
I don't know what the future holds for LED lighting. A few decades ago some thought computers couldn't get faster without getting larger. Perhaps smaller LEDs with brighter lights are next. I don't know. As of now, I'm not confident LEDs penetrate deep enough for a strongly photophilic anemone but I'm not closed to the idea that they are. I am following along to see how things turn out. There is already some question as to whether LED is really that much more efficient than T5s.
And technology upgrade doesn't just apply to the LED light itself - which again, is not what I was actually referring to when I posted. The fixture might improve. We may find that 100 LEDs in a fixture just aren't enough, that we need to move up to 1000 for proper lighting, or that there are "special reflectors" to make light better. This would drive up the inefficiency. I'm ignorant in that I don't know the future and can only base what I know on what exists today. But I'm still following to see how things progress. Of course, with anemones something unrelated could kill it in a matter of days completely unrelated to the lighting.

The anemone still looks good. We may find they don't need as much light as we originally thought, or that LED light provides the "right light" vs fluorescent or MH. It may take another decade. I'm relatively new to the hobby (since 1991, I think) but things have changed a lot since then. Even things we thought were a given have completely changed.
Just keep us updated :love2:

 

[Rosengrant826]

thats amazing i love the color. I also love your male clown.

keep us posted with more pictures please.

 

[nanotank]

Use your hands to shoo your female into the nem. I have done this 3 seperate times with 100% success. My black percs have not strayed more then 8" from there rbta in over 2.5 yrs in a 240. They lay Clutches of eggs on the rocks. Maybe someday I will get motivated and try to raise some of them. Good luck its gorgeous. I rock AI and profilux on my 60 cube.

 

[jonnybravo22]

Stunning! :bounce3:

Good luck with it.

Thanks Rossini! I dont have a great camera yet but a few of the pics came out decent. this nem is very cool! :dance:

thats amazing i love the color. I also love your male clown.

keep us posted with more pictures please.

thanks Rosengrant. i will certainly try to keep the thread fresh with images as long as i see people are interested. if anyone has questions etc. about lighting setup (LEDs!!) or acclimation or anything i'm happy to offer my experience / thoughts in hopes they might be helpful.

Use your hands to shoo your female into the nem. I have done this 3 seperate times with 100% success. My black percs have not strayed more then 8" from there rbta in over 2.5 yrs in a 240. They lay Clutches of eggs on the rocks. Maybe someday I will get motivated and try to raise some of them. Good luck its gorgeous. I rock AI and profilux on my 60 cube.

thanks a lot nanotank. yeah i like the AIs and the Profilux. I'm a little hesitant to shoo the fish into the nem just because of stories i've heard but i'm still hopeful she'll eventually go in. she has been hanging out in that area for a few seconds at a time then swimming away -- kinda like she's testing it out now. the male is there 24/7 so it's a constant reminder to her now that that's where she should be hehe. i have a bit more patience left in me now that the male is being hosted. hope she enters soon though!

 

[jonnybravo22]

some updates:

 

[greech]

Really spectacular stuff! Congrats on your success. I am trying to locate a haddoni at the moment and am fortuante to have a good LFS hunting one down for me. Keep up the good work.

 

[2Addicted]

Wow! Its awesome to see a success story and thanks for updating pics. I think this nem is my favorite! I wish my lfs brought in cool nems. How much did you pay if you dont mind me asking?

 

[garygb]

Looks in the peak of health Johnny, thank you for the updated pics. What kind of growth have you observed over the 6 or 7 months that you've had the anemone now?

Also, I noticed your tank bottom has a very thin sand layer. What do your nitrates run? What do you do for nitrate control?

 

[drtrash]

What size tank?

 

[jonnybravo22]

Really spectacular stuff! Congrats on your success. I am trying to locate a haddoni at the moment and am fortuante to have a good LFS hunting one down for me. Keep up the good work.

Thanks! Good luck with the search.

Wow! Its awesome to see a success story and thanks for updating pics. I think this nem is my favorite! I wish my lfs brought in cool nems. How much did you pay if you dont mind me asking?

Thanks! I'm very happy that it has responded well in my tank. it was around $150.

Looks in the peak of health Johnny, thank you for the updated pics. What kind of growth have you observed over the 6 or 7 months that you've had the anemone now?

Also, I noticed your tank bottom has a very thin sand layer. What do your nitrates run? What do you do for nitrate control?

Thanks.

It hasnt grownt much. I actually dont feed it anymore, maybe once a month. I've let it feed mainly off of the lighting and whatever scraps it catches when i feed the fish. Tonight i feed it directly a piece of scallop.


It does seem to be in good health. The only thing i'm trying to get improved on this guy right now is that his mouth / oral disc needs more color. The mouth should be yellower, now it's more translucent w/ yellow tinge and i'm trying to figure out what it needs -- light ? food? not sure.


Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0. I dont do anything special -- skimmer, water changes... that's it.

What size tank?

Elos System 70. Roughly 55 gallon display, ~10 gallon sump.

 

[garygb]

Thanks for the info. Really looks like it's thriving. You said you'd like the mouth to have more color. Just wondering if the mouth is always shaded. Looks shaded in the pics. Was thinking if the oral disc in proximity to the mouth were exposed to your lights perhaps the tissue would color up.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

congrats!

congrats!

very nice.

JMO: I would feed this gigantea and it will grow larger.

Krill and/or HUFA enriched mysids would be a good choice.

 

[jonnybravo22]

very nice.

JMO: I would feed this gigantea and it will grow larger.

Krill and/or HUFA enriched mysids would be a good choice.

Thanks Gary! that means a lot coming from the guy with what's probably been the most influential gigantea on the internet! certainly was for me, and i still aspire to have such success.

I realized only recently that I hadn't fed the anemone in a while so I started doing that again. I am certainly happy with it not getting too big for now though it has grown some so far, but i like that it's a manageable size

Gary, do you have any thoughts on what contributes to the mouth of the anemone being yellow? Are lights responsible for the color of the oral disc tissue or is that food / nutrient driven?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

IME foods and lighting can affect anemone coloration but I wouldn't be extremely concerned about the yellow tint around any gigantea's mouth. It's natural.

Your anemone is doing quite a stretch (look at it's column) and I wouldn't be surprised if it moved someday soon. In the meantime, I wouldn't change much because it looks like you have a keeper!

 

[5Starreef]

Really nice , please keep posting!!!:love1:

 

[jonnybravo22]

just a few updates

In this first pic, check out how the anemone sticks to the glass to keep itself outstretched during the day. interesting. i think the purple "bumps" or verrucae are actually the sticky parts, but haven't confirmed.seems like it sticks at tiny points though, i've noticed this on several occasions.

I fed the anemone and took a pic of her eating. (think i have identified it as a female)

 

[garygb]

Just curious, how can you tell the anemone is a female?