H. Crispa behaviour pattern

[npaden]

I finally decided to purchase a couple of anenomes after 3 years in the hobby. I bought a purple LTA and a H. Crispa about 3 months ago. The anenomes are about 8' away from each other and both are settled in nicely at the sand/rock edge and haven't moved since being placed.

The purple LTA seems to be very happy and healthy. Extends well and only rarely shrinks up. It accepts all types of food very readily.

The H. Crispa was a little bit on the white/bleached side when I purchased it (the tentacles were white but the disk was a beige color) but it was a large specimen and otherwise appeared healthy - good foot, etc. It has VERY slowly started to regain some of it's beige coloration but not as fast as I would have thought.

It is also a MUCH pickier eater than the LTA. I've tried fresh shrimp and scallops as well as silversides. It seems to like the silversides the best but they are the hardest to feed it. It is also a slower eater than the LTA and with it's shorter tentacles some of my fish will come and steal food from it so I have to guard it will it gets the food down.

It still seems healthy but the behaivour that puzzles me the most is that it shrinks up completely nearly every night. I've read other threads that say that they do this but it shrinks up to about 3" in diameter at night - completely deflated, and during the day expands to at least 9". It also seems to not be expanding out quite as far during the day anymore. Maybe 9" instead of 10", but the purple LTA expands noticeably more now than it did when I got it. I've been feeding about twice a week. Do I need to increase that? Sometimes when I go to feed the H. Crispa it has already deflated for the night and won't take food. Should I try to start feeding it in the morning instead of the evening? Also I currently do not have any clowns hosting in the anenome. I've been holding out for some pink skunks. Would this help?

Oh well, any thoughts would be appreciated. I realize the H. Crispa is more difficult than the LTA, but water parameters are fine. The H. Crispa is in the lowest flow spot in my tank and seems to like this. (The rest of the tank is SPS dominated and has high flow).

Here are some pics of the anenomes in question (on the far left & right sides of each pic.

Thanks in advance. Nathan

 

[Anonymous]

npaden-

nice tank!

fwiw-don't think you should offer food to an anemone unless it's tentacles are extended(feeding mode)

i would suggest holding off abit on the crispa's feeding, and see what happens-it may be that as it regains its 'symbionts', it needs to readjust it's metabolism abit-so it's slowing down it's predatory mode of feeding as the algaes start to kick in with helping it's nutrition sources.

try not feeding it for 3-4 days-it can certainly go that long, w/ no ill effects-imho-try feeding it no more often than every 3-4 days, and if it seems to be staying 'hungry', you can always up the frequency.as long as the color keeps improving, even if slowly, i think it'll be just fine.

the two different species most probably have different frequency requirements, anyway, re:feeding

hth

 

[jamesw]

It looks like your crispa has settled in a "preferred spot"

I saw them in shallow sandflats in Fiji - hosting pink skunks. They were getting EXTREMELY intense lighting in this area and high water temperatures.

Even under optimal conditions these anemones can just wither away and die. No one really knows why.

Good luck!

James Wiseman

 

[EmilyB]

Nathan - nice tank !

When I first purchased my sebae in May/01 it looked like this:

I took a pic Aug of that year (although it sucks..)

About a month later it looked like this:

And today, it looks like this:

I know it wouldn't eat for the longest time, and it took shrimp pellets (oddly enough) first. Then very small pieces of thawed shrimp. It is an extremely aggressive feeder now, although I have stopped targetting it. It is getting so enormous I am having to corral it with rock to keep it away from the corals.

Yours may just need a bit more time.

James, is it true that anemones can pick up zooanth from other anemones in the tank ?

 

[npaden]

Thanks Emily!

That series of pictures gives me some hope! I'll just keep at it. Mine still seems healthy was just hoping it would color up a little quicker. I've actually only had it about 2 1/2 months so maybe just a little more time.

Has your's moved around some? Looking at that last pic it almost seems like it is up on the rocks? I thought they pretty much stayed put on the sand/rock transistion area?

Thanks, Nathan

 

[EmilyB]

The first pics were in the old 72g reef which I relocated to the 155g in Sept/01.

It moved to the centre of the 155g when I put it in and it has never moved. It's foot is buried in the sand. The rock is just around it, keeping it contained somewhat

 

[Anonymous]

EmilyB-

very sweet! 8)

 

[john f]

I agree with Emily.
It may take up to a year for that anemone to fully recover, but as long as it is getting darker and still takes food occasionally it should be fine.

Emily,
Here is a pick of my H. crispa. A fellow reefer donated him to me about 5 years ago. Wonder why the tentacles get so long in captivity?




John

 

[EmilyB]

Thanks Vitz

It is weird isn't John, reaching for more sunlight, maybe :? How large is that anemone of yours ?

 

[john f]

It's about 14 inches.
It has been a little bigger but actually survived an entire tank meltdown back in Naples. I lost everything when I went away for the weekend and my main pump quit. Only about 7 things lived in my 135, and that anemone was one of them.
It took it a little while to recover, but is now doing fine.
As you know these things will grow to a couple feet across with regular feedings. I actually rarely feed mine directly, but he gets plenty of food when I feed the fish ( three times daily)




John