Ritteri Question

[CraigT1976]

Hi

I introduced a ritteri to my tank yesterday,

But first I will just mention the setup so you can get a feel for my tank.
The steup is as follows:

4x2x2 c/w 36x17x17 sump
Lr in main tank is 65kg and 10kg in the sump
Also in the sump is 2" mineral mud with calp light 24/7
Skimmer is an apf600
Lighting over the tank is Giesemann infinity 2 x 150w 12'500k
with 4 x 54w T5's (Light 8 hours by halides and T5's and an extra hour before and after the halides with the T5's
Sump Return: eheim 1262
Main tank flow: 2 x eheim 1262 on closed loops and also a Tunze 6100 on the 7091 controller so I,m getting approx 30x tank vol turnover

Water params

SG 1.026
Temp 80f - 81f
Cal 420
Alk 8.4 dkh
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0 - 3
Phos 0
Mag 1440

I also dose 2 drops of iodine a week which is dosed into the return on the sump

Tank has been set up for about a month and is an upgrade from my old system

40kg of the rock came from my old system also I added 20% of the water volume is from my old setup to help it mature along nicely

Ok now on th ethe Ritteri

I purchased a nice big bit of lr that was total smooth and a slightly rounded surface for him to sit on just approx 4" - 5" under one of my halides where it also gets good flow as its where one of my closed loops meets the flow of my tunze

When I got the anemone home I acclimatised him by floating him for 40 mins then drip acclimatised for a further 2 hours

Placed him where I wanted him and held him on the rock for a few mins whilst he gripped himself

Because when I got him home he was totaly deflated he gradually inflated himself to his full size

Today he deflated himself during the day and then inflated himself again the mouth is slightly open but it was like this when I added him to the tank and has not expelled his zooth at all and is coloured very well still it moved slightly from where I placed him but he has moved back to the top of the rock again now

Ok my questions

1. Is it natural that they deflate and inflate often?
2. How long should I wait until I try and feed it? or Should I not feed it as I have read very different oppinions
3. The mouth is it normal for it to be slightly open if not how long does it roughly take for a ritteri to settle
4. My clowns started to host in him as soon as I added him, Will this settle the ritteri or have the opposite efect so should I try and keep them away for a bit?
5. On the feeding side if I should feed it is muscle ok or should I feed lance fish?

Sorry for all the questions but this tank was planned for 12 months of lots or reading with an anemone in mind as I find them facenating creatures speacialy the clown-anemone relationship so I want this to succeed

Also any other info on settling this creature would be appreaciated

Craig

 

[Markk96]

[moved]

 

[dantodd]

Re: Ritteri Question

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7977267#post7977267 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CraigT1976
Hi

I introduced a ritteri to my tank yesterday,

But first I will just mention the setup so you can get a feel for my tank.

...

Ok my questions

1. Is it natural that they deflate and inflate often?
2. How long should I wait until I try and feed it? or Should I not feed it as I have read very different oppinions
3. The mouth is it normal for it to be slightly open if not how long does it roughly take for a ritteri to settle
4. My clowns started to host in him as soon as I added him, Will this settle the ritteri or have the opposite efect so should I try and keep them away for a bit?
5. On the feeding side if I should feed it is muscle ok or should I feed lance fish?

Congratulations on the new ritteri, Kudos for doing so much research and building a GREAT home for a ritteri. As I'm sure you know a ritteri is one of the most difficult species to keep in our home aquaria.

I would have suggested waiting a little longer but you have certainly done a lot of planning so you may well be OK.

Once you have a nice setup, which you do, the biggest challenge in keeping ritteri is choosing a healthy specimen to begin with.

I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability but there are 3 or 4 folks with a lot more experience who will hopefully chime in to correct anything I might get wrong!


1. It is completely normal for them to cycle between inflated and deflated when they are acclimating to a new environment.
2.I would feed him as soon as he is willing to take the food (i.e. the food is sticking and he moves it to his mouth.
3. It is not normal for a mouth to be gaping if it is not 'tight' or is a little puffy it may be ok. If it is actually gaping by several cm then I would be very concerned that it is not a healthy specimen to begin with.
4. I think others can answer this better, but I'm pretty sure that ritteri are one of the species that is particularly helped in settling by having a host.
5. It is best to feed it a variety of foods. Lancefish, silverside, shrimp, scallops and squid are all excellent choices though he may show a preference for one or more and not like others.

Good Luck!
Dan

 

[CraigT1976]

Thanks for the reply, The mouth is not gaping just a little puffy

 

[OrionN]

Everything you posted about your tank sounds great for H. magnifica except:

...Tank has been set up for about a month and is an upgrade from my old system...

IMHO, even in a upgrade system, this maybe too early. I think your new rocks may still not quite stable yet. I don't mean the nitrate cycles. There are other nutrients given off by rock that given off by new rock that take time. I would wait a month or two more. This may or may not be a problem.

...Lighting over the tank is Giesemann infinity 2 x 150w 12'500k
with 4 x 54w T5's (Light 8 hours by halides and T5's and an extra hour before and after the halides with the T5's...

IME, this may not be enough light for a H. magnifica in the long term. My H. magnifica have always done well under more light, very close under 400 W MH. The T5 while may added more light in general to the tank, H. magnifica may need more than what you have right now. This does not cause your anemone to inflates and deflates. Your anemone may do very well with your setup, however, I don’t think we can give this species too much light.


Inflate and deflate cycles in OK for the first few days, but I would worry if this continues. It is important that the anemone is healthy at the LFS. It is OK that it is bleached as long as it is open and eating. Good luck. If this anemone does not work out, be patient and wait a few more month then try again. Choose your anemone carefully, and consider upgrade your light.

I agree with everything Dan posted.

 

[CraigT1976]

Do you think lighting the tank for longer, say 10 hours might help any?

Cheers
Craig

 

[raoul]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7980279#post7980279 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CraigT1976
Do you think lighting the tank for longer, say 10 hours might help any?

Cheers
Craig

I have a sebae, so I'm not going to give you any specific advice, but I did want to comment on the last statement. Maybe this won't be an issue, but we increased our light cycle for an anemone, and maybe it helped, but I'm not sure. What I know it did for sure was help our algae grow better! We also have a low grade skimmer (which we will be changing out soon) that also contributes to our problem!

Inflate/deflate: as said, once it's stable you shouldn't notice this so much, but you may notice it occassionally, but for brief periods of time. They will shrink to expell waste, and I think most will shrink when the lights go off - no need to spread out for light when there isn't any.

Mine got ticked off at the flow change in the skimmer last week and moved a few inches. While it was moving and getting settled into it's new happy spot it was a little deflated. When it finally got settled in it inflated like normal. These are just my experiences with my nem, but I think these are probably applicable to most nems.

Good luck, and thank you for taking the time to read up on everything and ask questions!

 

[OrionN]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7980279#post7980279 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CraigT1976
Do you think lighting the tank for longer, say 10 hours might help any?

Cheers
Craig

It won't help right now. I notice that H. magnifica when not well, often deflated when the light is on durring the day and got better at night when the light is off (personal experience from first H. magnifica that did not make it). I also know that one LFS in Houston who I know the ownder well, told me that his death rate in store is less if he keep them in lower light (I think sick H. magnifica looks better under low light because they don't deflate and thus people buy them)
Once you anemone start eatting and does not deflate, I would increase light cycle to 12 hr+ I keep my reef light on 14 hrs cycle with 10 hrs dark. I do this because
1. I keep high light animals and know that the light I provide for them is not as bright as natural light.
2. I go to work early and goes home late. I want the light on when I am home in the evenning so I enjoy my tank.
IMO, there is no reason to keep the light on less than 12 hrs other than the fact that it cost us more money. The animals only benifit from longer day lenght.

 

[CraigT1976]

Thank's for the replies, The only worrying statement in the above is that mine seems to be doing the same thing ie of a night its expanding and during the day its deflating

Now I know when i got it that it was not 100% as the mouth was puffy but it was one the my lfs picked up for me from TMC and it has changed tankk twice in the last week or so

I,m just hoping that it will settle and get better in time which I think is just going to have to be patience on my half as theres nothing I can do at this time to make anything different as I have provided as a stable conditions and the best equipment as I can

But thanks for the comments to which all is taken on board

Craig

 

[Ooulophilia]

Please see my thread in responsible reefkeeping

 

[Flighty]

Patience and stability is the only thing to do now. Unfortunately these anemones can have things wrong inside of them which is very hard to see from the outside. Hopefully yours will pull through.

I believe that magnificas are helped by hosting clownfish and with heavy feedings of very fresh, meaty seafood. This isn't the time to risk introducing disease with old or spoiled food. That is just my opinion from anecdotal evidence.

Best of luck with him and please keep us posted

(for people without the search feature here is Ooulophilia's post :http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=7997242 )

 

[OrionN]

wrong thread sorry