Ritteri Anemone twisted      11/28/16
Hello!
<Jackie>
Your site is amazing, but I can't seem to find an answer to my dilemma.
<Thanks for using WetWeb, and I'm sure I can help>
I purchased a Ritteri anemone 8 days ago.
<Yikes... I hope you're familiar with the husbandry for these animals. They are too commonly bought by clueless individuals and end up dead in a matter of days>
For the first few days, it basically just wandered around and when I saw it getting to my coral or too close to a powerhead, I would manually move it with my hands.
<Be careful doing this. Wear some sort of gloves, as this species is very delicate>
It has since settled in the bottom of the tank on a rock, and is hosting my two clowns greatly.
<This is good to hear. It's always nice to hear that clowns have discovered a new home>
My problem, however, is that the anemone looks twisted around itself.
<Could you send pictures? Hard to picture what you mean exactly. Larger specimens can get sort of balled up and lay on top of themselves. This makes it appear to have wrinkles or folds>
It's a good 8", maybe, stretched all the way out, but for two days, it's been on this rock with both sides of its foot pretty much attached to itself. I'm afraid to move it anymore fearing it may perish.
<Leave it alone. It's always best to let an anemone find its home by itself. Unless it is near a powerhead, let it be. If it moves toward a coral, move the coral, NOT the anemone.>
It's partially deflated (less than half its tentacles), but plumps up when the lights are on. I have not noticed it balling up like bubble tips do.
It's also had its mouth open all of the 8 days. I don't see it losing flesh, and otherwise seems healthy. My clowns went right to it, we're talking 5 minutes or less.
<This also could be stressing it out a bit. When an anemone is first introduced to a tank, a bunch of animals diving in and out of it can be stressful, as I'm sure you could imagine>
I've read they're hard to keep.
<I hope you've done a TON of reading. They are extremely difficult to keep.
This is one of the few animals I believe should be kept in the ocean, no matter how experienced the aquarist in question is>
I've had 3 Rose Bubble Tipped anemones for going on a year. All three are perfectly healthy, even without regular feedings. I've tried to feed it a piece of shrimp and it refused the food.
<Not uncommon when first introduced to a tank, and because partially they use the light for food>
This was only about two or three days ago before it made its home in the bottom of the tank. It has major flow, good lighting, and water parameters are perfect.
<Please define "good" and "perfect". Let us know the flow rate and the lighting spectrum/PAR, and the exact water conditions>
I don't want this thing to die in my tank. I'll trade it in before I willingly let something die in my tank.
<If you can trade it in, do it>
Upon reading up on them, I've learned that these anemones are so much different than the "regular" more easily kept anemone such as the bubble tips.
<You should've done more reading>
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! (I'm not requiring this for help, but I do have an instagram profile that documents my reef journey. You can see pictures there, ( account name is Owens.Reef ) or I can send you pictures upon request. I also think I should add that this is how the anemone has been the whole time it's been in the display. Acclimation was floating (for light), then a slow drip acclimation (for temp and water).
A little about my tank: 110 gallon mixed reef. Livestock includes: Diamond Goby, Mandarin Dragonette, Purple Tang, Yellow Tang, Blue Tang, Ocellaris clown, snowflake clown, Copperband butterfly, coral beauty angel, six line wrasse, 2 emerald crabs, hermit crabs, several types of snails, 9" clam, 2 peppermint shrimp, 2 pistol shrimp, fire shrimp, cleaner shrimp, nearly all types of coral.
Thanks in Advance,
Jackie Owens
<Jackie, I would trade this specimen in for something you can easily keep.
If you truly decide to keep it, you need to do a lot more reading. Search WetWeb re Ritteri anemones. Send pictures as well. Cheers, Gabe>
Re: Ritteri Anemone twisted      11/28/16
Hey, Gabe!
<Jackie>
I am very familiar with this anemone and it's requirements.
<Phew... Glad to hear this wasn't an "Oh look an anemone" type of purchase>
I'm one of the lucky few reefers who have a local fish store that won't sell you an animal without a good running tank and good tank mates/water.
<This is good to know. Too many stores will sell you anything as long as they're getting paid>
Anyway, my tank is a 48"x18"x30". I have a 1600GPH return flow, along with a submersible pond pump running 1000GPH behind the rocks that stack all up the back side of my glass and almost all the way forward, expanding in
width on the way down (done this for pod population and Mysid shrimp reproduction). I also have a 1650GPH Hydor powerhead and a small twin powerhead running 1200GPH turnover.
<Did you want some aquarium with that water flow? :)>
My lights are 2 150x3 CREE LED hanging fixtures.
<Good>
My parameters are as follows: Ammonia 0, Nitrates 0, Nitrites 0, Phosphate undetectable, pH 8.3, Calcium 440, dKH 11, temperature 78, SG 1.025.
<Good as well>
It seems to be moving some, and I've researched more hours than I've had it, I believe.
<Thanks for the relief. This is a hard species to keep, and that reading will pay off if you keep the specimen>
Haha. I know they're nearly impossible to keep, as anemones are in general to some reef keepers, however, I feel (as well as our friends who own their own saltwater store) that this beast will flourish in our display. I'm concerned because I know how different they can be, along with their temperamental ways and sensitivity in the home aquarium. Thank you for getting back to me so soon! Can't wait to hear back.
Thanks,
Jackie.
<Jackie, to be honest, I think you'll be fine. Based on the pictures, it looks like the anemone is just so big that it needs to fold on top of it self to fit where it wants to mount itself. It appears very healthy and should be fine as long as the parameters stay where they are. Good luck with your magnificently temperamental, Magnificent/Ritteri anemone. Keep us posted in the future, and as always, thanks for choosing WetWeb. Cheers, Gabe.>