Ritterii or carpet?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8622494#post8622494 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by plancton
say, in the future I wanna build a very large tank and be able to keep an h.magnifica. Do you really need 10 000 watt MH?, Or you can go with 400w?
Don't go by the watts per gallon rule. Its practically useless. I would say one or two 400 watt fixtures would be enough.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8622494#post8622494 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by plancton
say, in the future I wanna build a very large tank and be able to keep an h.magnifica. Do you really need 10 000 watt MH?, Or you can go with 400w?

no, it is 10000K not Watt, a 250W or 400W either one would be sufficient, but you do need it to be at least a 10000K (they come in 6500K, 10000K, 20000K) I have 2, 150W 10000K bulbs, and everthing seems to be doing great, but if I were able, I would have gotten a 250W (my light fixture does not take anything larger than 150W)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8580807#post8580807 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mwood
Let me ask this question. I've read that a gigantia and a ritteri are very difficult and that they need high light and high alternating flow. Are they hardy with high light and good flow, or is the survival rate still bleak even with good flow and light?

*Generally* speaking I would say yes. Both species are demanding but their needs are reasonably well known. Thus, once adapted to a life in captivity they (both species) seem to be reasonably hardy, barring individual circumstances (injury, bad piece of food, tank disaster). Having said that, the problem appears to be obtaining a healthy specimen to begin with that is capable of making the transition into a life of captivity. They seem to be in the minority of those imported. S. gigantea in particular seems to fare *very* poorly through that transition.
 
From my experience key to keeping ritteri has been light. As soon as I switch my light to lower K light, he starts walking . As long as I keep it at 10K high Par light like XM, he is happy, and stays put. He receives medium to low flow and 10 inches from my 10K 250watt lights. He gets fed once a week, and he is as happy as can be. He has not moved an inch for the last 8 months.

Once established, they are very hardy, it survived through a tank move when I lost %50 of my corals, including some fish. I event lost a rose anemone, but ritterri survived.

Having said all that, I would only recommend ritteri to experienced anemone keepers with good light and good water quality.
 
why did your tank crashed?, I might need to move mine as well, I don´t know how something bad could happen.
 
Ah .. forgot to mention, but you just reminded me of something.

My ritteri HATES being moved! Everytime I've had to move it, where some handling is involved (impossible to avoid when you have a 24" anemone), it releases some kind of invisible fish death. Don't know if it nematocysts that sting a fish's gills, or just slime that coats their gills, but either way, non-clownfish fish suffocate to death.

Although I've seen a few smaller specimens, to me it seems that ritteri's get ridiculously large. I know the original poster said his tank is a 300g, so I didn't mention this, but I guess it bears mentioning to anyone else reading this thread to be prepared for their eventual size if you intend to consider this species. And to give you an idea how fast they can grow, mine grew from a paltry 5" at time-of-purchase to well over 18" within *about 2 months*. And it continued to grow beyond that as well. Craziness.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8627814#post8627814 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by plancton
why did your tank crashed?, I might need to move mine as well, I don´t know how something bad could happen.


I tried to move the tank and my house at the same time in the winter. Water got too cold. Corals did not like 60s that much. To be honest I was not quite prepared, I learnt my lesson the hard way.
 
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