Keeping Sebae Anemones?

[jlehigh]

Hey all,

I lost my 1yr old 13" Green BTA yesterday to my closed loop intake (not pretty). Now my male maroon is just hanging in a cave while his big momma hogs my RBTA..

I have kept different BTA's with 100% success outside of the blender issue, but I have failed to keep a Sebae anenome twice without obvious reason (water perams, lighting, flow).

I have ALLOT of flow and light in the tank but I also have a few low to medium flow zones in good light (24" under 400W MH).

Can people who have succesfully kept a Sebae for at least a year share your experience? Any tips/tricks outside the Anenome 101? Did it react well, or poorly when something changed and what was it? When was it happiest? Is there something unique about your husbandry that seemed to assist it's health?

 

[Elmo18]

Hi John, Aaron has one and is very healthy.

Here are my thoughts on Sebae. Picking a healthy anemone to begin with will give you better chances. However, this goes farther than just, the 'oh it's lightly colored...white with purple tips...etc'. It means to inspect the foot and mouth of the anemone as well, and the apparent stickyness/reaction of the tentacles. A gaping mouth and a torn foot will probably give you zero to slim chances of survival.

Sebae anemones, like long tentacle anemones, prefer the sandbed/rock interface, while in some tanks perch on rocks because of flow issues. They are picky eaters as well. Some will eat crustaceans (shrimp, etc), others will not and only take in silversides. Some will like scallops, some won't.

So if you go for it, find the healthiest one you find. Even if it is light and you can see the purple tips, you can bring it back....although even chances of that aren't great. I wanted to choose this over the Rose Anemones for my small tank, but as you already know, Sebae's get to about 18"++ diameter, and it is not a natural host for Gold Stripe Maroons, so I opted for the dozen RBTA route

Healthy sebae anemones (i'm talking about Heteractis crispa; although there is another species called sebae, but is Heteractis malu (smaller version)) will darken up with zooxanthellae turning to a sandy/brownish color where the purple tips will almost not be seen.

Let me know if you have more questions. This is definitely not an anemone i'd suggest for a first anemone. I'm sure you can keep one, though, with how well you take care of your tank.

- Ilham

 

[steve-s]

Actually, the only Heteractis species I've kept that appreciates sand at all is the aurora. My Sebae has never ventured beyond solid rock. Flow is definately one of their issues though. Like amost Heteractis species, they love light. Take feedings with a grain of salt ('scuse the pun) if you keep fish or feed regularly for other animals. Secondary/casual feeding is the best way to maintain this species as with most hosting species. While they can often adapt to heavy feedings, many species do not and often die due to the stress. Those that do adapt grow into rather large specimens. Please be sure you keep them mainly in a species tank.

I definately agree this is not a starter species...

Cheers
Steve

 

[plack]

I bought one all white with purple tips and very small I've had it for over a year and it is brown with faint purple tips and fairly large and seems happy I fed it chopped krill and mysis every other week I had to force it to go where I wanted it (on a rock's side) I gave it limited options and it has stayed there ever since. And the maroon clown fiercly defends it (they were wild caught) they were paired before I got them. You can see them in my photo gallery and on page 2 you can see what it looked like when I first got it any time it shrunk up it seemed just to be a bit hungry i'd feed it a little and it would perk back up .

 

[jlehigh]

Great information guys and thanks Ilham for the vote of confidence

I have never consitently target fed my anemone's. The Sebae's were never accepting when I did but I didnt try anything but Mysis.. I should have..

I also have yet to find one that wasn't bleached white with purple tips.. I guess this must be caused by the stress involved in collection and distribution. I have nursed bleached BTA's in the past back to health but these Sebaes seem very delicate. I may even opt to go for a Haddoni (carpet anemone) instead... Maybe it will eat a few chromis

I'll probably get more than one new anemone since I also have a homeless Clarki at the moment though it is kinda fun to see it loosely bonded to my True Perc. In fact I think my per and clarki like each other more than the Divorced Maroon's do

Okat rambling... Thanks again and let me know if anything else pops into your heads.

 

[jlehigh]

I just wanted to thank you guys for your thoughts and experience. I decided to go with the Haddoni to better suit my homeless Clarki and for survivability.

Thanks again,
John

 

[Tangee]

Hey John,
That's a beautiful Haddoni, where did you find it?

Susie

 

[reedman]

is that the carpet that Petco had?? Looks nice. It'll be interesting to see what the color is when it acclimates a bit.

 

[jlehigh]

Thanks, I got it online through a shameful non-sponsor.. We dont have too many sponsors who carry these, in fact not many places do period..

Petco had a Blue Haddoni!!?? Crap... I probably paid more for this guy then.. So why isnt it in your tank then Reed?

 

[reedman]

Not sure if it was a blue, but that's the second haddoni that I have seen there for $32....beleive me...I came close 3 times now, but am afraid that one of my fish will end up a meal and it would be the Mrs favorite fish (Murphy's Law).

 

[Maxx]

The way to avoid that would be to buy a large mean clown...maybe Elmo can help you out there....to keep all the intruders away from the carpet.


Nice Haddoni Carpet JLEhigh...

Nick

 

[spongebob lover]

i love your carpet anemone John !!!!

 

[kevinpo]

I realize you bought a different anemone than the title of the thread but I thought I would add some information about the H. crispa in case someone does a search later looking for information.

Mine will be 10 years old on March 1st. I have also kept and nursed many others back to health. For the experienced reefkeeper they are not too hard to keep if you meet their needs. Most prefer to live in the substrate and are not picky about grain size. 5-10% will climb on the rockwork but once they find a location that they feel comfortable in they remain for years unless disturbed. They do not like high flow or intense lighting. They can be kept under PC's or VHO's if the distance to the bulb is 18" or less. They tend to stand up tall and reach for the light when the distance is greater than 18". Their favorite food is raw white shrimp found at the local supermarket. Small pieces about the size of a pencil eraser work best. They can be fed once or twice a week but be prepared for it to grow quickly to about 24" in diameter. Once well established they will accept a wide variety of meaty foods. I feed mine a piece of shrimp or a Formula 1 cube about once a month or so. It has stayed about 9-10" across.

Regarding flow, a gentle current that just sways the tentacles is perfect. Place it where the rock meets the substrate and it should dig to the bottom in a few min. I've had several species of clown host the H. crispa but not quickly like M. doreensis (LTA). My tank raise ocellaris clowns took 2 years to host in it.

As Ilham has mentioned selection of a healthy specimen is critical to success! IME bleached ones can be brought back but ones with a damaged foot or severe gaping of the mouth rarely recover, as do ones that have lost their ability to sting their prey (ones that don’t feel sticky).

HTH,
Kevin

 

[Elmo18]

Looks very promising John. As it gets better, the blue should be a lot more profound and bright.

Good score, keep us updated. Hmm...does that clarkii need a mate?!?!? [insert Elmo's clown pitch] :lol:

- Ilham

 

[jlehigh]

Thank Ilham,

Good stuff Kevin. Each anemone that didnt make it in my tank lost it's sticky prior to arrival and was bleached..

It definately seems to be doing well. When I got home yesterday about 1/8th of the mouth was oddly shaped (distended). I went ahead and fed it some scallop chunks which it took about 20-35 minutes to eat and the mouth resumed a good looking form after. The color is already getting deeper. He has allot of space to grow so I am going to feed it a few times a week.

Well I'll ask my clarki it wants a mate but I have a feeling my big B#!ch Maroon will patition and threaten to eat the next finger that enters the tank.

I feel I am already pushing my luch with a mated pair of Maroons, 1 Clarki, and 1 true per in the same tank.. They are doing well but more might rock the boat. To make things worse they all migrated to the same half of the tank so they are always looking at each other The Maroons are in my RBTA, the perc in my Frogspawn, and the Clarki now in the Haddoni instead of it's old hammer coral home.

Let me know what you think Ilham..

 

[Elmo18]

I will discuss it soon

- Elmo

 

[jlehigh]

Yeayyyyy. Sounds like a beefy response is underway. Maybe you should just convert it into an "advanced" on clownfish

 

[jlehigh]

OMG! I just saw you starting the thread! LOL Great minds think alike ya know..

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10937