Heteractis magnifica, needs SPECIALIZED setup

[Delphinus]

This is a large anemone and requires a dedicated setup.

If you have any interest, PM me. Please let me know what your plans would be for housing this animal. I'm sorry but I will have to not allow it to go into a community reef setup as it poses a significant threat to non-anemonefish fish tankmates. A dedicated species tank is called for.

Of primary concern is that it goes to a good and proper home. Payment ... negotiable.

Pictures taken today can be seen here:

http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=12637

[mr_alberta]

Holy cow Tony!

You're selling the beast!? I hope you find a good home for her. She's a beauty! If I had the proper setup, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

[Delphinus]

Well .. I don't know. I don't want to sell it for the sake of selling it. And it has to go into a tank setup just for it, nothing else, because the risk is just too great. I kind of doubt there's another setup for it out there right now, but I thought I'd ask if there was, because if a good home could be found, I might welcome the chance to be relieved of the responsibility.

But if not, I'll continue to care for it to the best of my abilities.

[AJ_77]

This is an amazing animal - that frankly scares me... :eek:

But to see it is quite something. A dedicated display would be very cool, especially if a family of percs was with it.

[LostMind]

I'd be interested, if it wasnt a 12 hour drive to get it.

[mr_alberta]

What are the actual dimensions of that thing Tony? I don't even think it would fit in my new 24x24 cube if I wanted it :sad:

[Delphinus]

It is difficult to speculate on the exact size because it can expand quite dramatically if he so feels like (e.g., sunny day).

The "mean" or "average" size I would guess to be about 18" to 20". He is not perfectly round but that is more a function of the shape of the rock he is attached to, which is a 30lb piece of shelf rock. :eek: (I bought it special for him.) For a size comparison, the plate coral next to him is roughly between 6" and 7" in diameter. The 90g is obviously 18" front to back and there is a little bit of clearance in the front, but he is mushed up against the back glass. Also in the "left to right" dimension he seems to be more like 20" to 22" (which brings me back to the "not perfectly round" observation).

So I'm afraid a 24x24 cube would probably be just a little too shy for him in the long term. You'd have 1" - 2" of clearance between the anemone and the glass, which will make appropriate flow conditions probably quite challenging, if not impossible.

A 30x30 cube, however, would probably work exceedingly well. In fact, if I don't find him a home that's probably what I will pursue for myself for a species tank for this anemone. In the end, I'm not sure I'm that ready to part with the anemone, but the heartache of losing fish unnecessarily has got to stop, so I have to change things around (one way or the other).

BTW, I refer to him as "he" because he has demonstrated himself to be a male when he spawns (swimmers instead of eggs). When he spawns it makes the tank one very large milky mess for about 24 hours.

Basically you have to really love this anemone, and be OK with having nothing else too exciting along with it. It needs to be a carefully measured choice.