Anemone Cube

Delphinus · #6 09-21-2010, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ponokareefer

I'm in the process of trying to get a Haddoni due to their smaller size, less demand for light and a better record for keeping them alive than the gigantea.

Actually haddoni's get way larger than gigantea's. Don't let the name fool you. Interesting history lesson coming right up! (Yes I am a nerd!) Anyhow, S. gigantea's were first described (ie. "discovered") by European biologists in 1775 from specimens found in the Red Sea. At the time this was the largest anemone anyone had seen, or at least compared to the coldwater species commonly found around Europe. Apparently it wasn't for another 120 years or so that S. haddoni was described (1893) so for a while it was the biggest anyone knew about.

Anyhow in short, S. haddoni gets way larger than S. gigantea. You don't see too many gigantea's over 20"-24" and in the case of 24" these are the absolute giants of the species. S. haddoni on the other hand I think tops out around 30" or so.

(Reference: Daphne Fautin, http://www.nhm.ku.edu/inverts/ebooks/intro.html )

On the topic of light, for the most part maybe haddoni's prefer less but I would say they are really about the same. I keep my gigantea's under 175w and they do OK. So it's not like gigantea is a huge light demanding monster. Conversely, haddoni's still need some light so I'd guess they are actually about equivalent. The brighter coloured haddoni's will require strong light to keep the colour. Haddoni's come in a larger range of colours than gigantea's - and are capable of some stunning colours. A bright green haddoni will out-green a bright green gigantea (but you can't beat gigantea for the shag carpet look). I've never seen a red gigantea but man can haddoni come in the most amazing red.

But that said ... gigantea's have a horrendous record of adapting to captivity (many simply don't), and haddoni's have a horrendous record of eating just about anything they feel like. Either one is a carefully measured choice.

Sorry for the thread derail GSP! It's not often I get to do a brain dump on my favourite topic so please forgive me.