Ritteri Anemone

[Jonny967]

I have placed a Ritteri Anemone over a week ago in my 175 gallon tank for the clowns to adopt as all they ever seemed to do was stay in the corner of the tank. Anyway since going in the tank it has begun to gradually move around to find a position it likes, a couple of times it has settled on the live rock and i though it look great but this morning i have turned on the lights and it has climbed up the rock to the back of the tank and is stuck on the glass is this normal for a Ritteri or could something be wrong?

 

[@ombomb]

anemones will move until they find a spot they like, if they don't find a spot they like, they'll keep moving until they die

ritteris are extremely demanding nems in terms of lighting and water flow, what are yours?

you realise these things can grow over 2 foot in diameter...?

 

[Crazy fishes]

ritteris are extremely demanding nems in terms of lighting and water flow, what are yours?

All anemones are extremely difficult to keep for the long term, unless you buy a clone of a nem that fissioned while in captivity. Clownfish don't need an anemone at all in captivity but in the wild they are essential. You have to remember that Clownfish normally inhabit a small territory and usually don't stray too far from it. Is there a coral in the area where they are swimming? Some corals can act as a surrogate host for example Leather, any of the Euphyllia Spp., even mushrooms at times. What species of Clown are they? You know there are 28 species of clown fish which all have their idiosyncrasies.
As @ombomb says that nem grows big and has very specific requirements. It is interesting that aquarist who make seawater with tap water have more success with anemones than those who use RO. Joyce Wilkerson told me that; it is the results from an internet questionaire that was conducted a few years back. Anemone require lots of light, fast flow and nutrient-rich waters, the latter which is undesirable if you keep corals. Also make sure inlets to pumps are covered as anemone are attracted to the fast flow in these areas and can get injured or even killed by the impellers. People use a closed loop system when nems are present in the tank as it provides lots of flow with the moving bits removed.

I hope this helps

Regards

 

[Jonny967]

I have kept green carpet anemones for a few years with no problem, with these classed as difficult to keep but i have never had one that climbs the glass. Yesterday it has gone down the glass and is now behind all the rock at the back of the tank. It is feeding well, i offered it a lance fish which it took and it does seem in good condition. The only problem is its position as what is the point of having one if you cant see it. Any suggestions on temping it out?

 

[@ombomb]

my point being that even in terms of anemones they are demanding

you didn't answer the question about flow / lighting...

 

[Jonny967]

The tank has 600 watt metal halide lighting, which i upgraded too when i began to get interested in anemones. The flow in the tank is best described as moderate, but every anemone even of the same species require different levels of flow all i can do is create a good environment and let the nem chose its own spot. Just hope it isn't planning on staying behind the rock.
There is one place in the tank that i know it would settle but my frogspawn coral is there and i don't want to move it as these too can be tricky.

 

[SkiFletch]

Short of drastically altering the flow and/or lighting to stress the anemone enough to go for a walk, it's gonna stay where it wants to stay...

 

[Lynden]

Heteractis magnifica are known to climb to the highest point in the tank. To be honest, as far as I know they are the most difficult anemone to keep, and the most demanding. Oftentimes aquarists won't go near them without 400 watt metal halides. They also need high flow.

Carpet anemones aren't necessarily difficult. Stichodactyla haddoni is often described as an all-round easy anemone, but the other large species are quite difficult. I imagine that a tank properly equipped for those other species could probably support a Ritteri anemone as well.

Another too-often-forgotten issue with anemones is chemical warfare. An established anemone can pretty much take down most corals. Even tough genera such as Sarcophyton or Cladiella can be stressed or killed if touched by an anemone, but they can compete chemically, and an anemone that finds itself placed in a tank with established soft corals and anemones can be stressed, causing the anemone to try to leave the area. I suspect this is the cause of death for otherwise healthy anemones placed in otherwise well-equipped tanks.

If the animal stops moving, and appears healthy, it should be left alone in my opinion. Good luck.

PS
Regularly changed (biweekly) activated carbon and heavy protein skimming can render allelopaths (cnidarian secreted toxins; ie, the aformentioned chemical weapons) harmless.